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Exposing the Speaker Wire myth
Sometimes we like to read about things we already know...just to confirm what we already believe. Blasphemy on an 'audiophile' site but, common knowledge here.
I found this article interesting nonetheless:
Roger Russell – a former engineer and speaker designer for McIntosh Labs – describes the introduction of expensive speaker wire brands, and critiques their performance in his online essay called Speaker Wire
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm
p.s. I suppose this is a little dig at the "other half" but, I still can't figure out what audiophiles hear??
Maybe there is more to it
I was pretty skeptical about magic speaker wire but tried some and did hear a difference.
On wondering why, one thing came to mind. My (old) speakers were VERY inefficient (83 db) and magic wire has low overall impedance so the speaker can draw more current than with regular wires. I think the speaker load is part of the amplifier feedback circuit, so magic wire with lower inductance and capacitance may interact less with the driving end. But, I think the key idea is that inefficient speakers place a tough load on the electronics and need all the help they can get.
Since the magic wire experiment I replaced the audiophile speakers with LSR 6332s. What a difference. The much higher efficiency makes music sound very lifelike because it has better dynamic range. I used a longer run of cheapo speaker cable to get the JBLs to a place where they sounded best and these speakers seem to care less about magic wire than the audiphile ones.
As for me, I now care less about audiophile stuff. The new JBL speakers are fantastic. All my music is much more involving to listen to. I am not looking back.