ACman, thanks for providing the additional data point. 3.8 ohms for 2 feet; wow! What kind of speakers are you using? The volume loss resulting from a given cable resistance will, as you probably realize, be inversely proportional to the impedance of the speaker.
In any event, from a technical standpoint a couple of things seem clear to me, assuming that these high resistances are a consequence of the design and not of defects, and assuming that these resistances, which are at a frequency of zero Hz (i.e., the DC that is provided by the meters), are not somehow magically negated at frequencies of 20 Hz and higher:
1)The sonic consequences of the resistance will vary considerably depending on how the impedance of the particular speaker varies as a function of frequency. The output impedance and drive capabilities of the amplifier that is being used will also be relevant factors, meaning specifically that tube amps and solid state amps will tend to interact differently with these cables, and meaning also that due to their differing output impedances different tube amps will also tend to interact differently.
2)Putting aside subjective preferences, those kinds of resistances cannot, as I see it, be considered to be consistent with ***accurate*** transfer of the amplifier's output signal to the speaker's input.
I should add that all of this just applies to speaker cables. Under any reasonable circumstances the resistance of line-level interconnects will be inconsequential, because it will be a miniscule fraction of the load impedance. The same goes for phono cables, aside perhaps for those few situations in which certain LOMC cartridges may be loaded with very low resistances (e.g., tens of ohms).
IMO, FWIW. Regards,
-- Al
