What would happen if?

BlindJim, you sure took the long way 'round John's barn on that one, son! [smile]. But, he's absolutely right - some extra cable hanging off ain't gonna make any difference in the sound, it's not in the circuit...

-RW-

A complete path is certainly not required for current flow. A capacitor connected across two battery posts is a perfect example. We all can agree the di-electric separates CONTINUOUS flow.

Two posts?

Try it with only one... that's what I'm saying. Just stick one lead of the cap onto one end of the battery and see how long it takes to charge that cap.

the Sun itself will burn out first.... but I suppose it might keep one off the streets.

Blindjim -- With all due respect, you are missing the point. Your suggestion of disconnecting just one leg of the cable that is not being used DOES provide a complete circuit, that includes the other leg of that cable.

Let's say that one of the two cables under test (call it cable 2) is disconnected on the positive leg, but left connected on the negative leg.

Current will flow from the positive output terminal of the power amplifier, through cable 1 to the speaker, then through the speaker, and then from the negative terminal of the speaker through BOTH cables back to the negative terminal of the power amplifier. It's as simple as that.

As a person with two degrees and several decades of experience as an electrical design engineer and manager, I am fully cognizant of the principle that a complete circuit is required for current to flow. There IS a complete circuit. But on one polarity it has two wires in parallel, and the current will utilize both of them, which, as I said, would invalidate the results of the test.

If for some reason you don't accept that, consider the case where one leg of BOTH cables is disconnected. So that on the positive leg you have one side of cable 1, and on the negative leg you have one side of cable 2. That would obviously provide a complete circuit as well, and would result in normal sound coming from the speakers, which I think helps to get across my point.

Regards,
-- Al

Super.

Good luck with that... and I do suppose this rhetoric and theory of your's is something you actually demonstrated recently to prove it?

or is this simple speculation?

I attached two sets of speakers to an SS amp. Two dissimilar types of speakers, I might add. two different types of cabling as well.

Turned on the gear after making up one speaker completely, but only making up the second pair of speakers with one or half the usual compliment of wires in use there....

Played some music.

Found out the speaker set that had only half of the normal compliment of cabling were broken.

They did not play any music... nor did they make any sounds.

I shut down the gear, and reversed the process.... same thing. Sheessh... now I've two sets of broken speakers.

Regardless how any of the pairs of speakers were attached to the amp, only those who had both a positive and negative lead afixed to their binding posts directly from the corresponding ones on the amp would play/work.

...but I do suggest everyone try this experiement for themselves. Maybe some amp & speaker combinations will run four speakers using one and a half sets of cabling.

Mine don't.