It's Simple

Of course you look at it differently...

Hello. My name is <fill in the blank>. I own a mansion and yacht.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7dCTwlAI8Y

You gets some cables and ya hooks em up...den ya listens!  Pretty simple...no math needed.

Some might find this Cable Snake Oil Antidote interesting with respect to LRC, the signal and the system.

As originally stated, cables affect the sound and the effect is system dependent.

Another's opinion on a cable in a vastly different system may not be valid.

Ian (ieales), thanks for providing the outstanding paper referenced in your post just above. It does indeed reinforce the notion that a given cable will tend to sound different depending on what it is connecting and the system it is being used in, as you stated at the outset of the thread. And as I illustrated with three specific examples in the first of my posts dated 2-27-2018 in this thread.

It has long been my feeling that many audiophiles overattribute intrinsic sonic characteristics to cables, power cords, and various tweaks, when their sonic effects result primarily from interaction with the associated hardware. Those effects thus tending to differ among different applications, which in turn is often a significant contributor to weak correlation between performance and price.

Thanks again. Best regards,
-- Al

“It has long been my feeling that many audiophiles overattribute intrinsic sonic characteristics to cables, power cords, and various tweaks, when their sonic effects result primarily from interaction with the associated hardware. Those effects thus tending to differ among different applications, which in turn is often a significant contributor to weak correlation between performance and price.”

Is this related to system synergy as a whole?

Kenny.