Do speaker cables really make a difference ?

Yep ….

Need proof? The next time you attend a hifi show, take a moment to look behind the systems in your favorite manufacturers’ rooms. You’ll notice that the cables they choose to use when they’re trying to make a good impression are not the standard cheap or middlin’ cables. They only use very top end premium OEM brands - and only the very top OEM brand models - to showcase their components in the best light possible.

Repost

AUDIO: SPEAKER CABLES - From Alan Shaw (owner and designer of HARBETH)

” … So, the moral of the story is this: the most important factor of the loudspeaker cable that you should select is the amount of metal in the cable core. More metal means lower resistance.

If the core is round (as most are) then the correlation is simple: the fatter the diameter of the metal core the better because the electrical resistance between amp and speaker will be lower.

Thin and really thin cores should be avoided regardless of how exotic the metal material is claimed as the lack of metal in the core conductor will increase resistance. That will reduce amplifier damping, effect the frequency response of the speaker and give unpredictable results that will vary from amp/speaker combination.

Do not be fooled by the diameter of the external plastic sheath: what matters is the metal content of the core. The more the better, without exception….”

Speaker cables have made a difference on every system I've owned so far.

Everything makes a difference.

They have for me, and it’s audible.

The technical details about copper and construction, etc. are interesting and relevant -- possibly.

Why possibly? Because all these discussions about construction typically don't mention the more significant factors regarding when a technicality about cable construction becomes audible. In other words, what makes a cable design audible depends upon the acoustics and sensitivity of a particular (a) system, (b) room, (c) source, and (d) listener. Those factors are key variables causing some people to claim that cables are BS or that cables definitely make an audible difference.

For this reason, the deceptively simple advice to "try and see" is even wiser than it looks.