A question about the logic of interconnect cables

I am not technically trained so I can't give an authoritative, scientific answer. However, I too am curious as to the answer. Here are some speculative, albeit uninformed, thoughts.

1. Some high end manufacturers do not believe you need any "special" wire". As long as there is good contact at the terminals, no film of dirt or oxidation, and sufficient wire gauge, then that is generally sufficient.

2. The wire inside the component may not be as good as some "special" interconnects. So the better interconnects may subtract less during transmission, so to speak, than the component's internal wire. For example, the interconnect may be better shielded than the wire inside the component.

3. The signal is passing through terminals which may alter its charcteristics. In other words, the signal inside the component before it reaches the output terminal may not be the same as the signal after it passes through the output terminal on its way to the power amp. So the interconnect may be optimized for the different signal characteristics than what is ocurring in the component. This is a variation of number 2 above. Number 2 suggests the wire in the component may not be as good. Number 3 suggests it is the terminal which are having an effect, therby necessitating a different wire.

4. There are good marketing people who make you believe the interconnect is "special", when in fact it may make no difference.

I shall be interested to see what others say.

The best amps and pre's do not have much wire inside.. point to point soldering and interconnect RCA female terminals are connected/soldered inside directly to a board without wire. Bottom line is interconnects DO AFFECT sound, just try a few different ones and listen and you will see.

Thanks for the info...and I don't mean to belabor the point BUT..if all what is true above and RCA plugs. XLR connectors do affect the signal ..then why are we not soldering our cables board to board?

You very well could solder your cables board to board, but how practical would that really be?

I've seen, the odd time, a component with seperate power supply, modified in such a way, but woe to he that has to move the components around, etc.

-not to mention the elaborate ritual that would surely be made of a/b testing of various cables....for what minute degree of improvement?

why are we not soldering our cables board to board?

Practicality, as suggested above.
Otherwise, it's an excellent thing to do.
Practicality come in when you wan to, say, change a cable, or lengthen, or move the components apart or change one of the components...
...and you know, soldering & de-soldering boards will ultimately make a mess of those boards.
Plus, if the wire used is an expensive designer "cable" (say, Prada :)), you lose much of its resale value!

That's it, really.