Can we objectively rate speaker cables?


I'd like to generate discussion to compile some sort of chart that compares cable attributes. I realize that cable attributes will vary by system, but I would think that in the same system, certain generalizations can be made. For example, I think many would agree that copper is generally warmer than silver. That said, I propose the following categories. Feel free to add categories to make this a mutually-exclusive, collectively-exhaustive list and/or offer ratings for cables you've auditioned.

A. analytical/detailed (1) - warm (10)
B. closed soundstage (1) - open soundstage (10)
C. slow (1) - fast (10)
jennyjones

Showing 4 responses by jennyjones

I'm not trying to dictate absolutes... as mentioned earlier, higher purity copper may sound cooler than low purity copper and then there's the whole extruded silver over copper thing. My objective is to get into specific cables and the community's impressions of these cables. Not everyone will agree, but if you have some experience auditioning different cables in your own system, why not share your impressions. It's all relative but I think we could all benefit.
Rova, your list is much more comprehensive and if people would be willing to rate cables at that level it'd be very informative. But it seems this thread is somewhat of a bust. If someone here knows someone in the review business, they should suggest that professional reviewers provide such metrics. I know some reviewers rate some of these qualities on an scale of 0-100, with 100 being "best." What I'd rather know is what the thing itself is without value judgments of what is desirable.
I realize that cables react have different effects on different systems, but within the same system and in general, wouldn't most people agree that an equally pure copper cable of 22AWG would sound warmer than a silver 22AWG (of identical construction)? My argument is that this is true within almost any system. So if we define the parameters, we should be able to roughly agree on "this cable is warmer than that one," unless you're in some camp that believes cables make no difference. The idea is that with such a knowledge base, we would be able to narrow our cable choices based on our own system. I know that for mine changing the LP cables to all silver has drastically improved detail and resolution while putting the copper into the digital part has made sound less analytical. I'd like to get beyond the copper vs. silver issue and be able to compare within cable type.
Also, thank you Nasaman, for being the only person (so far) to actually reply to the question at hand with ratings.