A Practical Guide To Cable Upgrades

A Practical Guide To Cable Upgrades

I started sweeping the floors at my Uncle Joe’s hi-fi shop when I was 14 years old.

15 years later and I’d been blessed with industry experience, then able to guide clients through loudspeakers, amplifiers, CD players and the rest of it…

Yet there was an entire category I was not so intimate with, even then.

Ah yes, cables. In my decade-and-a-half in the industry I’d developed a serious skepticism around them.

So when Uncle Joe had a chance to bring the premium cable brand Nordost onto our catalogue, I fervently opposed the idea. I didn’t believe it would add value to what we do.

That’s when an associate and dear friend— a chap called Warren Stolmack who had 50 years’ experience in the industry— posed a challenge to me: “You come with me, young one, and I’ll show you the ways.”

I suspended my disbelief and agreed. Why? Because Warren was one of the only experienced reps who’d make it a point to connect everyone when he visited our shop— including me, the youngest guy on the floor. I had a special respect for him.

Warren sat me down and asked me to close my eyes… and then he ran a blind test of three different cables. Whatever cables he picked, this demo made an impact on me. That day my bias shifted from “negative” to “cautiously optimistic.”

Having an open mind thanks to my admiration for Warren was the first step. Then, after we decided to move forward with Nordost, I ended up on the road with their team. I sat in on trainings. I learned theories. I saw demonstrations. I read white papers. And having studied physics and engineering in uni, I quickly realized there HAS to be a difference in what cables do.

Before long, I also found that the difference is also audible.

Now let’s get one thing clear: cables do NOT make a system sound better…

Rather, all cables atrophy an audio signal to some degree by virtue of their resistive properties. Thus, a cable upgrade aims to take LESS away from the signal… to let MORE of the actual audio system shine through.

There’s a very practical way of looking at this. One that’s worth knowing if you’ve invested your money into a high-quality music system (or plan to). Ignoring this important part of a system is like pairing an expensive suit with $9 shoes from K Mart, or leaving a $10,000 bonsai tree in a 2 -cent plastic tub… it stifles the effect of your investment.

Most obvious of all, yet not so obvious to some, is that without cables, your system will not make any noise...certainly no more noise than if you were missing an amplifier or a pair of speakers, meaning that cables are just as vital a component in the system as everything else in it. 

So read on for a simple, easy-to-understand explanation of WHY cables matter, as well as some pointers on how to explore this world yourself… and if you so decide, how to go about upgrading the cables in your own system for bang-for-your-buck results you will definitely hear.

Let’s begin with speakers.

If you’re reading this, you wouldn’t argue that two different pairs of speakers sound different. That’s well known. It’s the effect of every other component that isn’t so obviously unique, until you have the basics in mind.

So remember that speakers make sound because they have cones (AKA “drivers”) that vibrate… that vibration is made possible by a magnetic field… and that magnetic field is created by an electrical signal. This is the language of audio reproduction. It’s a dance of electricity, magnetism and vibration, at the speakers, amplifier, streamer, DAC, CD player, turntable, all of it. Every one of those components contains circuits and are connected by wires that become energized with the electrical audio signal.

The sound quality you get at the end is a function of every circuit, every wire, every conductor in the system. Some components have bigger, more important jobs than the others, but all have their effect.

The most fundamental effect to consider is that every conductor (including the cables) takes energy away from the audio signal and dissipates it in the form of heat. That’s resistance.

Resistance is always there.

That’s why in high-current applications (like speaker cables) you want to make sure you’re not using thin cables. (This sometimes matters in low-current applications too, like when $15 analog interconnects are made using extremely thin copper strand.)

Simply put, the thinner the cable, the higher the resistance. Imagine pushing water through a hose— it takes longer to push the same water, at the same pressure, through a thinner hose.

If you’re going with plain copper speaker cables I wouldn’t settle for anything thinner than 14 AWG (the higher the gauge the thinner the cable). But I also strongly recommend trying out some cables that go a bit further than that (which I’ll discuss below). That’s because there’s more at play than just resistance.

The next reason cables matter is microstructure.

Copper (and other metals) are essentially tightly packed molecules that make up grains, and less-tightly packed grains that make up the material. So while we see a solid copper wire that looks consistent, in reality it’s made up of microscopic grains bound together with mixed consistency.

What I’m saying here is, consistency inside a given length of cable matters. Why? Because an audio signal is a changing electric current. And any change in electric current induces a magnetic field. But also, a change in magnetic field induces an electric current… which induces another magnetic field, and so on. That’s what gives rise to electromagnetic radiation.

This dance of electricity and magnetism is happening inside every cable… and it causes the current to flow through the cable inconsistently. This is why some cables can sound “brighter” or “warmer” than others— the consistency of the microstructure can affect different frequencies, well… differently.

This is also what causes the “skin effect.” Since changes in electric current cause magnetic fields, more rapidly changing currents have greater magnetic effects. That causes higher frequencies to travel along the outer surface of a cable, as lower frequencies (like bass) travel more towards the middle. In the very centre of the cable there’s little more than noise.

To circle back, better cables have more consistent microstructures. How? Well it’s worth noting that all copper processing includes “annealing,” where the material is heated to “relax” the microstructure.

But then it gets drawn into wire… and that process involves repeatedly forcing the material through hard dies. This mechanical stress effects the microstructure, which has led some premium cable makers to pioneer less abrasive methods.

What about insulation?

Well, that electromagnetic dance is also happening outside of every cable. In fact, every component with current running through it is creating an electromagnetic field. Amplifiers, speakers, and so on. This is where insulation comes in. High-quality cables make an effort to shield the conductors from disruption using different types of insulation and other technologies.

Next, let’s talk about silver.

Silver has a lower resistivity compared to copper— it’s conducts electricity better. That’s why it shows up in so many premium cables. And the effect going from copper to silver has on a system is profound. Details tend to jump right out at you, with clearer soundstage and separation to boot.

Of course, silver is a LOT more expensive. But here’s the good news: remember that skin effect? Since changing currents tend to move closer to the surface of a conductor, simply plating a copper cable with silver produces most of the effect. Hence why silver-plated cables are a go-to solution.

Here’s another bane of cheap cables: ordinary solder.

The connections at the ends of a cable are surprisingly important. The resistive effects of a shoddy connector can blunt the signal and affect your sound. Cheaply made cables tend to use soldered connections with fancy sleeves screwed overtop. Little if any attention is paid to whether that soldered joint meets any standard for audio fidelity… which is why dedicated cableers will join the ends of their cables in less disruptive ways. AudioQuest, for instance, “cold welds” their connectors on using an in-house, high-pressure tool.

Finally, let’s talk about what matters MOST…

If you’re still reading, then by now you should feel pretty confident that there’s definitely something going on with cables. That’s how I felt when I started learning about all this.

Different cables definitely affect a system’s performance differently… but that’s much less important than whether that difference is audible in YOUR system.

Knowing that cables can matter should serve to open your mind and encourage you to explore your options.

Again, if you’ve invested in a high-quality sound system, you’ll want to make sure you’re doing your investment justice. It might have a lot more detail, clarity and emotion to offer you if one or more of your cables is a bottleneck.

Always test and compare cables and judge their worth using your ears, and try to do it with YOUR system. A good hi-fi dealer will be willing to lend you some cables to test on some reasonable basis.

In what order should you upgrade cables?

The proper answer is to replace whichever cable in your system is most likely to be a bottleneck. Remember: cable upgrades don’t add anything to your system, they aim to take less away than your existing cables. Then, after that, a good rule of thumb is to start at the source.

You might consider this priority ladder:

  • Start with coaxial or USB cables — whichever you use more often. And absolutely, digital cables make a difference: the pulses that define each bit are short and rapid fire. Some of them get lost. The difference digital cables make is less subjective too, they simply add detail and separation. (I recommend you try a silver-plated one)…
  • Then while we’re starting with the source, there’s ethernet — more subtle indeed, but in a premium system the effect is surprisingly audible. It’s worth going from cheap-as-chips to an entry level one from a proven brand, because ethernet is an array of tiny conductors that are worth getting right…
  • Next look at analog interconnects — because these carry lower-currents which are more sensitive to degradation…
  • Followed by speaker cables — even though they’re at the bottom of this ladder, they’re still crucial. Speaker cables are usually much longer (which means greater resistive effects) so they can have a huge impact.

Next let’s address a common misconception:

Can a cheaper cable be better than a more expensive one?

I don’t mean an overpriced cable here. I mean can a cheaper cable sound better than one that actually takes less away from the signal?

Absolutely. That’s because dulling an audio signal can cover up weak performance in an active component… and / or it can alter the signal to match your personal preferences. Just like how speakers can sound better by rolling off high frequencies— because if they didn’t, they’d produce a harsh, unnatural sound. This is a reminder to…

Prioritize trying things out and deciding based on what you hear!

Okay, that about wraps this up. If you’re itching to hear the difference that some of these cables can make (and you happen to be in Sydney!) feel free to visit our showroom here in Leichhardt. The team and I would love to take you through a demo or 2.

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