Will increasing speaker cable AWG make a difference in sound quality?


Increasing speaker cable size (for example w/AQ the cable sizes move up in size from 15AWG to 10AWG) improve sound quality?

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Why?  The current involved is miniscule.  It would decrease resistance but increase capacitance. 

My general feeling is that speakers and amps are a little more susceptible to LCR effects than we give them credit for. 

Meaning, cables matter, BUT... it's really small changes. So, possibly, but I wouldn't pay a lot for it. :)

My favorite all around cable is Mogami which is pretty affordable and comes in a couple of different gauges, including a quad you can put together as ~ 10 gauge.

+1 @ozzy

Given the same material, yes, most likely. I did some comparisons long ago using power cords cut to be speaker cables.

 

Are you going to hear it? It depends, how resolving is your system? How experienced are you in listening?

Now if you are comparing different audiophile speaker cables, then it competely depends on overall construction… dielectrics used, geometry… stranded vs solid… etc.

 

Why? There are many threads on the subject. 

If you’re running the recommended size and go to a much larger size, I would say no. If you’re running some thing that’s way too small and then you go to what’s recommend it then you might.

 

@ghdprentice kinda said it all IMO without much further need….. ( quality build matters , not just bulk. Think important contributing and bespoke factors such as dialectic, Litz design, et al)

The only thing I can offer for you ponder as you navelgaze the lint in your navel , is a published opinion post on why “beefier” build speaker cables can indeed matter.

I wouldn’t bow to it as irrevocable gospel for all systems, simply because there are good reasons why exhibitors choose the “flat and thin” NORDOST VALHALLA / ODIN cables as one of the two major leader cable choices at the audio expos,.along with the “beefier” CARDAS CLEAR / CLEAR BEYOND models.( Note: you will never see cheap budget cables there for intuitive reasons …’nuff said)

I upgraded from NORDOST FREY to CARDAS CLEAR with improvements that were not subtle in MY system…( emphasis added );…surely others may have differing outcomes.

MT TAKE: it only reveals itself by hands on experimentation. From personal,experience, simply upgrading to a thicker gauge in like budget build / budget performance cables likely won’t get you much.

SPEAKER CABLES - From Alan Shaw (owner and designer of HARBETH)

” … So, the moral of the story is this: the most important factor of the loudspeaker cable that you should select is the amount of metal in the cable core. More metal means lower resistance.

If the core is round (as most are) then the correlation is simple: the fatter the diameter of the metal core the better because the electrical resistance between amp and speakerwill be lower.

Thin and really thin cores should be avoided regardless of how exotic the metal material is claimed as the lack of metal in the core conductor will increase resistance. That will reduce amplifier damping, effect the frequency response of the speaker and give unpredictable results that will vary from amp/speaker combination.

Do not be fooled by the diameter of the external plastic sheath: what matters is the metal content of the core. The more the better, without exception….”