Are current audio cable designs superior to 1980s designs?

You're questioning whether cables have improved in 40 years? No. Cars, tires, toothpaste, lightbulbs, computers, phones, homes, (5000 items later) and speakers are better. Cables for some strange reason are just the same. Even socks are better. Underwear. But not cables. 

Sorry, having trouble taking this question seriously. Its that far out there. Even with the cost inflation thing. Its just nuts. Cables are so much better its hard to believe. 

Ted Denney alone has developed, brought to market, and improved beyond three different technologies- Active Shielding, Quantum Tunneling, UEF- each better than the last. Each generation so much better the worst cheapest version of the new generation outperforms the prior best most expensive model. That's improvement any way you want to slice it.

That said, never underestimate the talent of an audiophile to find some pure crap to throw his money away on. DYODD.

Simple question, simple answer, and just what I wanted to know, so thanks millercarbon. Are the cable refinements audibly superior or just conceptually niftier? Your assurance is enough.

FMI I will go study the Ted Denney evolution. Sorry, ignoring cables for decades and only lately paying attention again.What's objectively better, what's just for show? Because the audio equivalent of Rolex would be anathema to me, and veterans here can help to steer me right.

I think if you get a cable cooker and then cryogenically freeze them as a secondary operation those old cable will be just fine.
  Seriuosly now copper is copper and there is a lot of money wasted on it that could be far better spent elsewhere in the audio chain to yield better results.
 I find regular zip cord, normally I use 12g because there are some serious systems I push at times, with good soldered connections at each end work just fine. Buy a better driver, recap your crossover or get a Xilica and leave those expensive money pit wires on the dealers shelf.

I did a little experiment about a month ago. I had accumulated a nice 1970’s vintage system for my home office space, where I’m spending more time then ever since COVID-19. This system consists of the Luxman 50th Anniversary pieces from 1975 (M-4000, C-1010 and TU-110) and Pioneer CS-T8 speakers.

For the experiment I left out the other sources (Micro BL-91G and Nakamichi 700II) and only used FM signal (BBC radio 3). I hooked up these pieces with the type of generic signal cables and zip cords that were commonly used back then. So called ’audiophile’ cables hadn’t been invented yet, although the first Monster cables (the ones that turned green inside the insulator, remember?) were just being launched. The idea was to play the system as the original owners would have done in the ’70s. Sure enough, it sounds really nice, the musicality these Luxman pieces were renowned for is most evident. But it also sounded rather veiled, with plummy, ’one note’ bass and rolled off in the treble. Perhaps what you might expect from stuff this old.

Then I removed all those generic cables and replaced them with some of the modern cables I use with my other systems. These are modestly priced ’budget’ cables, like Kimber Select KS 1010, Nordost Heimdall and QED Silver Anniversary speaker cable. Nothing really fancy, but well regarded cables. What you will then hear is a complete transformation. Suddenly this otherwise identical system sounds much closer to what we regard as modern high end, with the kind of see through transparency and frequency extension that goes with it. And the size of the soundstage has exploded in all directions. That’s the impact of well engineered modern cables, even on electronics over 45 years old. And I couldn’t even change the power cables, which were still captive in those days. I guess it shouldn’t have amazed me, but it did. Unfortunaly I couldn’t try the effect of my top cables (JPS Aluminata) as these are all balanced, but it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if these ’old’ pieces would gain from that too.

With hindsight it’s amazing the audio community disregarded the importance of wiring for so long. But the industry has done its best to make up for lost time and profit. The current pricing in high end cables (and much else in audio I might add) is so ludicrous - even offensive - you need a strong stomach to navigate this ’market’, which is full of expensive crap waiting for the next sucker. Caveat emptor!