what do you know"

Baroque lover, you are not entirely correct. I have in my system a set of SEEC speaker cables that have the correct level of highs, mids, and bottom end. When I tried a set of VD David 2.0's, the bottom end increase was dramatic, so much so, that I had to pull them from the system. They are for sale in the classifieds now. If these were to be switched in with the ones I have now, I could tell in a minute which ones were in. The same goes for a new power cord I put on my CDP. It increased the bass so much, I had to take it out. Maybe the people you tried this with cannot tell, but don't group everyone in with your group. There are alot of different ways of going about trying this test, and it doesn't sound like it was very controled.
Just because some folks can't hear the difference doesn't make it snake-oil. If it doesn't work for you, fine, let it go. No need to discredit the folks who posted above that do hear a difference.

Baroque lover, if you believe in the placebo effect, fine. Don't force your beliefs on the folks who hear a difference. Nobody really cares, and it's annoying.

I see people that have switched to the inexpensive Anti-cables with marvelous results, where they replaced cables costing multiple hundreds of dollars. I tried the Anti-cables in my system, and I found they did not sound very good. I firmly believe the folks who found them to work much better than the more expensive brands did actually find a major improvement. Different equipment, different results. I only wish I could have found something in the same price range that did the same for my system before I spend the dollars I have.

Yes, I believe cables make a big difference, and in stating this, I'm not forcing my beliefs on anyone. Just making a statement.

Baroque lover, instead of needling folks here, why not start a new thread on the topic of the plecebo effect, and see where it goes. You will probably get alot more interested parties who have the same view post to your thread, who do not even know that this is a topic in this one.