RCA cable design

All that matters is that V(t) at the termination is equal to the V(t) at the source.  The ground conductor as well as the insulation properties between the source and destination plays a role in this.

To achieve an ideal transfer function =1 you need to minimize the reactive currents in the cable.  The ground conductor plays a role in this.

You can have a lousy quality center conductor and an equally lousy ground conductor and the effects can cancel each other out to provide an ideal output at the destination side.  Buts its a lot harder to do it that way.

So if you have one conductor made of, say, copper, and the other of, say, silver, and the two conductors are of significantly different lengths (one is straight, the other is spiraled around it), what effect would that have?

http://www.image99.net/blog/files/4127b5fe2694586e383104364360373b-74.html

What did one electron say to the other?
Move along now, there's nothing to hear. 😄

(with apologies to Leslie Nielson) 

All the best,
Nonoise

" So if you have one conductor made of, say, copper, and the other of, say, silver, and the two conductors are of significantly different lengths (one is straight, the other is spiraled around it), what effect would that have? "

It would have the effect to make the gullible transfer more of their net worth to an audio equipment manufacturer.

Anyone should realize that before the RCA connector on your device the signal path and the ground path have totally different materials, shapes and topographies right? The same after the termination.