anyone telling you that a more expensive cable is better in any way is plainly lying. The signal is digital, fer chris’ sake! There is no degradation of bits like there is with an analogue signal for hifi-speakers. There’s one born every minute…

So, your conclusion is correct, and since obviously as a reviewer you don’t want to piss off the folks sending you stuff, I’ll make this comment for you.

Cheers.

To do a meaningful test, at least try a Blu Ray like “Valkerie” with DTS-HD Master Audio, and a BluRay player that has deep colour capabilities, and which decodes the lossless audio formats natively.
(May I recommend the Sony BDPS-5000ES ?)
Also, use at least a 55 inch TV (Again, Sony KDL55XBR45 55″ Full HD Bravia LCD TV with backlit LED comes to mind).
You must have a setup that is capable of testing HDMI cables to HDMI standard 1.3a -means just over 10Gbps of bandwidth.
The differences are more pronounced at longer distances- say 10 M.
With a cable shorter that 1 metre, I am sure there will be no difference between HDMI 1.2 cable and HDMI 1.3a cable, esp. when you are NOT using the full bandwidth, that too in a generic TV – even if it is 47″.

And Gold is NOT used for connectivity purposes- Gold is not as good a conductor as either silver or copper, so gold plating does not improve performance . What gold is great for is its incredible resistance to corrosion. High purity gold does not tarnish. Therefore the use of gold plating will ensure that the connector remains in the same operational state, free of tarnish, indefinitely. This will lead to less resistance over time.

Have a nice day,
Cheers,