Do speaker cables really make a difference ?

Not really, if you have decent cables in the first place.  ELAC has decent cables, for example, and that's all you'd need.  There are other relatively inexpensive and perfectly capable cables, like Blue Jeans as another has suggested.

If you don't like how your system sounds, it's not likely the fault of the cables... it's more likely you are dissatisfied with the speakers, the amp-speaker pairing, or, and here's the big one, how your system integrates into the room itself.

@whipsaw

“Full disclosure: I have owned three pairs of Harbeth speakers, and was, for a while, active on the Harbeth forum. I ultimately had a few run-ins with Alan Shaw, and was banned from the forum, as he wasn’t happy with my persistent challenges.

I mention this because my response to the above quote has nothing to do with my personal feelings about Shaw, and I hold his speakers in high regard.”

(1) MY TAKE:

- Yup…me too. I have HARBETH 30.2 XD speakers ,,,AND .,,,

- I was similarly, suddenly and surreptitiously banned from the HARBETH FORUM too for posting my findings immediately below. They did not marry up with Shaw’s pontifications. Yes… Alan is an extremely arrogant albeit fine product maker IMO.

“ … I would argue that the designers and owners of, among others, Audience cables, would take issue with Shaw’s assertions. I have owned several pair of Audience speaker cables over the past ~20 years, and currently use their AU-24SX. For those unfamiliar with Audience cables, they are extremely thin, and very flexible.

I have also owned high-quality, thick cables, such as Virtual Dynamics, and Purist Audio Design, and have always returned to Audience.

Would I prefer a thick cable of similar quality if I were to A/B test them? I don’t know. But what I do know is that the Audience sound very, very good, and it is difficult for me to imagine that the sound quality is meaningfully impaired by issues relating to high(er) resistance. I have also used them with quite a few different components, including speakers.

As a final note, I am not arguing with the science behind Shaw’s claim, but rather with his simplistic conclusion, which is, in my experience, somewhat typically arrogant.,..”

(2);MY TAKE : fair enough…carry on.sir! Your valid personal experiences are important here. thx for sharing. Simply put, intuitively, there is no absolute Anderson here. We all have different bespoke systems.
I’ve not had AUDIENCE speaker cables myself, and Alan Shaw does not have - and cannot - have all the absolute “ truths “in all circumstances IMO regardless of his pontifications to the contrary.

BUT ,,,,and it’s a BIG “BUT” …. I upgraded from a very thin-wire design all- NORDOST FREY cables loom (..their speaker cables specifically are a very very thin flat ribbon design…) to a thick all- CARDAS CLEAR loom :( CARDAS REFLECTION speaker cable / all CARDAS CLEAR IC and power cable array ) based on his quoted opinions posted above.

Yes … the upgrade in audio performance swap-in individually ( IC’s first, then power, and then finally the speaker cables in order) , each presented a sequential step-up in audio performance that was not subtle. The speaker cable component specifically mirrored Shaw’s stated opinion about wherein more metal = better.
Go figger.

MY OVERALL TAKEAWAY:

- Based on MY bespoke experience , Alan Shaw’s comments were validated in this specific instance , without question, Clearly, ( no pun intended ) , others may have valid different views.

- The large majority in the post so far is a huge majority cohort in the “yay” camp , as expected.

- Intuitively, before this potentially degenerates into another cable wars debated folly, let’s acknowledge and accept the binary choice cohorts ( cables matter vs. Cables don’t matter) are immovable polar opposites with absolutely zero chance of getting the other group to change their opinion…full,stop.

Always. YRMV.

I find that speaker cables always make a difference and are system/taste dependent but may make less of a difference with speakers that are easier to drive (i.e sensitivity > 90dB and minimum impedance 6 Ohms+). Definitely worth exploring, and with so many direct sellers with generous trial periods and a robust used market (at least for cables from reputable manufacturers) there’s really no excuse to not try a few cables in your system. Best of luck.

@akg_ca 

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Obviously related components can be a very important variable, and then there is the ever present question of diminishing returns. The other issue is that even if one wanted to A/B speaker cables, it wouldn't be easy to do, and for a variety of reasons.

Cheers!