I'm willing to be corrected here if I'm wrong but I read Mrt's questions as "What do I need to know if I wanted to design cables?" As a manufacturer, I'm not too inclined to give out formulas or techniques that accomplish certain sonic attributes for a lot of reasons...not to just keep "secret" what we do.
For now, I will suggest that in my view, everything matters in cabling and I don't feel that one particular set of priorities is more important than another. I attribute this to cables being a very "purist" type of passive circuit where everything can affect what the cable presents and where the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.
Materials, processing, applications and electrical targets are all important with not one being more important than another to realize design goals and sonic performance.
I don't guess this really answers the question like you want but like I said, as I understand the question, I'm not too inclined to answer more specific.
Maybe if the answers really matter, why not become a equipment hobbyist and experiment. Or, I suppose buy products from different Mfg'ers who you trust make a good product and that you're able to distinguish product differences from and let your ears tell the conclusions.
As an after thought, let me add this. Most folks don't understand why a set of speakers sound the way they do or an amp or CDP or other gear. We're more interested in simply how the gear sounds, many times regardless if the gear has impeccable measurements or not. We desire to own gear mostly based on how it sounds, not on how it measures or whether we understand all its workings. We're content to admire the complexity of a circuit or its craftsmanship but we own it primarily because we like how it sounds. Usually, a cord doesn't elicit much admiration or exude much complexity or craftsmanship. I gotta say though, the higher end PAD stuff is very nice in these regards. Kudos to Jim.
I wonder if one reason cable Mfg'ers get accused of being evasive as if they are hiding is that the seemingly simplicity of cabling begs to be explained since they seem to be so "simple" that anyone could understand what's going on and why...unlike the PhD it might require to understand some complex audio circuits. In reality, cables are not that simple....unless you're content to use zip cord. Still, even with zip cord, there's a lot going on, it's just that none of it is optimized for a given application. There is a myriad of details to consider in a good cord. From the billet to what kind of die to use for extrusion and on and on.
Obviously, I'm not the only one unwilling to go into a lot of detail of what we do and why. I suspect that makes some folks mad because "it's just a cord, how could it possibly affect the sound...if it does as claimed?" So, maybe we're kind of insulted that we're not able to understand because no one will tell us why something so simple, a cable, can have such an impact. We look under the hood of a CDP and see it complexity and we expect it to have a profound contribution to sound...end of discussion. Cut a wire in half and all you see is...wire! How can that make a difference! The simplicity of it all begs for an answer. Because of the time reputable wire designers spend discovering what does what and how to make that all work together, they're not willing to divulge at least a lot of their findings or "recipes" if you will.
Guys are funny like this: We perceive a problem that matters to us and we want answers. If we can't get answers, we persist one way or another. Some go on their own mission while it seems some get mad and blame or attack those who have the answers because they won't tell. LOL!...sounds like my neighborhood when I was a kid!
Anyway, just my opinion. Hope it's worth something.
Robert
RSAD
