Ah, okay, I should probably elaborate more on why I'm doing this. It's a little roundabout, but I'll circle back to your point above shortly.
I'm quoting myself above, but that was the impetus of this whole thing.
I spent years seeing various impressions in that FB group, stating that these $20 units were giant killers, and competitive with high-end/endgame/TOTL units. I had no reason to dispute any of those conclusions, especially since I hadn't heard the $20 units they were gushing about. But I can tell you that when I questioned people about which high-end/endgame/TOTL units they had heard, the response was always along the lines of "I haven't, too expensive." In and of itself, that doesn't invalidate their statements, but for me, it does create doubt and diminish credibility.
Anyway, fast forward to now. I think it's highly unrealistic of me to believe that those people will ever end up getting high-end/endgame/TOTL units to validate their lofty claims. But it's relatively easy for me to get the units they gushed about... and I have heard high-end/endgame/TOTL units. And so that's what I'm doing here.
Now, circling back to your point above... regarding those who were gushing about these $20 units, do I believe that they were going around pairing them with $2,700 cables? No, no I don't. So I will not.
lol, guys, look at my sig. I'm a "cable believer." I'm not doubting that cables can make a difference, and sometimes a drastic difference that can make something sound totally bad (looking at you there stock Ronin cable). But that's not my primary concern atm. Maybe afterwards, if I discover that I really like one of these, then I'll roll for fun? But for my initial survey, nope, stock cables for now.