Do speaker wires degrade over time ?

As you know the messenger particle for all electromagnetic forces is the virtual photon. My extensive research into this question had led me to the discovery of an effect which I call "Photon Fatigue" in which the wires simply get tired of letting the little buggers slide down them. But fear not , I am on the edge of a breakthrough which will completely eliminate this problem and make me a lot of money from people who worry about such questions; I will put you on my mailing list.

I have noticed a fair amount of corrosion as my cables have exposed wire (in a high humidity environment) so I would advise you to check on the condition of the terminations. Also, check on the condition of the sleeve or outer sheath which could be symptomatic of damage to the wire.

There is a life expectancy for everything, including cables. It may be thousands of years, but eventually they will degrade down to nearly nothing...

Entropy - the universe tends toward maximum disorder. IOW, everything falls apart.