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Make lasting connections

By Roy Johnson, loudspeaker designer, Green Mountain Audio, Inc.

The signal cables between your CD player and preamplifier or to the power amplifier have a much greater influence on the sound than most people suspect. There are those who hear little difference, and we have no doubt that is true when we have heard many stereos, speakers, styles of music, and recordings that do not reveal much difference. Here is what you need to know about their sonic differences and conductors.

Benefits of interconnects

When the stereo and speakers have the ability to pass the subtleties of the music, you hear grace and power. You hear inflections, timbres and hidden harmonies, if the cables can also pass those small changes. Those changes define the beginning of each note, how it swells and then decays into reverberation. They include what happens in the midst of big sounds. We have heard an expensive cable that made a trumpet sound flat on one note. Another made the music boring, with no dynamic swing.

The best cables reveal more emotion on every note, personality in every voice, and purity of the sound because another layer of haze has been stripped away (actually, not added).

Advertising versus science

There can be no 'best' cable design, because all elements of a cable influence the signals. The best cables have always come from designers who understand the physics of what can happen to the small and large signals in the interconnect cables. They perform many tests on each variable to better know the influence of each. They are not wedded to one, unchanging design philosophy year after year.

Many cable companies just state they work hard to bring you the best sound, finest materials, 'leading technology,' and superb workmanship. We wish we could read about a cable designer's theories, experimental methods, and experience.

So, almost two decades ago, we realized we had to listen. We play a very wide range of music on simple, ultra-high-performance systems. There is usually only one pair of interconnects between the source and power amplifier; usually no preamplifier in the way, and no switches. So, it is important to listen for yourself and reject any cable that does not make a substantial, immediate difference. It helps to know some facts peculiar to interconnects before deciding what will be worth your time to audition.

Conducting the signals

The metals and the metallurgy used to produce the cable's conductors are important. The size and arrangement of the conductors are important. So is their insulation and the materials and construction of the RCA plugs at each end. See our section on How to Choose Speaker Cables for more information about the types of metals and insulation. There are specialty companies that manufacture only the RCA plugs with different amounts of silver or gold-plated copper.

One needs to know that many cable manufacturers advertise two conductors inside are 'symmetric' in their placement, insulation, size, and materials because there are both + and - signals to carry. Symmetry makes sense, except that there are no '+ and - signals.' Actually, the entire audio signal, '+ OR -' is transmitted only on the center conductor. What does this tell you about that company's level of understanding?

The other conductor in the cable is simply a ground wire. It allows the two components, such as a CD player and preamp, share the same 'Zero Volt' reference. This 0-Volt 'plane' is what that one + OR - signal 'pushes OR pulls' away from. That second conductor could be replaced by a simple alligator-clip connection. Experienced cable designers still tell us that the quality, size, shape, and placement of that second conductor do matter, and symmetry can be bad for the sound. None say why.

There can be a third conductor in some RCA interconnect cables, claimed to be a shield against radio interference. However, most are always connected with that second wire at each end, making it not much of a shield at all, according to the reference books on the theories and best practices for shielding.

Recommendations

We like Audio Magic and Marigo Audio cables. While we cannot audition every cable, certainly many excellent ones exist. Manufacturers are invited to send their cables for evaluation.