Who says cables don't make a difference?

I tried 3 Interconnects direct from my DAC to amps.  Two amps were integrated, one was not and volume was used with the Audirvana player on my PC.
1  Moon Audio Black Dragon 3 ft.
2  Moon Audio Silver Dragon 1.5ft.
3  Better Cables Silver Serpent 1.5 ft.

A few weeks ago we compared #1 to some Amazon Interconnects and 3 out of 3 of us, two were blind noticed quite a big difference.  This time, 1 and 3 sounded about the same.  Then we tested 1 vs 2 on 3 different amps. In every cars we could hear the difference.  3 - silver was brighter.  It is what I would choose for detailed listing, but it would become fatiguing much sooner.   My buddy liked the 1 set better in all situations.  I thought 2 were better on one system.  For the money - #3 was a great way to go.

My net is they absolutely matter on a clean system vs the very low cost cables.  $20 vs $300 mattered.  $100 vs $300 not so much.  And silver (bought used on eBay) near double the price were different.  But different like how you might tune an EQ.   I have not compared to anything higher priced.  I expect I might discern a difference. 

I was surprised that there is a difference, but there is. 

I'll add, I have a DAP that I bought an inexpensive 3.5 to RCA (Y) I was using.  I also incorrectly used a balanced higher end set from same DAP to same amp.  The balanced sounded so much better.  I thought balanced was why.  Reading more, that was a no-no.  Anyway, that Y was left in another location.  I pulled out another Y and was surprised it sounded as good as the balanced.  Both were pretty inexpensive - I'd guess from memory ~$30 and both sounded very different.  So now I am looking for a good Y cable.
 

Many people have done something g similar David, I know the naysayers, and Robert in particular will try to tell you why your test was invalid and you are really just assuming attributes being associated with particular cables because of what you’ve read about them. trust your ears, and as you saw, different people prefer different sounds, so one is t always better than another, but more like one may be better to you, and in the end, that’s all that matters. We are the ones spending our money for our personal enjoyment. Not sure why some feel the need to try to convince us it’s bogus. You’re not spending their money, nor asking them to either. 

Not many scientist inhabit an audio thread....Their time is very short and very full already by other finality than arguing...

Debunking is not a scientific activity "per se" nor marketing a product is either ... Experience in audio even for 40 years is not proof that you know all there is to know....

If i want to know about electrical compatibility between some electronic components i will ask some engineer here that are very competent.... We all know already some...

But who among them will know how to use an herkimer diamond (H.D.) to improve very much an audio system for peanuts? Or will they smile at my "irrational" and "illusory" idea, even if experimenting that is easy, will they perform it? One thing is sure, a true scientist will try my idea, he will not propose a blind test instead....

But the answer is no for most, most will not experiment with the H. D. ....

Dogmas kill science....Simple....

Happily i am an undogmatic free spirit, i listen to no one, except some competent one for basic information, and there is good fellows for that here, but i takes all that in my hand for the rest.... I am very proud.of my low cost audio system... :)

We are the ones spending our money for our personal enjoyment. Not sure why some feel the need to try to convince us it’s bogus. You’re not spending their money, nor asking them to either.

Bingo!
One reason I hate this double-blind debate so much is its so unbelievably misguided. There's a time and a place for everything. Some guy like Ted Denney or Keith Herron, both of whom do use double-blind testing, they have a reason and they use it correctly. The idea, which I know for sure in the case of Keith who I talked to about this, is to test and see if there is any preference at all, and if so which way. These test subjects do not even know what is being compared or tested all they do is indicate whether they prefer one or the other or no difference. 

In this case testing is justified and valid because the goal is to develop a result a wide range of people will like. So it only makes sense to test a wide range of people. 

The situation with cables is completely different. Its one person buying one cable for themselves. What does that person care for the opinion of some random interboob?