I was just agreeing with you on both points.
I'm finding Van Damme seem to make some very nice sounding and inexpensive interconnects. Their Studio Blue speaker cable isn't half bad either
The silver plated copper is quite excellent with great clarity and treble extension.
I've some of their LC-OFC on the way to try too. I'm hoping it can give similar results to the copper Litz though without the expense - great detail though with added solidity or sense of weight to the sound.
Not a fan of the silver plated Litz. Too thin sounding. The Van Damme is better.
21AWG Western Electric tinned copper IC's seem great with digital sources (think ESS Sabre DAC's) for taming the digital jaggies and bringing the music to life. Brings vocals and lead instruments forward in the mix though is a little rolled off up top. It's why they work well with digital sources I think. Digital artifacts seem to be in the top of the frequency range.
Dueland 16ga tinned copper IC's are very pleasant also being quite layered though I don't find them particularly accurate. More like viewing something through rose coloured lenses. As speaker cable however it's excellent.
Neotech UPOCC has everything there, wittout seemingly affecting the signal in any way. Very neutral.
Mogami I found dry and neutral. Too boring sounding. Less detailed than anything else listed above and with small amounts of distortion which made sound slightly harsh in the extremes.
Canare L4E6S is warm and enjoyable vs the Mogami though with similar distortion / interference characteristics. No point sourcing it when Van Damme is so cheap.
Then there's generic RCA's which I used for the longest time. It's not till you use better for an extended time and go back that you realise how truly awful they are. Just harsh sounding Grates on your ears. Similar sound signature to running a cheap RCA selector though less extreme.
That's all that I can recall trying though there may be some more.
Litz is as expensive as I'll go. So I guess I play in the lower end of the price spectrum. No megabuck cables for me
I rather suspect that different companies target different segments of the market. Despite Dueland products being expensive to me, there is little doubt that they offer excellent value compared to many more expensive products from other companies. I'd rather buy a performance part from a value oriented company than a budget part from a cost is no object oriented company. Quite regularly the results will be better