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I have had a couple of cases where even with the best of cables and power conditioners, the system owner cannot tell a difference. This brings me to a few conclusions:
You missed out the most obvious conclusion - there is no actual measurable difference in the sound coming out of the speaker.

(Edit): I finally found what I was looking for - ASA Adjudication on The Chord Company Ltd If a cable manufacturer claims their cables 'sound better' then the least they can do is provide objective (independent) evidence.

Also see Nordost Cable demo controversy

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I have had very few audio enthusiasts say nay when shown the difference
I'm sure they look lovely. That's not the point though. The quesation is do they improve (or even change!) the sound coming out of the speakers? If so, then please provide some proof. (Obviously a 'bad' cable which is out of spec or badly made etc can have a massive effect. But I'm talking about properly made cables which meet approved specifications, which can be bought very cheaply.

See MUSINGS: Audio Cables Summary, Non-Utilitarian Functions & Scientific Falsifiability for a discussion and links to objective cable tests & measurements.

As for Ethernet cables. Either they meet the applicable standard and work or they don't and won't. Ethernet transmits data, not audio, data centres have thousands of miles of Ethernet cables. Ask yourself if there's a difference between standard Ethernet cables and 'audiophile' ones, then why don't data centres use them? Considering all the millions of miles of cheap ethernet cable used in data centres all over the world, how come the Internet works? In fact I would go as far as to say that if two ethernet cables 'sound' different then one of them is faulty because it's changing the datastream somehow. If the datastream coming out of two ethernet cables is identical then it's identical, there cannot be a difference. If there is then it still doesn't matter as each frame of data sent over Ethernet "ends with a frame check sequence (FCS), which is a 32-bit cyclic redundancy check used to detect any in-transit corruption of data". (see Wikipedia Article on Ethernet Data Frames for details. If an error is found then the data frame is resent. It's a very robust reliable system. No audiophile cables needed.

Canford Audio once demonstrated a digital audio signal being transmitted over a piece of wet string. It delivered a "locked, error-free signal" See How wet is a piece of string? for details. It's also been shown that an error free datastream can be sent over a short piece of string acting as an ethernet cable (sorry, can't find the link at the moment. EDIT: Found it, a BBC article Broadband over 'wet string' tested for fun Ok, so it was an ADSL connection not ethernet, but still, it proves a point!). Data transmission over ethernet is a mature technology, has been for years. Do you really believe that Audiophile cable companies know something about Ethernet data transmission that the likes of Cisco doesn't?

If the lesser measuring cable can be shown to transmit audio or data perfectly in a given situation, then the better one cannot be better than perfect, only more expensive.

I have absolutely no doubt that 'some' mains cables and conditioners can improve the 'quality' of electricity going into a piece of audio equipment. But that does not automatically mean that they will change the sound coming out of the equipment. If they did it would be easy to provide some verifiable and repeatable proof in the way of frequency response, S/N ratio and distortion graphs. For example, in the case of Russ Andrews mains cables proven to reduce EMI, the ASA stated that "the graphs do not prove that the rejection measured in the lab has a perceptible (i.e. audible) effect when the cables are used in a Hi-Fi or Home Cinema System". See ASA Adjudication on Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd for details.

Sorry for hijacking your thread Jeremy, but I just had to say this. It really angers me all this cable rubbish that's spouted. There is often a fine line between reality and fantasy, but when it comes to cables there's fantasy in bucketloads just looking for a gullible person to buy into.

Of course, if you prefer one cable to another and it increases your enjoyment of listening to music then that's fine by me, just don't let audio manufacturers or salesmen pull the wool over your eyes.
Ali

Last edited by Alikris; 2019-02-17 14:46.
Meridian G61R, Behringer A500 amps & DEQ2496 DSP, MiniDSP U-DIO8 audio interface, B&W DM2 Mk2 Speakers (3 pairs), Sony CD, Sony DAT(x3), Alesis Hard Disk Recorder, Sony APR5003 Reel to Reel Recorder. Akai AT93 Tuner & GX-95 MK2 Cassette Deck, Technics SL-1200 Turntable, Valve Phono stage, Denon DL-110 cartridge.

Ambisonic user since the 1980's