07-09-15: Metman
I have a straight run from speakers to amp - no braiding or twisting and it sounds pretty damn good. Will I realize an additional benefit twisting the + and - around each other from speaker to amp?
The main effect of twisting + and - together will be to reduce inductance. (Also, as Mitch2 noted above, there might be some reduction in sensitivity to stray magnetic fields, although his reference was to a star quad configuration which takes that a step further. The consequences of magnetic field/RFI-EMI sensitivity, if any, will be dependent on the design of the particular amplifier, as well as on the characteristics of whatever stray fields may be present in the particular setup). Reducing inductance will reduce the impedance of the cable in the upper treble region (and above). The likelihood of that being audibly significant will depend on the impedance of your speakers in the upper treble region (the lower that impedance, the greater the likelihood of a difference), and on the length of the cable (the longer the cable, the greater the likelihood of a difference, since cable inductance is proportional to length, everything else being equal).
The impedance of many dynamic (box-type) speakers rises significantly in the upper treble region, which reduces the criticality of inductance, although many other such speakers have impedances which remain relatively flat in that region. The impedance of most electrostatic speakers decreases to low values in the upper treble region, which increases the criticality of inductance.
Further complicating the issue, of course, is that in many systems and for many listeners cable behavior that is non-neutral may be subjectively preferable. Meaning in this case a softening of the upper treble that may result from inductance being higher rather than lower.
The bottom line, as is often the case in audio: It all depends :-)
Good luck. Regards,
-- Al