Stranded vs singal core conductors and skin effect

I am an engineer. I would not worry too much - either stranded or solid core will work fine. Skin effect is a minor detail - it may affect what you hear above 15 KHz by as much as a mere 0.1 decibel in a worst case - that is assuming you have ears like a bat. If you are like me then it really doesn't deserve the worry.

On the other hand, although solid core is cheap it is also stiff and may give you more trouble with contacts (if you ever move your speaker or amp to clean then a flexible braided wire is much more sensible)

Geometry is best served with +/- speaker wires close together - this lowers inductance - but once again the effect on group delay (speed at which frequencies travel) is in the range of 100 nanoseconds so no need to panic - whatever exotic geometry excites you the most - take your pick - differences are extremely small. 100 nanoseconds is equivalent to 0.1 of a millionth of a second. This is small even if one hundred sounds big (in nanoseconds). I mean can you actually sit with your head and speakers positioned to the precision of one thousandth of an inch (much less than a human hair)- if you can then you should definitely start to worry about it as that is the kind of distance sound will travel in 100 nanoseconds.

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As an audio enthusiast with an engineering background, have you ever experimented with DIY cabling??

I have tried 12 AWG 16 AWG - can't say as I can hear a difference but I tend to try to choose components in a rather specific way;

=> speakers that are an easy load (not 4 Ohm and no nasty dips )

= amps whose output is not sensitve to load variations.

...perhaps this explains my experience perhaps I just have tin ears or I blindly accept all to readily what was taught to me in school. Whatever it is, my experience does not match what others find. So youu have to make up your own mind.

Musicnoise,

I could not agree more with your statement above. We live in a highly unethical modern world of sophisticated snake oil (couched in science). Audio cables are just a tiny microcosm of the problem. You have TV adds now (that governments allow) which suggest what ailments you may suffer from and what drugs you should ask your doctor to prescribe you. Worse you have Al Gore running around like Henny Penny telling everybody the sky is falling down with the snake oil of Global Warming. The science/data behind many modern ridiculous hyperbole is actually unfounded - all extrapolated from faulty statistical analysis/testimonials and a few kernels of truth, such as that CO2 is what atmospheric physicists would call a green house gas.

Sometimes I wonder if even keeping the DC resistance low by using large wire is important.

I agree it is relative. If you have a low impedance load then it starts to become a small factor. With well designed speakers and short runs and an appropriate amp - it is really no big deal at all. That this speaker cable issue continues to come up as often as it does suggests a great deal of insecurity over audio systems in general. Is it perfect? Am I missing something? Is something damaging my sound? Might gold or silver be better?

Like the nonsense spam email directed specifically at males, "How to better satisfy your wife/GF". Also obviously designed to play on male insecurities...