Do cables age or become too old at any point?

Yes cables become too old at some point. I had two pair of very old Purist cables, one was 10 feet long, the other 8 feet long.

I placed them in a dark cozy environment for several days, hoping for a baby Purist cable (at least 2 feet long), but even with Handels' Water Music playing softly in the background (their favorite) NO BABY CABLE.

Albert: Next time try wine, candles, and Ravel's Bolero.

Sugar, you're missing the point. It is NOT a matter of whether the cable is "air tight". For one thing, it would be next to impossible to achieve without DRASTICALLY raising the cost. Nor does it really matter how tightly the stranding is compacted within the jacket. It is a matter of the materials used as the insulator and the degradation that the JACKET undergoes with time. If you don't believe this, contact Belden or any other manufacturer of cables.

If one has the proper test equipment ( TDR aka Time Domain Reflectometer ), you can also measure the electrical characteristics of cables and compare new samples to old samples. The impedance characteristics, levels of dielectric absorption, velocity factors, etc... of cables DO change over time, albeit very gradually. These rates can be accelerated by exposing the cables to various levels of direct sunlight, fluxuating temperatures, different levels of applied pressure, etc...

Besides that, the originator of the thread made no mention of price range. With that in mind, we all know that a LOT of cables are simply "dressed up" versions of mass produced cables. As such, the "KLH" vs "Mark Levinson" pricing analogy has little to do with "you get what you pay for" i.e. "quality" when it comes to cables.

While one would hope that more expensive cables from a reputable brand made use of better quality materials and had a greater amount of research and development in them than cheaper cables from some generic company, there really is no guarantee of that unless specified as such. Even then, i've seen companies PURPOSELY mis-label products so that they could charge more for them even though they knew that they would not meet spec. Since the average end user would have no way of verifying spec, they get away with it 99% of the time.

Like anything else, let the buyer beware. Sean
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PS... I've bought and used many older cables. So long as they make a good connection and sound good to your ears with no potential for damage to your equipment, i would not worry about it. I was "debating" from a purely technical standpoint.

I have seen and heard for myself what Sean describes about oxidation over time that is visible through a clear PVC jacket, and the degradation is quite audible. I imagine that this eventually happens to a greater or lesser degree with any cable. But it seems to me that a Litz-type (individually coated fine strands of wire within a braided geometry) cable, such as the Cardas I use, should have the longevity advantage.

I completely agree with you Sean and others. It is just my opinion that the typical generic "clear" jacket cable is so poorly made, it is going bad the minute is leaves the factory. I would not recommend it brand new, so used is a non starter. On the other end of the spectrum, I have re-terminated older high quality cable. When I cut the ends off and stripped down some of the covering, the copper cable under there was as shinny as new.

Quality cables is a recent event. Most cable brands out there are less than five to seven years old. I would not consider any of them old yet. Some of the very oldest MIT music hose from 1985 may be a risk, but has anyone cut then open or tested them to see? The MIT Terminator series only started in 1994 (white jacket); the ones with the grey jacket are only a couple years old at the most.

The original poster did not specify copper cable. Silver cable is another story completely. As well as silver/copper strands like Nordost and others; and gold/silver cable like Siltech. These types of cable should last a lot longer than copper. It is my understanding that silver is still a good conductor when it tarnishes. Gold's conducting properties will be the same a million years from now.