Here is a better link from Effischer's post above. I clicked on it and got a 404 message.
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm
I don't think it is a bad thing to ask people about their experiences with cables to get an idea of performance. This audio hobby is pretty rough if you can't get to a dealer who has all sorts of speaker wire for you to audition. I've done my share of buying and trying and then re-selling and it took a toll on my listening as well as my wallet. Trying to remember and document findings when certain changes and wires were put in began to suck the joy out of listening to music. One guy I met got so burned out with noting changes with cables and tweaking he stopped listening to music and his system for 2 years.
I've stopped wondering what makes a cable more expensive than others. If you have a set of speaker cables in your system and your system sounds good just sit back and enjoy. You can drive yourself mad trying to figure out what makes certain cables more expensive than others. Lots of cable manufacturers have all sorts of costs and other factors that go into their pricing. If you can find a cable maker that shows cut-outs of what their cables look like inside in addition to details about cable construction that can give you some insight into what can make the cable so pricey.
Also SunnyJim why not try meeting up with Stewart Ono (unclestu) or Walter Liederman (Underwood Wally) in your neck of the woods? They have lots of experience with selling all sorts of cable etc. They could give you insight to your query.
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm
I don't think it is a bad thing to ask people about their experiences with cables to get an idea of performance. This audio hobby is pretty rough if you can't get to a dealer who has all sorts of speaker wire for you to audition. I've done my share of buying and trying and then re-selling and it took a toll on my listening as well as my wallet. Trying to remember and document findings when certain changes and wires were put in began to suck the joy out of listening to music. One guy I met got so burned out with noting changes with cables and tweaking he stopped listening to music and his system for 2 years.
I've stopped wondering what makes a cable more expensive than others. If you have a set of speaker cables in your system and your system sounds good just sit back and enjoy. You can drive yourself mad trying to figure out what makes certain cables more expensive than others. Lots of cable manufacturers have all sorts of costs and other factors that go into their pricing. If you can find a cable maker that shows cut-outs of what their cables look like inside in addition to details about cable construction that can give you some insight into what can make the cable so pricey.
Also SunnyJim why not try meeting up with Stewart Ono (unclestu) or Walter Liederman (Underwood Wally) in your neck of the woods? They have lots of experience with selling all sorts of cable etc. They could give you insight to your query.