Inter Connects - What I know and don't know

@williewonka 

Good post. Value added. Excellent that someone with the DIY bent chimes in. There are lots of variables… which is why different companies have pursued many different approaches. 

@wisccheese 

FYI. I am friends with dealer. He let me try a set of Nordost Odin 2 for a few weeks. I actually did not own them. After a couple weeks I had to take them out of my system as they were so good, I was starting to wonder how I could scrape together and buy a set every year. My average component cost is $20K…buying $17K interconnects… well, i’m retired… this is not something I should be considering. But I was…. They are really amazing.

OP… “I’m curious what (if any) objective truths their are regarding cables, conductors, connectors, shielding, etc.?”

No.

Only generalizations like copper is warmer than silver coated copper, which is less warm than pure silver. But, typically this only holds for inexpensive cables. I can’t tell you how wonderfull Nordost Odin 2 heavy silver cables are… not bright at all.

In general, more expensive cables sound better. Each company has a number of factors they feel  critical in achieving great sound. They use them. Only in the case of low quality wires will you find a good correlation between the parameters you listed. 
 

‘’High end cables use so many different combinations of materials, geometries and shielding you just can’t draw strong correlation. See Cardas cable site. They have great diagrams that show their approach.

But then there is the other problem. You have a unique system… any given… sets of three say $1K cables… they are likely to sound very different. I have had a set of $7K interconnects of a highly respected brand that sounded terrible between two particular components… when their othe cables sounded great. You must try them.

Finally there is your desired sound. The same set of interconnects in the same system may sound better to you and worse to the guy next to you. You like warm and natural and he likes detailed and flashy sound. So, you have to try them.

Also, you need to know exactly what your system sounds like before you go looking for interconnects. Everything needs to be broken in and you need a lot of listening time so you know how to make good comparisons and know when you found what you were looking for.

Finally the rule of thumb is to invest about 10 - 15% the value of your system in interconnects, cables, and power cords. I have never followed this rule, but over fifty years alway end up in that bracket when I have finished an upgrade cycle.