theater_lover - if you tried out some different cables in your system and you heard a difference, would you discount your own experience?
I have never said cables can't make a difference, that isn't my argument at all.
I'm simply saying that if I heard a difference I know I could record some of that difference, if it were real, and to rule out that possibility means that you don't want to find out if it is real. Secondly, one perspective is ruling out the validity of the other's tests because they don't subscribe to their subjective experience, and then (half jokingly) calling them flat earthers... when it is really they who should be given the nickname because they only believe what they observe.
I also know that I, like everybody, could trick myself into hearing a difference.
Simple example. I sit down and listen to a song I know well, but I haven't heard recently. Cable swap. Listen to the track again. I would absolutely "hear" new things, more detail, etc. Why? I would hear new things without a cable swap. It is simply a function of short term memory and the mind's way of processing information. On the second listen the mind would pay less attention to things it "knows" and try to find new information... so it does. This holds true for anything done more than once. Food sampling, reading, looking at a picture, watching a movie. The more you concentrate on something, the more you absorb its finer properties.
Now, add to that any bias on my end to want a new cable to sound better. If I am swapping parts of a system out it is because I want it to sound better. There is inherent motivation for me to like the new thing more, and we all know we are guilty of choosing the new and shiny thing because it is new and shiny.
I also believe that there is a little bit of ego going on here. If one person says that they can hear something, another will want to be able to hear it as well, and could trick themselves into hearing it. "Listen to how everything opens up as I switch to this cable" "Oh, yeah, I hear it". Or, "Audiophiles can hear differences in cables. I want to be an audiophile, so I want to hear the difference too." Maybe it did make a difference, or maybe you are convincing yourself it is.
Lastly, nobody wants to admit they are tricking themselves, but for some reason we all tend to find that our year old speakers don't sound quite as good as
we remember them sounding, and maybe we should start looking for something different. The speakers haven't changed. Your perception of them has.