recommends for interconnects?

Cables make no objective difference. You said it in your own post, "..so many opinions" and that's all they are without hard evidence to back them uo. Save your money, cables NEVER get "tired". 

@mclinnguy In useing xlr cables with Nortrick ends in the professional world they only wear out from around at the connectors from being coiled and packed up for the next show or someone runs over the cable with a heavy object that possibly crushes it that's why the band gear usually gets set up last on stage to prevent this from happening.. Sure others will comment but thes are the cables we use for touring that get connected into the splitter which seperater the signal to the monitor board and also send signal down a fiber line to the FOH mix.

Beldon Wire Iconoclast.  

A taste of the very high end at reasonable prices with good service... and you can try them and return if not satisfied. So, no risk.

The reason is interesting.  SoulNote says music is a waveform delivered in time, not a Fourier transform delivered in the frequency domain. Almost all cable measurements focus on the frequency domain.

Why no shielding?  Well, the cables are balanced so EMI should equally affect the + and -, cancelling out.  Shielding increases capacitance, which smears the signal in the time domain.

@richardbrand spot on! 

Cables do make a difference. Tecnology has evolved quite a bit over time and cables are getting better and better. price point has has also changed in recebt years, like everything else.
However at similar price point different brands will sound different. It depends of the sound signature you are looking for and the synergy with your system. Chatgpt can give a general perspective on sound signature and system matching to get started. I personally like a more organic well rounded sound. Cardas Clear and Luna Mauve fall in this category from auditions  i have made and cables i owned.  Nordost is a bit more detailed for those who like a more analytical presentation. Audience is a very well balanced cable but you will likeky need to invest a bit more.Good luck in your search.