Ready, set, comment! Speaker cables don’t make a difference?

petg60, that is exactly how people get sucker punched. The last thing you want to do is trust your ears. They will lead you astray all over the place.
If you want a really exceptional system by all means listen but understand you can be easily fooled especially if you have not trained your ears to know what flat and time aligned sounds like. Most people here are trying to function without a known reference in a situation were the frequency response of their system in their room can be +- 20 dB. In order to tell whether or not anything is making a difference you have to AB it multiple times preferably blind. In many instances what you think sounds better at first listening really does not and may even be worse.

Many people are listening to what I call exaggerated sound, boosted highs or mid bass (to make up for lack of real low end.) usually not caused by equipment but by the room. They mistake this for detail when in reality it is hiding detail. Measure or have your room measured. The graph will make you sick.

Throwing up room treatment without knowing what your room is actually doing is another extraordinary thing to do. Yes, you will change the sound in many instances making it worse. This is how I know "bass traps" do not work. I have measured them several times in different systems. All they do is absorb or redirect high frequencies, nothing else.

willie, yes silver has slightly lower resistance than copper. In the context of audio cables and wire it means absolutely nothing. You are talking about skin effect. Higher frequency alternating current electricity migrates to the surface of the conductor creating a "skin." the higher the frequency the thinner the skin which increases the resistance of the wire at these frequencies. Fortunately, bass frequencies, which require the most current, travel through the entire conductor. The most important factor with speaker wires is keeping them as short as possible followed by gauge and induction. Kimber Kable makes the lowest induction cable and 12TC ends up being 8 gauge. IMHO it is the best speaker wire made. Mono amps placed right near the speaker is always the best way to go. If you have to keep your amp far away from the speakers it is best to use speakers with a high impedance preferably 16 ohms and higher gauge wire with at least twisted pair construction. Zip cord is theoretically the worst. But, if I blind tested everyone on this thread it is highly unlikely that anyone could hear the difference between Kimber Kable and Zip cord.

As long as there are people who get sucked into spending ridiculous money on speaker cables this topic will survive and it is only one such topic in audiophilia. Manufacturers appeal to lay instinct and generate myths by the dozens. Everyone would be best served by spending this money on better speakers, subwoofers and amplifiers. 

If you really want to get down with speaker wire read Waldo Nell's, "The Real Science Behind Speaker Wires." This Audioholics video is dumbed down quite a bit. It is however applicable to both two channel and theater people. I also agree with him on Kimber Kable. If you want the best speaker wire at a very reasonable price get together with some other philes and buy a 50 foot roll then split it up. You will have to terminate it yourself but that is not at all hard to do.