Is it the Cables or isit the plugs?
Was pondering this the other day.
You can wire your speakers up to some amps, not all, by just srewing them down under or through the binding posts.
Or you can fit banana plugs from a myriad of sources.
These can be crimped, grubscrewed or soldered.
So.
You spend hundreds on upmarket speaker cables.
Set aside whether "brand X" at a gazillion quid a centimetre is any better or worse than "brand Y" at a gazillion and one quid a centimetre.
Set aside whether you use el-cheapo grubscrew banana plugs from some shyster on "a popular we auction site" or whether you use hermetically sealed 6-N pure unobtainium solid-phase welded, heat treated in unicorn pee, items at a brazillion a plug.
What's the influence of the plugs and how they're attached?
What's the point of spending all that money on cables (and / or plugs) when you're basically relying on a friction metal-to-metal connection at either end anyway?
And then your wife gets out her Kylie CD (or worse)...
Okay, let the debate begin.
Do you believe cables are likely to make difference in the first place?
It's a fair question. I use banana plugs: gold plated type with the cable clamped by a knurled screw on top. Mainly I use banana plugs so that I can unplug the speakers easily and move them for hoovering. I really don't think they can improve the sound. If anything at all, they compromise it by adding another link in the chain.
Do you believe cables are likely to make difference in the first place?
I'm a frayed knot! 
Do you believe cables are likely to make difference in the first place?
I'm a frayed knot!
:rofl: 
Sorry I am a bit tied up at the moment.Give me a bit of slack
Do you believe cables are likely to make difference in the first place?
Up to a point.
I wouldn't use DIY-store "flat twin and earth" or doorbell wire, but I probably wouldn't pay stupid money, either. Where stupid begins, I'm not so sure. I guess spending 500 quid on cables for a 100 quid pair of chinese knock-off speakers might be a good example, though.
I do believe a decent cross-sectional area, good copper and good insulation and shielding play their parts. In my job we use subsea umbilicals, up to about 50 km long, to transmit control signals to and from subsea oil wells back to the controlling oil platform control rooms, and if the cable isn't up to it you just don't get a signal at the far end.
And then your wife gets out her Kylie CD (or worse)...
Hi.I use three different interconnects and they all sound different and likewise with speaker cables:)
Up to a point.
I wouldn't use DIY-store "flat twin and earth" or doorbell wire, but I probably wouldn't pay stupid money, either. Where stupid begins, I'm not so sure. I guess spending 500 quid on cables for a 100 quid pair of chinese knock-off speakers might be a good example, though.
I do believe a decent cross-sectional area, good copper and good insulation and shielding play their parts. In my job we use subsea umbilicals, up to about 50 km long, to transmit control signals to and from subsea oil wells back to the controlling oil platform control rooms, and if the cable isn't up to it you just don't get a signal at the far end.
IMO. The quality of the connection is more important than the method ie. If going with solder, then the quality and standard of the solder / soldering may come into play.
The material / fit of the connector also may play a part eg Whether Gold / Silver / Copper / Brass / Rhodium coated.
I think you are better with a quality factory termination than a DIY fitting with a grub screw, unless very handy with a soldering iron and use the right solder.
Bare wire is great but more fiddley, as care has to be taken with the connection and re-done if signs of corrosion.
I have heard better quality terminations make a difference.
I have heard better quality terminations make a difference.
My buddy from Butt-Fork, Louisiana, name of Boudreaux, tried "whittlin' some outta pecan wood" ....
They sure made a difference:rofl:
And then your wife gets out her Kylie CD (or worse)...
Jason and Justin are two names that spring to mind.
And then your wife gets out her Kylie CD (or worse)...
Dannii.
If you are the kind of person that likes nicely finished things ... terminate. I use bananas without the plastic cover, solder and shrink wrap for a neat finish.
I internally rewired my speakers and use leaded solder on the bass/mid drivers (copper cable) and silver content solder on the tweeters (silver plated copper cable).
regards
And then your wife gets out her Kylie CD (or worse)...
Dannii.
They don't come close to being truly awful....for that you have to look at Irish Country singers like Brendan Shine, Hugo Duncan and Philomena Begley. 
My Kylie Minogue CD's are fun to listen to. Well recorded, well produced pop songs.
It's quite possible that the plugs are making more difference than the cables in some bake-offs.
With mains cables the 3 pin plug, fuse and the IEC connector may well be making more difference than the cable itself.
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Do you believe cables are likely to make difference in the first place?
"Everything has been said before, but since nobody listens we have to keep going back and beginning all over again." André Gide