Have audio cables really improved in last 20 years?

YES!!

My feeling generally has been that while cables sound different, they rarely justify their asking price. Stay frugal and stay happy.

paulcreed

Yes. Production and technology have greatly improved over the last 20 years for Cabling, in general. Like vintage electronics, there are a few cables/cords, that were made to last a lifetime. JPS Superconductor is one of such products.

Happy Listening!

OP: By "really" improved do you mean improved "a lot" or "actually improved at all" (i.e., above and beyond marketing hype)?

@paulcreed Paul this is a very wide sweeping question which I can’t fully answer but one way of looking at it is to examine which cable manufacturers still sell the same cables from 10-20 years ago. If they are still being sold then they are in demand and then by simple deduction they must or have a good chance of sounding good.

Take Cardas for example the Clear Beyond range is still top of the heap so you could be confident in purchasing a used cable for a fraction of the cost.

Tara Labs’ top power cable was the Cobalt, it’s still in Tara’s current lineup but has two other power cables above it now with the top being almost three times the price.

So again by simple deduction the original Cobalt must be good because it’s still for sale, however they dropped the Onyx power cable.

So, I’m not being facetious but Tara Labs must have made some mighty strides in the last 10-20 years and seemingly Cardas has stood still or they cannot improve their Clear Beyond range.

One thing is for sure that prices will go up and wisely chosen cables have been a good investment for me over the last 20 years. Buy used when you can.