The Speaker Cable Site

It’s a million dollar question which has sparked heated controversy and debate amongst enthusiasts, hardened audiophiles and scientists alike. Moreover, the question to us is not so much if there’s a measurable difference, but is the difference noticeable? These are all good questions which I will attempt to answer in a logical way and from an unbiased perspective.

Let’s take a step back and have a look at the issue at hand. The first question we need to ask is: does speaker cables actually have a material impact on any measurable specifications?

It is a proven fact that cable properties can be different. At the very minimum, a cable’s LCR (inductance, capacitance, resistance) properties vary greatly. Any LCR value greater than zero will cause distortion. It is also a generally accepted rule of thumb that a good speaker cable should have low inductance, whereas capacitance and resistance are less significant.

Adding to this, cable design can have a material affect on attenuation of induced noise. Ever had your hi-fi on and had your cell phone nearby during a call? Notice some funny beeps? That’s interference. When a device like a cell phone is operating, it transmits a large amount of energy into its surroundings, not just enough to induce noise, but to completely distort electronic signals nearby. This is why it’s illegal to use your phone on an aircraft – it can play havoc with communications equipment. With the prevalence of wi-fi internet, increased bandwidth and phone data traffic, there is a significant amount of waves in the air which can cause distortion. And although the interference from a cell phone is many times what normally exists in free space, it is nevertheless a factor to consider. EMF and RF are very real and material factors which can affect the performance of any cable.

So the next question is, can these problems be overcome or improved by better cables?

To answer this, we ask an expert in the subject with enough substantial experience and knowledge to back up his opinion. One such expert is Dr. Peter Karpowski, head of transmission line & noise engineering at the University of Melbourne. I’ve worked with Peter on a number of research projects over the years. He is a leading world expert on communication systems and audio noise performance, and he is also passionate about music and audio.

When asked about the effect of speaker cables (and audio cables in general) on sound performance, Peter’s opinion is conservatively pro-cable.

“Of course it makes a difference.” Peter says. “Every cable in the world causes distortion, and once distortion occurs, that part of the signal is lost forever.”

However he is also reserved about the capabilities of the larger commercial brands.

“The problem these days is that every cable product is made out to be like a supernatural force, as if it can correct distortion or something. The fact of the matter is, cables do make a difference, but hardly as much as what they’d like you to think. We’ve tested many cables in our labs and typically there is a definite measurable difference between some of the designs. However there’s no need to spend thousands of dollars on them. That sort of money is much better spent on other parts of your system.”

Needless to say, his logic makes incredible sense, and it is not surprising that the majority of experts agree.

The last thing to check is whether any of this will make a difference the end users. Will it stand up to a blind test? I took the liberty of setting this up one night to a few friends, all of which didn’t know anything about hi-fi. One was a common electronics consumer. One admittedly had poor hearing, and one with a some highly musically trained ears. Not only was he a trained classical musician, he had perfect pitch and could analyse sounds to spectacular detail.

I set up his experiment with my reference system, intermixing cables, tracks and time to listen. I used three cables: a cheap and thin copper figure 8 design cable, a thicker and more heavy duty copper cable, and a reasonably expensive silver cable. I made them fill out a sheet to say which bit sounded best.

The results were surprising. There was some mixed opinion about which copper cable was better, however it was a unanimous agreement that the silver cable sounded the best. Most of the feedback were comments like “wow, I never imagined how much difference speaker cables could make”. Strangely, this included the test subject with the worst hearing.

There is little doubt that speaker cables can make a difference in a good hi-fi system. Unfortunately, the industry is a little awash with manufacturers with large marketing budgets rather than good common sense. However if you go out there and investigate their claims, it is usually reasonably quick to determine if they come with any credibility. I suppose it all comes down to using the most important component in your hi-fi system: your ears.