[Audio Empire]

I have to wonder where all of this mythology about interconnects and speaker
cable comes from.

When I first got out of college, many years ago, I went to work as an
engineer at Lockheed Missiles & Space Company's Cable Laboratory where I
spent three years. In the process of specifying all of the cable and
connectors for the Polaris Poseidon Missile, I learned pretty much all there
is to know about both cable and connectors and their application to
everything from low voltage DC to UHF AC and everything in between. It turns
out that both are very well understood and very well characterized areas of
electronics and as theory goes, the principles are quite simple. There are no
"unknowns" about designing specific cables for specific applications, there
is no voodoo, no magic, and there have been no "breakthroughs" in the last 50
years to account for the kinds and prices of cable that are being marketed by
audio snake-oil salesmen. I will also guarantee you that IF any breakthroughs
in this area have occurred, they did not emanate from companies like Nordost,
AudioQuest, Kimber, et al.

The bottom line is that for DC through about 100KHz, wire is easy. Almost
anything that is a decent conductor from aluminum to copper to silver will
work equally well in any practical sense. Above about 10 KHz, length becomes
a problem with coaxial cable and small signals. Any interconnect using
coaxial cable will start attenuating frequencies above 10 Khz at some cable
length. But this length is pretty long. If you have your preamp in the den,
and your high-powered tube power-amps in the garage, 80 ft away, then you
need to choose your interconnects for extra-low shunt capacitance and low
resistance. But, if your components are located on the same shelf next to one
another, or, are on different shelves of the same cabinet, where they are
only a meter or two away, Any audio cable will work equally as well as any
other, and none will have ANY effect whatsoever on the resultant sound.

Several things are for sure, cables, whether interconnects or speaker cables,
which alter the signal passing through them are not doing their job. At best
they are "fixed tone controls" and at worst they are a fraud. As far as plain
cables are concerned (IOW, just plain wire or coaxial cable with the proper
connectors and terminations on each end), no double-blind test has EVER been
able to distinguish a cheap or home made interconnect from an expensive one.
Also, no double-blind listening test has ever been able to tell the
difference between a properly sized (for the power being transferred) length
of zip-cord and any exotic speaker cable either.

My advice is to buy on build quality. Nothing is more frustrating than an RCA
to RCA interconnect that has failed. Cheap, molded ones tend to be
unreliable, well made ones tend to last longer. If your equipment has
gold-plated female RCA connectors on it, by all means buy interconnects that
have gold-plated male RCAs on them. The beauty of gold is not that it's a
great conductor of electricity, it isn't. But what it is, is non-corrosive
making the connection surfaces clean, thus maximizing the surface contact
area. While correctly designed cables make no difference in the sound, dirty
or loose connections can. Keep your connector interfaces clean by using cable
cleaners and contact enhancers such as DeOxit and Stabilant* and keep your
connections tight. Forget the fancy, expensive stuff (unless you have money
to burn and just like the bling factor. I don't think that most expensive
interconnects and speaker cable are any worse than honest, well made and
inexpensive ones, they just aren't any better), buy decently made cables and
enjoy your audio system.

*Stabilant contact enhancer used to be sold by Dayton-Wright as "Tweek".
While Tweek is no longer available, Stabilant 22A (which is what Tweek was)
is available in bulk form from a number of online suppliers. Google is your
friend. Believe me, this stuff is NOT mouse-milk like green-pens for CDs, it
really enhances contact area on two mating surfaces by filling in the
microscopic voids in the metal. Nostrums like this which sport Mil-Spec
numbers, SAE part numbers, and NASA part numbers (as Stabilant does) are
unlikely to be frauds. It works on several levels. Not only does it increase
surface area of mating connectors, but it forms a film between them that
keeps corrosion OUT, insuring a gas-tight connection. It isn't cheap, but a
15 ml bottle will last many years.