How many would be surprised?

Very interesting as I have been experimenting with 26 and 30 gage silver & copper wire (though different designs) and have listened to the "tape" IC's as well. It's also a lot of fun on the cheap.

Brian: Although all of my speaker cables and IC's are of micro wire design, if I were to peel back some mammoth insulation and also find these tiny wires, YES, I would be surprised.

DEKAY & WIREHEAD. YOU MIGHT ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THIS BUT IF NOT LOOK AT WWW.VACUUMSTATE.COM. THEY SELL A BOOK THAT EXTENSIVELY SHOWS HOME MADE INTERCONNECTS; SPEAKER CABLE; POWER CORDS AND THE THEORIES BEHIND THEM. AS INFO. (MY SILVER 30 GAGE .9999 ARE A LITTLE BRIGHT. TRY 40 GAGE MAGNET WIRE....I LIKE THAT SOUND BETTER)

For that matter, Nordost also uses tiny conductors in its flatline series -- which includes the bang for the buck (;)) Valhalla.

I wonder: is it *more* expensive to manufacture micro vs. larger gauge wire?

Heavier guage cable does not cost more to make. Since copper and silver are not really expensive materials.

IMHO, tiny guage cables tend to preserve the music signal better than larger guage cables. I use Audio Note Silver Speaker cables and they are about 18 ga or thinner. I was sceptical at first about the bass but guess what???? Bass was the deepest, quick, without BOOM and clarity without harsh and shrill. Beats cables 10 times the thickness.

One other thing about thinner cables....there is more finesse in the music too compared to the thicker cables.