I hate to be controversial but they’re Chinese rip-offs of US-made Kimber. While I concede Kimber can be overpriced on most of their cables, they are built with US labor and have been making their braided cables for over 40 years. You can still get great performance from Kimber VS and TC series at more reasonable prices.
"Rip-off" isn't probably quite the right term? Since it would imply that the product is bad or a scam, but they are honestly great cables.
Tbh, a lot of the savings comes from doing the assembly yourself, as well as sourcing the braided cable from a Chinese manufacturer, which is honestly standard practice for most any manufacturer or industry.
But tbh, it's on you where your values lie, and where/how you would rather spend your money.
To the larger point about tube connectors and the signal path in general, its definitely noticable going from bare wire with binding posts to tube connectors, even with cheap 14-gague zipcord. I noticed the difference in clarity and detail instantly, its not always easy to explain outside of an analogy like putting on a new pair of glasses after going 5+ years without updating the prescription. You could always see, but not things are just crisp & detailed. (Or like cleaning a dusty window, you get the idea)
Add in a better cable, like Danny's 16 or 24 strand kits & it really opens up the depth & imaging within soundstage, detail still comes in just as clear as ever, but it has so much more depth.
Its been a fun journey, seeing the differences that can be made in places where some will say none exists or matters.
And after reading thru your delima with extra components in the signal path, and how removing them made previously small changes appear as night and day.
But as I've mentioned in previous discussions, Tube connector's aren't "magic" that "adds detail" to the quality of the signal, it simply aims to do as little harm as possible, and in my experience, it does so with flying colors.
Its as close as you can get to a direct connection without having permanently attached cables..