I'm not agreeing with either opinion or the other, but may I offer the suggestion of a material's attentuative properties? I know different materials have different coefficients of attentuation which would effect the transmission of sound or signal energy differently from material to material.. Also higher frequency signals are attenuated (amplitude decreased) more that the lower frequency signals..
A possible theory to explain a difference in the sound would be that the signals are attentuated more on the cheaper jacks while the more 'transparent' sounding jacks would allow a signal through with less attentuation..
On the other hand, a counter argument could be, firstly, that the distance travelled through the jack by the signal is negligible compared to the distance travelled through the rest of the wiring, so much so that the difference in tone would be almost impossible to detect unless you've got Superman's ears.. Secondly, the difference in the magnitude of attentuation between the highest and lowest frequencies possible from a conventional guitar may also be audibly negligible..
I've got no way to test this without proper equipment, so this remains purely a theory.. Or two.. Personally, I've not noticed a significant tone difference between jacks.. Maybe I'm deaf, maybe I haven't used good jacks, who knows?
By the way, isn't this in the wrong area of the forum??