something about audio that attracts an atmosphere of wilful ignorance

I think it's the lack of a shared vocabulary.

Everyone likes some music better than other music, and so everyone think they can tell the difference between good and bad music. However, nobody can explain the difference in plain words.

This easily leads to the conclusion that it is fully subjective, and this is where the ignorance comes from. If nobody can explain what good music is, then my own voodoo explanation is as good as any.

However, we can talk about music theory, audio production and sound analysis in scientific terms to the point where we can even reproduce certain sounds based on the description. But we can't really understand the description without actually experiencing the sound.

It's similar to somebody saying "I don't like this cake" or someone saying "my taste receptors react to the umami in this cake", but I still wouldn't have a clue about how the cake tastes.

Sound is also different from other sciences in that there is very little proof of one thing being more correct than others. And that goal changes constantly. Whenever somebody does crack the code to what people enjoy, it'll get boring really quick.

I had a music teacher long ago who said that there is no bad music, only wrong audiences. His point was that the music that makes it through to the recording and publishing will already have passed the filter where someone made a decision if there is an audience for it. If you hear bad music, then you're just not the right audience.

Anyway, cables. Who cares. The end result is the most important part. However, I'd prefer to hook up the instruments on stage with thick cables instead of bananas. Same thing applies at home. Any wire will do, but cheap wires do break.