What is it what we hear when we swap cables?

I swapped a lot of cables in my 40 years of audiophile journey to get better sound. Sometimes it was better, sometimes worse. I always wondered what technical attribute contributed to the change off sound. 

These are the things I noticed. Shielding can close the sound. Noise reduction in general leads to blacker backgrounds. Shielding on (digital) cables tilts the sound (to a darker signature) and you gain a bigger and rounder bottom end. Twisting or starquad reduces noise and magnetic pickup, but can sound choked. Ferrites gives a hard top end to the sound. More conductors instead of 1 big one results in more "speed". PVC sounds muddy and slow. Teflon on silver gives a splash sound and takes forever to settle in. Silver dig's up more details, but can sound soft on the leading edges. Cotton gives more sustain. Copper sounds "warmer". Air dielectrics outlines individual elements in a mix better. Connector plating can shift the tonal balance. Tellurium copper reduces RFI and gives blacker backgrounds. Induction from bad cable management can ruin your sound. I could go on for a long time.

Like to hear the descriptions and experiences of others. What have you learned about all the cable swapping in general in your audiophile journey? 

p.s. please skip the "room is more important, buy better equipment first, cables don't matter posts". I like to hear a more personal description of the change in sound.