The conductors in the interconnects / speaker cable, regardless of diameter, are more subject to the effects of capacitance, inductance, and noise than the typically separated wires within a metal chassis. Expensive cables are not necessarily ripoffs. Not all equipment is as you've seen. My pre-amp has a signal path of something like 6 inches and the 2 channels never come within 2 inches of each other.
What is the purpose of
Hi. I am fairly new to Audiogon and if this question has been discussed before, I apologize. Reading this you will realize I know practically nothing about electronics, and even less about component design. When you look inside a piece of equipment, you usually see very thin wires used, to say nothing about the fuses commonly seen, with a wire about the width of a hair. Then, when the signal finally reaches the speakers, there is usually more very thin wire throughout the crossover. So what is the point of buying (sometimes) obscenely expensive interconnects and speaker cable? Isn't the audio signal chain only as strong as its weakest link? Or am I missing something obvious? Any answers or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.