AudiogoN Forums: Life expectancy of Interconnects & Speaker Cable?

Life expectancy of Interconnects & Speaker Cable?

Is there a life expectancy or effectiveness life of interconnects and speaker cable?

How much better are current state of the art cables than state of the art cables of five years ago?

Would a five year old state of the art cable hold it's own against today's best? Why or why not?

Is it a good thing to be using ten year old speaker cable or interconnects?

Mitch4t (System | Reviews | Threads | Answers | This Thread)

01-05-05

Responses (1-19 of 19)

Click title to read one, or click date to read all below it.

01-05-05 I figure mine are going to go bad at/or about 7:13am on may ... Tireguy

01-05-05 If there is an audiophile out there who has had any cables f ... Dlwask

01-05-05 Dlwask....if you spent 5k on cable 5 yrs ago....how much bet ... Mitch4t

01-06-05 I would guess life expectancy of a well built cable to be ar ... Jmcgrogan2

01-06-05 Okay, now for a serious answer: i'm a veteran audiophile an ... Plato

01-06-05 Oops, i just remembered another likely scenario: optical ca ... Plato

01-05-05 Anybody that spent 5k on cables could undoubtably be convinc ... Dragon1952

01-05-05 Believe it or not, i had my previous set of cables for over ... Krell_man

01-06-05 If cables are poorly terminated, make use of low grade diele ... Sean

01-06-05 Quality speaker cables and interconnects need a good break i ... Jeffjarvis

01-06-05 The life expectancy of your cabling may be dramatically, and ... Davehrab

01-06-05 I still have a circa 1992 ensemble interconnect i like alot. ... Xiekitchen

01-06-05 About 20 years ago, i saw a cable that had to be charged wit ... Prpixel

01-06-05 Connectors can get dirty/corrode and may need cleaned. Elevick

01-08-05: Aarsoe
In my oppinion (and others) cables will degrade over time. There will be oxidation over time, as no insulation is truely air tight (at least in the long run).
Also the more you move around with your cable, the more it will tend to "crack" between the crystals.
So what is average lifespan? According to VDH you should expect around 10 years.
Aarsoe (Answers | This Thread)

01-12-05 Aarsoe....that's something to think about. spend 5-10k on c ... Mitch4t

01-13-05 Mitch4t be honest - how many components do you still have i ... Aarsoe

01-13-05 I cannot say for sure if cables wear out , however if you ha ... Darrylhifi

01-14-05 For me the whole world of audio is totally dependent on how ... Mitch4t