I have to agree that trying two different cables at the same time does not (to my ears at least) seem to work. I tried it the other day out of curiosity using s/h (from eBay) Van den Hul Teatrack Hybrid Biwire vs my original (1996) Cable Talk Talk 4.1 Biwires. I wondered whether there would be a readily discernible change in quality between left and right speakers. I may have been wanting to hear it, but maybe, just maybe, the VDH could have tightened up the bass (which is what I want). However, given the way a stereo CD track can switch between speakers, I have to say it was probably a waste of time trying it this way. Had to be tried though.
With all the fiddling behind the amp and the speakers that is involved, I have to say it is very difficult to detect any difference when you do a full swap between speaker cables unless it is a
marked change. In the home environment, it takes too long to do the switch and then sit back and listen objectively.
I've now got the Cable Talk, the VDH and some QED Silver Anniversary XT to try out. Setting some time aside when the other half won't be breathing down my neck is not going to be easy! At the end of the day, I wonder if I will get a result worthy of the effort? Either way, two sets of cables will be headed towards eBay before too long - which ones is anyone's guess.
Now where did I put that bottle of snake oil..?