I also believe that if I spent $5k, or even $500 for cables, they would sound better to me.
I find that kind of comment troubling. Why would you not simply trust your ears? I mean, I've tried certain cables that cost a lot more than what I currently own and found that I didn't care for them.....for whatever reason, they didn't make the angels sing. There was no way I was going to keep them because of their price tag.
If the change in sound quality was obvious (and worse), my decision would be not to buy expensive cables and I do trust my ears. Unfortunately, what I hear and what I think I hear mix together when it all hits my brain, which tells me expensive cables should sound better than my 12 guage, decent quality stranded wire set up. I guess I would always be concerned I am not hearing something that matters.