High end audio

Misunderstanding Resistance And Other Pitfalls
If a speaker cable used a single 0.8mm strand of copper, it would have too much resistance to do its
job properly. Speaker sensitivity varies, but if the path between the speaker and amplifier has too much
resistance, the sound quality will suffer. Such degradation is not actually distortion in the cable, but is
the result of using too small a cable. For this reason, even a short speaker cable should be at least 18
awg (.82 sq. mm) or larger.
Power loss due to resistance is not usually a significant problem. If a very small cable were to cause
a 10% power loss, the result would be like turning down the volume a fraction of one dB. If a signal
has been robbed of the information that allows you to perceive dynamic contrast, harmonic beauty and
subtlety, we tend to refer to the loss as an "amplitude" loss. However, the signal sounds so dull and lifeless
at the far end of a poor cable not because of lost power, but because of added distortion.
Unfortunately, the language of audio very often includes misleading terms. Many types of distortion are
referred to as making the sound "bright" or "dull", both of which imply a change in amplitude. "Bright" is
often used as a way of saying that harshness in the upper midrange has somewhat the same effect as

turning up the treble. "Dull" is often thought of as turning the treble down, even though it is usually the
result of distortions which obscure information. In most products, and certainly in cables, the amplitude
response (frequency response) is not the culprit.
Probably the biggest obstacle to predictably assembling a high performance audio or video system is
too much thinking and not enough evaluating. It is tempting to follow some logical story as to why some
key ingredient will make all the difference, when in fact, pursuing any one priority almost always means
inadequate attention to dozens of other often more important concerns. Please be careful not to get
seduced by some common myths. Simplistic and ineffective solutions are often "sold" as cures for complicated
problems. Dogma isn’t productive, results are what count. The best phono cartridges aren’t the
ones with the lowest tracking forces, S-video outputs are not necessarily better than composite, two
way speakers are not necessarily better or worse than three way speakers, more powerful amplifiers
are not etc. The most relevant fallacy in this discussion is the one about "the more strands, the bigger
the cable, the better".