As with anything in the audio chain, yes, I believe cables can and will have an affect on the signal and resulting sound. While measurements can help explain the good or poor performance of a component scientifically, we all know specs and measurements don't tell the whole story.....which is why reviews exist to help contextualize things. Further, I fully believe it is entirely possible for components that don't measure perfectly to still be able to provide an entirely enjoyable sound experience. One of the most classic examples of this that I can think of are the BBC LS3/5 A speakers or most any single driver speaker.
From my experience, single conductor coaxial cables, such as Blue Jeans 1694a and others like this don't work well as IC's. I like Blue Jeans cables, honestly, and I've bought several products from them. According to the specs of any/all of their coax type cables, they should work really well as IC's. But in listening I found them dull, severely blurring detail, and blunting extension. I can't explain what was happening scientifically, but what they were doing to the signal wasn't good. This may not be the case with your Monoprice cables and again we have to keep in mind the contextual differences between, my ears, your ears, my gear, your gear, my listening space, your listening space, etc. etc. In my experience, coax cables work just fine for digital applications. This is what they are designed for first and foremost. Honestly, I think companies started marketing coax cables as "acceptable for stereo use" as a way to lower production costs. It is cheaper to make a ton of one type of product despite compromises, than make 2 products more suited to their applications.
I have some IC's here I may be willing to let you borrow just so you can hear for yourself. I'm positive you'll hear a welcome difference if you haven't used a non coax type IC before.
