Thread: Component influence on speaker cable selection?

Interested in opinions on whether the speaker or the amp component has the most impact on synergistic selection of a speaker cable. Perhaps another way of considering the question would be that if we were to later change the least impactful component, we would be less likely to feel the need to also change the speaker cable. For my interests, we'd be talking about cone speakers and solid state amps, but I could also see where opinions might vary based on the technologies employed, etc. But perhaps we just can't generalize here?

Right, Mikado. And I recognize that much will also depend on what one is trying to achieve with the selection, e.g., looking for a neutral cable or trying to compensate for brightness somewhere in the audio chain, etc. The question I'm interested in here is confined just to the relative contributions of the speakers vs. the amp(s).

Good discussion, guys. Mike L's statement (below) seems like a good summary to me:

"most systems are speaker-centric, so that should be the most significant influence. and if you are trying to judge an amplifier, it helps to know the speaker cables are working in tandem with the speakers."

The two loudspeaker cable considerations are:
1] the loudspeaker frequency/impedance curve.
2] length of the cable.

With all due respect, in my opinion, there are more factors in play regarding differences in sound attributable to loudspeaker cables than the two you mention. Some examples: cable and connector materials, cable and connector quality, cable geometry, shielding, etc.

Originally Posted by Mikado463

all of which does NOT requiring spending the stupid $$ that 'some' insist upon !!

I’ve been an audiophile for at least 35 years now, I tried many cables and at every price range.
These days I’m using basic Belden cables ( blue jeans ) and I’m very happy with it even though it’s by far the cheapest item in my system.


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Originally Posted by Mikado463

all of which does NOT requiring spending the stupid $$ that 'some' insist upon !!

"stupid $$" is open for debate depending on business costs and perceived benefits delivered to the user. I can certainly agree that some cables are vastly overpriced.

Originally Posted by Mikado463

all of which does NOT requiring spending the stupid $$ that 'some' insist upon !!

"stupid $$" is open for debate depending on business costs and perceived benefits delivered to the user. I can certainly agree that some cables are vastly overpriced.

Originally Posted by GSOphile

Some examples: cable and connector materials, cable and connector quality, cable geometry, shielding, etc.

While each of these factors can occasionally enter the picture, each would be situation specific. With reasonable cables and reasonable systems, none would be high on the list.

I've done a fair bit of reading about this in the last year, and to the best of my understanding, the predominant factors are the impedance curve of the loudspeaker and the amplifier design that create an "interaction" that the speaker cable must be capable of dealing with. I used to naively think that speaker cables were simply "big wires" that carry current to the speaker drivers, but I've come to realize its considerably more complex than that. For one thing, certain loudspeaker impedance curves can cause an amplifier to become unstable and oscillate, and in this situation, the design configuration & complexities inherent in the speaker cable design and geometry as well as he amplifier design plays an influential role. My understanding is the worst kind of geometry are parallel wires, that is, "zip cord" style speaker cables.

Also, some folks think that the current in a speaker cable flows through the conductors like "water in a tube", and that is absolutely not what happens; its quite a bit more complex than that. What speaker cables actually carry is an electromagnetic wave which propogates along the cable, and thus is subject to "summations" and "cancellations" that any series of waves is; they are also subject to "reflections" which are influenced by the cable length. Further, velocity of propogation (Vp) of this EM wave varies by frequency. These different "Vps" are part of the why speaker cables and their design are amongst the most complex and also important cables in a stereo system (next to power and digital cables).

Couple of last points: speaker cables are subject to current resonance modal distortions as well as RF from gigahertz computer CPUs and GPUs, where, for these bandwidths, they can function literally as antennas, picking up the RF and feeding it backwards into the amp, only to be re-amplified as noise.The latter is why it's really a bad idea to a computer or any high-bandwidth CPU functioning as a music server anywhere near your main audio rack and speaker system.

So, yeah, there's a lot going on that a speaker cable must deal with...

Originally Posted by GSOphile

With all due respect, in my opinion, there are more factors in play regarding differences in sound attributable to loudspeaker cables than the two you mention. Some examples: cable and connector materials, cable and connector quality, cable geometry, shielding, etc.

That is correct. Also reflections and current modal resonance distortions are factors.

'Puma Cat' most of what you read, applies to cables in the hundred Megahertz range. At audio frequencies, speaker cables just don't work that way.

Originally Posted by GSOphile

With all due respect, in my opinion, there are more factors in play regarding differences in sound attributable to loudspeaker cables than the two you mention. Some examples: cable and connector materials, cable and connector quality, cable geometry, shielding, etc.

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

That is correct.

My opinion too. Absolutely correct!