Ok I will bite. You question the "clearly audible" statement because you have conducted the same tests and measurements with the same equipment in a similar environment as I have, and come up with a different result?
Or you question it because YOUR personal convictions (biases) makes you think something is always true?
It's not the cable brand or price which makes a difference. It is the physical properties of the cable - AS THEY RELATE TO THE ENTIRE SYSTEM.
Amplifier; damping factor, dynamics (slew rate, voltage rise, max. instantaneous current), rated static power
Speaker; actual min. impedance value, physical properties (mass of moving parts, current req'd to move coil, etc), sealed or open
Cable; resistance, capacitance, insertion loss, length, termination quality
So I can agree that GENERALLY changing the type of speaker cable makes no difference to the "sound", and with properly controlled testing they are indistinguishable from each other when only the cable is changed.
However, small changes in the cables electrical performance & properties, and physical & mechanical properties CAN affect the performance of the entire system in a way which is predictable, repeatable, and audible. Changing the other parts of the system and using the same cable CAN also produce differences.
I have attached some specs for the cable Benchmark Media use - they clearly show the effect changing one parameter in the entire system (cable length and type) has on the damping factor.
View attachment 94000
Couple an amplifier with a low damping factor, a low slew rate, and slow rise time, and limited current delivery (AHB2) - to a heavy coned, big magnet, and low impedance speaker. Then make the cable long or very short and see what the reproduced sound is like coming out of the speaker? Seriously, try it for yourself instead of reading / typing comments on here.
What you will observe is a failure at some point for the woofer cone (hardest one to drive) to accurately track the signal, both out and back in (rate of movement, and travel distance). What has been interesting is that changing the speakers made such a difference to the performance (ability to accurately reproduce the signal) of the amplifier (all amps sound the same?). I can infer that when I see an impulse response like the one below, that the speaker driver is more efficient, and therefore easier to drive with the AHB2.
View attachment 94007
View attachment 94006
As far as the cable goes it affects the SYSTEM damping factor enough for me to ensure I am using a cable with very low resistance, and a very short length - particularly if using my 2 x AHB2's in mono.
Benchmark / John Siau produced a great spreadsheet to calculate this damping factor stuff for the WHOLE SYSTEM, try it out for yourself, small differences in speaker impedance and cable length make big differences to the ACTUAL damping factor. AND with sub optimal system equipment combinations, an audible, reproducible, and measurable (with decent tools) difference CAN be observed.
Oh and in the interests of full disclosure (possible uncontrolled variables) I should add my hearing isn't amazing, but ok at low frequency (eyes still work well enough to observe differences in cone extension tho);
View attachment 94003