Do speaker cables matter?

Want some controversy? Here you go.

[edwardallan]

Spring clips are fine but many audiophiles like to listen in summer, fall & winter. Summer clips employ a light, breathable copper weave. Winter clips are thick & well-insulated. I never have a problem!

[jeanious]

Spring loaded terminals gives the bass and mids a bouncy sound.😂

[solidaudioTV]

There seems to be a million opinions on speaker cables and interconnects. I'll just say that in all my years in this hobby (still have good hearing BTW), I've learned that using good sense, some basic science, and doing your own testing can protect you from getting ripped off or being sold snake oil. I appreciate what industry guys like Paul have advised - spend a reasonable percentage of your audio budget on cables, but devote the majority of your funds to the speakers and amps.

That said, I have done my own A/B comparisons and can report beyond any shadow of doubt that even the thickness of your cables can make a huge difference. Just moving from "lamp cable" as he mentioned to good 12-gauge many years ago on a modest mid-fi system, made a MASSIVE difference, especially in the bass response. It was not some subtle nuance that only I could hear, but everyone in my family could tell the difference. It was like I had bought new speakers.

So yes, cables are important. But don't just take someone else's word about what sounds good - do your own listening tests to determine what makes your system sound the best for your particular interest and budget.

You are probably the most genuine high-end audio guy I've ever encountered, Paul. I love your channel.

[m.]

As an electrician of many years and now retired, I can tell you, high current transfer needs solid connection with adequate surface contact.
Spring speaker connectors *don't offer that*, especially when connected to current hungry loudspeakers.
Simple as that. 🙂

[beer_goggler]

Put a sine wave through some regular speaker cable, put an oscilloscope on either end and measure the difference. For any length less than 100 metres you wont see any degradation in signal. Its complete bunkham. Even better get a 3rd party to do a blind test for an audiophile, they'd not be able to tell the difference between a $1 cable and a $1000 cable. You never see genuine blind tests because no audiophile would have the balls to be humiliated with the truth.

[kidzrevilTV]

your videos convinced me to buy audioquest cables and the difference has been massive. I moved from monster cables to an audioquest big sur and woah what an upgrade. I stepped up to the audioquest sydney and im just blown away at how a cable could alter the character of a speaker. It's the same sound signature of the speaker but the distortion is gone and it sounds so much wider

[jimrogers]

Many years ago the Nashville chapter of AES had a speaker cable shootout. The test was a double blind test that was comparing all of the new ‘shee-shee’ speaker cables. A computer was used to switch cables and keep track of the results. Just for giggles, the guy setting up the test inserted two coat hangers in the lineup! Oddly enough… COAT HANGER WON… and everyone was dumbfounded.

The most important aspect of cable is over sizing the speaker cables. However, there’s another often overlooked factor, that being the cable internal to the amp that runs from the output transistors to the binding posts. Many amp manufacturers use a heavy gauge hookup wire… something that has a much higher resistance to the current required for the low end. I know of one custom speaker manufacturer had had an amp OEM’d for them… the only difference being much larger lands on the output board and 12 gauge wire from the output board to the binding posts. The amp had impressive low end capability.

Knowing Paul and PS Audio, my guess is that they’ve considered EVERY factor in their amps so that even the smallest details have been considered. Cheers to you, Paul!

[paulgeek]

@paulgeek
3 minutes ago
If you are not happy with the sound of your system, in my opinion, the worst money you can spend is on cable to fix it. Spend all your money on the components that you like. If the cable is your make-it-break-it part you didn't buy the right parts. How about adding a picture or carpet to the room? Changing the base or treble setting one notch either way is going to make a far more dramatic change. And I promise most of us wouldn't notice that. You can find the exact sound you want with a basic copper cable.

[peripheral]

ha. a decade ago at my local thrift i scored a pair of Statements for Fifty Bucks cdn. On your PS website i wrote that I Heard More. I also prob'ly wrote that The biggest problem is Not stereo gear; but finding New music that keeps ya up late on a skinight.

[MegaFguy]

My take on this matter Speaking from personal experience, your spring clips are fine, just do not use a connector on the speaker wire. Make sure you plug in bear speaker wire to that spring clip. For quite a while I used banana plugs on my speaker wire but they were clamped into the speaker wire clamp instead of plugged into the banana plugs (The banana plugs on my speakers had a cap on them and I had tried to take the caps off and couldn't so that's why I ended up just clamping the banana plug into the speaker wire clamp on my speaker, I hope that makes sense). When I finally changed one and plugged it into the banana plug, what I found was that the one speaker then sounded different from the other speaker until I changed both over to banana plugs as well. The difference was more than noticeable.
I could be wrong but if I had to say it or be shot I would say that using the banana plug in a spring clip, you're only going to have a knife edge contact from that spring clip on the banana plug which isn't going to be able to pass enough current to make your speaker sound proper. Anybody who reads this and has an electrical background and wants to correct what I've said. Please feel free.

[kccvh]

I've always preferred 12AWG low-voltage lighting cable for making speaker cables, as the resistance of a ten-foot cable is only 32 milliohms and it is sensibly priced at around 50¢ per foot. Likely the internal wiring of the amplifier and speaker cabinet has more resistance than these cables.

[gsbass]

I'm an advocate for BI wiring a two-way speakers.
My low-end speakers cables are 14 and 12 gauge. My highs are 16 gauge cables, and it made a difference. 12 gauge for more pronounced piano. 14 gauge for mid highs and 16 gauge for more crisp highs.

[BlankBrain]

My tweeter amp is a Sony TAN-5550 (circa 1979), which uses V-FETs in the output stage. I like the sound. My bass and mid-bass amps use bipolar transistors, which I also like.

[finscreenname]

The real issue with spring clips is they break and fall apart. Not that they are a bad connection.

[tubefreeeasy]

There needs to be a school for audiophiles. In this school, the students must earn credits by forcing students listen to schooling provided cables. Not of price but by materials used.

You have to pass a hearing test in order to enroll.

[CustomTeleRI]

Yes, we used to used lamp cord - and it's typically 18 AWG :o)

[DrNoahBoddy]

For speakers, I use lamp cord, and will continue to do so.
Now, having said that, I will spend some fairly thick change on IEC power cords. They’re far more important in my opinion 🌹✨🤔

[BarbaraPape-yg]

I started work as an A/V tech in the early 70's and most gear had the infamous spring clip speaker
connectors, and often bell wire was used to connect to the speakers.
Then as things improved along came OFC 79 strand cable and 4mm terminal posts on the amp and speakers.
Todays gear is way ahead of what we drooled over in the 70's but that older gear when fully serviced with efficient
speakers can still sound good, just dont use bell wire !

[acreguy]

After reading dozens of comments, no one has mentioned that the speaker length is a factor. Most systems have fairly short runs but there are those that exceed 20 feet. I'm not an engineer but my thoughts lean toward using a heavier gauge wire. Any other opinions most welcome. Thanks.