Sometimes a cable altering the sound is not bad.

Example:

Radio Shack Gold is a good cheap cable that sounds quite clear--sometimes to the point of leanness. But this lean clarity is beneficial for tape decks which for technological reasons (alignment, magnetization, dirt, dragging tape, etc) can tend to sound muddy. With RS Gold my tape decks sound crystal clear.

Example 2:

Vintage mid-fi and new low-end electronics can have a lean and/or hashy/hazy sound. Slightly muddy interconnects like the low to mid range Monster mitigates these traits nicely. That's one reason Circuit City, Best Buy, Sears, et al sell so much of it--It mellows the sound of the type of gear they sell, makes it sound weighty like the good stuff. If I had transparent cables on my '80s vintage midfi system my ears would bleed. It's all about system matching.