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Thinking out of the box here. It might make some defensive

I was thinking, that all the different wire constructions and purities is pointless if they are tied to a connecter. How can the signal carry the purist signal when it has to be compromised by the mercy of a connecter. Why not make a solid wire out of the connecter and use the bare wire for the connecter? Same end result. I’m not an engineer but it seems to me it would sound the same. Right? The end product is only as good as its weakest link. I’m beginning to think speaker cables are too over rated . I switched out my $1500 cables for some 10 gauge $20 copper wire with bare ends and I will say if there was any difference it was slight. I do know my amp doesn’t clip like it used too. And music is louder and more dynamic. I tried some 12 gauge and couldn’t tell any difference from the 10. And yes all the cable lengths were 8 foot. If you want the purist signal then you would have to take the wire and run it right through the speaker and bypass the terminals. So my question to the electrical educated members here is how can the signal arrive intact if it has to be transmitted through a connecter and then to the speaker terminals. It makes me think speaker wire is not all that important. I’m just saying. I don’t mean to be starting a war here.
128x128blueranger
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Huh? What chew talkin bout, Willis? 😛
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,432 posts
 
Blueranger, You're not asking if there is a difference between cables, but you assumed there is none and made plausible sounding explanation for that.  Now you're seeking confirmation from the others like you.  This is as far from open mind as it gets.  When you believe, based on some strange presumption about connectors, that there cannot be a difference then you won't hear the difference.  I would call it a "Negative Placebo Effect".  As for my open mind - When I cannot hear the difference between cables I say it, but I would never say there is no difference.  There are people who have much better hearing (including musicians) and people who have much better more resolving systems.  It would be arogant on my side to tell them what they can or cannot hear.
ivan_nosnibor's avatar
ivan_nosnibor
1,052 posts
 
@elizabeth , For connectivity's sake I just soldered a "pigtail", a short length of the same wire of about 4 or 5 inches out of the back of my amp. This is what allows me to change things around with speaker wire. The actual connection is made with simple wire nuts...wire to wire. The connection still has to be cleaned once a year or so, but sounds way better to me than run-of-the-mill connectors
chefhat
19 posts
 
I have never owned expensive cable, but both myself and other electrical engineers believe that cable type/gauge/weave is pretty insignificant. Unless your cable runs are over 5 yards / meters, you can use anything - as ling as it isn't coax.

Avoid wrapping cables around thing or coiling it so to avoid inductance, capacitance and other unwanted effects
lwal22's avatar
lwal22
76 posts
 
no doubt other variables come into play when making a change in a system, though I doubt my Birthday comes into play.
thats why a reasonable person makes a change one at a time and lives with the results for a period of time to assess it under varying conditions. 
So:  speaker wire changes made a great improvement in my system. Under months of observation. 
Oh and they burned in over time.... yes the sound changes as manufacturing stresses and materials such as dielectrics settle down.  
Preconcieved denials will prevent hearing these things I suppose, but the observations of so many audiophiles over so many years cannot be ignored. 
My father is a respected electrical engineer, odd how he disagrees so vehemently with those who look only to one or two electrical parameters to describe such complex interactions. 
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