Here is some info that I deemed very insightful from long ago:
(the source Warren with EE degree from Stanford)
Any of the people who try to have empirical discussions about cables will bring up figures like capacitance. They mean well, but they are almost universally using a linear no-threshold model without realizing it. A linear no-threshold model is embodied in the concepts "less capacitance always produces equivalently better sound" and "you can never have too little capacitance."
The problem is that a linear no-threshold model is essentially never physically valid. In the context of audiophile gear, many people misunderstand that capacitance is necessary for your amplifier to operate properly. Almost all op-amps, for example, require some load capacitance to remain stable. If you lower the capacitance, the amplifier will begin to distort or, worse, spontaneously oscillate. Op-amps are designed for efficiency over a relatively broad range of acceptable load capacitances, and thus capacitance does not obey a linear no-threshold model. Furthermore, the engineers who built your sound equipment stuck some capacitors on the board specifically to make sure the amplifier always sees enough load capacitance.
Besides -- look at the specifications on your cables. Almost all of them, even the super high-grade cables, will have capacitances in the ballpark of 10-20 pF per foot. The lesson is that you should be more concerned about the length of your cables than the type of your cables, if you worry about capacitance at all. (And you probably shouldn't.)
don't forget those chintzy 3.5mm mini-phono plugs! They're terrible from an electrical engineering perspective. They have large capacitance, large contact resistance, etc. If you're really concerned about interconnect, why not use modern connectors like SMA or SMB that have vastly superior electrical characteristics? That'll certainly have a much larger effect on the overall transmission line than simply connecting two mini-phono plugs with a wire as big as a baby's arm.
The second figure everyone brings up is resistivity. Since you're not driving power over your interconnect, resistance should be the least of your concern. If you look at the telegrapher's equations, you'll see that real resistance only contributes to attenuation. In other words, you'll lose some signal amplitude over a length of cable if its resistance is high. Real resistance does not alter the transmitted waveform in any other way; it does not affect waveform shape or spectral content. [these brackets are my personal notes: I have never tried an attenuator that did not dull the sound in an unlikeable way. A good passive preamp that will do this without audibly affecting the sound usually costs over $2000 from information I can find because I obviously wouldn't pay]
Oxygen-free copper and so on provide improvements in resistivity of at most about 2%. This means, well, essentially nothing. It means you'll have to turn the knob on your receiver a couple more microns clockwise if you use normal cables. [personal note time again: I read that the process removes iron impurities from the copper, those couple of extra notches could cause more distortion or clipping to be imparted. Thats audible.]
It's already been discussed here many times, so I won't belabor the point, but there's no point in using an enormous cable to connect integrated circuits. Forget about the pins on the iPod dock. Forget about the 10 micron board traces. Realize that inside the black plastic package of your integrated circuits, the signals are being carried on tiny gold wires thinner than a human hair. [my customary personal thought: why should one flaw lead to another? I personally hope they aren't gold wires, I rather prefer silver or copper as conductors. I think the gold is there to prevent corrosion or tarnish which affects sound quality. to clarify, silver oxidation problem isn't audible because of the resulting chemical not changing properties of capacitance. Copper oxidation causes problems. Tarnish will very likely cause problems every time with the connection]
Anytime someone tries to personify electrons, or make weird analogies between fluid flow or feng shui and electron conduction, be wary: that person doesn't know anything about how signals actually propagate through wires. [yeah, thats probably a good point, I don't think its quite that simple, but it could work for a working man metaphor I suppose]
Anyone who tells you they can hear things that cannot be conclusively shown on a decent-quality oscilloscope is lying to you (and probably to themselves, as well). Measurement equipment is hundreds or thousands of times more sensitive than human senses. It's positively silly for someone to claim that they can hear something that a high-end spectrum analyzer cannot detect. [no comment here, he's the professional]
On the other hand, almost no one can really tell the difference between cables, even experienced audiophiles. Perhaps a few people really can, but the majority of the market cannot. This means the market cannot reliably set prices, which is why you find cables priced at anything from $1 to $3000. [Alright, I understand audiophiles tend to be obsessive compulsive. Tube amps for coloration, but the want for neutral cables point taken. "But the spectrum analyzer!" you might say. Its probably inaudible, you may want the comfort in knowing its there. Still seems pretty obvious that most high-end cable manufacturers have an unreasonable markup once you calculate the cost of materials and manufacturing. Your money is better spent elsewhere unless you have more money then you can spend.]
When you get down to the small, relatively unknown companies, no one really knows which ones are better, and the prices between them can fluctuate wildly with no real rhyme or reason.
I personally feel the best hi-fi system is the one you enjoy the most. "Enjoyment" is a subjective term, of course. Personally, I enjoy musical variety more than anything else. I love having (and knowing) a large collection of music, because I enjoy always having the right music for every occassion. I like always being able to get people dancing at
parties. I like having people come up to me and say "wow, I love this music, what is it?" I like taking road trips with people, and having them tell me later that the best part of the trip was the music.
Other people like the look of their sound systems. They want lights and meters and fancy looking interconnects. Maybe they want to impress people, or maybe lights and meters are just their thing. To them, it's incredibly important that their system look as good as it sounds. So be it.
Other people simply view cables as the "final touches" on their masterpiece sound system. They may admit that it doesn't really affect the sound perceptibly, but they enjoy the system more because it feels "complete" and finished to them. So be it.
Again, the best hi-fi is the one you enjoy and use the most.
- Warren
[maybe I'll search out the original post some time]
