Once high-end cables were introduced, the market expanded and the prices continued to search new highs. The answer is yes. Different cables do sound different. The problem is trying to determine which cables sound better. While copper is a better conductor than gold, oxidized copper is a poor conductor.
Silver is still a very good conductor even when oxidized.
For this reason, connectors are often made from materials that are poorer conductors than copper. Often gold plating is used because gold plating does not oxidize. There is a lot of marketing hype about cables. The basic thing you should remember is that copper is a relatively inexpensive material. After all, the penny is made of copper.