can speaker cables help?

Without mentioning your equipment or room setup this is like throwing darts at a board, so let us know what you've got if you can.

That said, cables can help if the ones your currently using are masking detail in your system, thereby clouding the information at the rear of the stage. However, I think it's much more likely it has more to do with either your speakers and/or how you've placed them in your room(of course it's also dependent on the other components in your system). If you haven't done so, try pulling the speakers out 4 feet or so from the front wall to give them some room to breathe(it may look silly, but just try it and see what happens). It's impossible to say at this point, but if it's not speaker placement it's more likely your speakers and/or box components are the problem. One other related point, certain music lends itself to this type of soundstage more than others, so if you're listening mainly to mainstream pop/rock it will have less apparent depth than well-recorded jazz or classical music.

Tim

In my experience, Soix is dead-on regarding speaker placement. It took me about two weeks of fiddeling (20 min per day after work) to get my set-up where I was satisfied. One problem, and it just might be me, after about 15 minutes of listening I seemed to loose my objectivity. I had to keep notes to insure I was making progress. After that, I begged, borrowed and finally bought new cables. They did make a noticable difference but I do not think I would have recognised their added value, without first being sure they were the only change.

I completely agree with the two previous posts, speaker placement is SO very important. My listening chair has castors so I can roll around and change my listening distance. The change in soundstaging and location of musical elements is very noticeable. Positioning of speakers and their toe-in is also critical to the size and focus of the aural illusion.

Consttraveler, just like you I lose a lot of my objectivity if I listen too long. It may have to do with our attention spans or maybe it's just that we adjust to what we're hearing and the difference we noted earlier recedes into haze.

Just to add to the good info from the previous posters -- EVERYTHING-- matters and contributes-- once the speakers are set up. Be it cables or the components themselves. Then there is room treatments. Got them first reflection points treated?--Big help,to be had.--Corners of the ceiling,etc.-- just like the ladys of the night--you gotta work the room!!

My brief experience in this hobby agrees with George's statements. I have and haven't noticed changes both good and bad to my system's sound by altering components, cables/cords, isolation tweaks, power conditioning and positioning.

But that being said, I apologize Claude for possibly adding confusion to your question. Cables whether they be interconnects, speaker cables or power cords can have an effect on soundstaging. It would help if you could list your components, then maybe some recommendations would follow.

I've found Monster M1000 interconnects to dramatically enhance the illusion of depth....IN MY SYSTEM.

I fully agree with the remarks posted by George above.
Speaker cables certainly can make a difference in the
sound of your system. So can speaker placement, the type
of interconnects you use, and the various components in your
audio system. Mostly what it comes down to is matching the
right components with the right connections. It certainly
helps a lot if you have rather revealing speakers - such
as Wilson or Thiel - which tend to show up the shortcomings
in your sources or interconnects.