Recently I switched the 700i for a McIntosh MA9500. 

I had all Discovery Cables, Essence and Essential. 

I replaced those, with Cardis Clear Reflection cables and Shunyatta Power Cables. 

The difference was substantial. My room has very high cathedral ceilings, and the cubic feet volume is quite large. 

The MA9500 has 350+WPC, and i needed more power for the Sopra’s, even though being efficient, wasn’t enough for my room. I never heard the 700i clip, but quite underpowered in my room. 

The new Amplifier gave me the bass power, but the Cardis CR  cables gave the “air” and sense of being there, studio, church, club etc. that the older Discovery cables didn’t have.  They were very reasonably priced when I bought them from Joe DePhilips many years ago. Nice Guy 👍🇺🇸

So, YES Cables do make a difference. The higher the resolution of your System, the more you will hear it. 

My System was “under cabled” if you will, for 10 years.  It sounded great, until I switched all my cables. 

approximately $5000.