Some Myths and Half Truths
1) Silver wire sounds harsh.
Silver speaker wire rarely makes any difference at all. If it makes
difference, it's because the original wire it replaces was too thin, or
corroded, or not fastened tightly. In these cases, the new cable often
will sound different.
2) More watts are better.
Not usually. More watts allows a given system to play louder, but rarely
more clearly. If in doubt, the speaker manufacturer can recommend a range
of wattage to drive their speaker - and this is not a number they have any
reason to lie about.
3) Putting equipment and speakers up on vibration-proofs leads to
cleaner
sound.
This one can be true for tube amps; the wires in the tubes can
literally
be vibrated by sound in the air, and this distorts the current flowing
through them. Record players are prone to this as well. Solid state gear
is not affected in the same way, and digital sources should be immune to
vibration. (This doesn't mean you should put your CD player on top of a
subwoofer.)
However, speakers should generally be prevented from shaking, as that
really does blur the sound. Large, well made speakers have enough weight
and rigidity to solve this problem on their own; small speakers might
improve in precision of you weigh them down or put spikes under them to
root them to the floor or shelf. A big, heavy brick wrapped in cloth may
make a difference.
4) Power conditioning improves sound.
If it does, something was wrong with the original gear. High quality
electronics should be designed to extract what it needs from the power
line, and deal with noise it finds there.
Surge suppressors are a separate case. These can be a good idea on
components in general, but if they restrict the available peak amperage
(they shouldn't), then they might choke the power of a high current
amplifier. Check with the manufacturer.
5) Gold conducts better than silver and copper.
Nope. Silver is best, copper a close second, and gold a ways behind.
Gold
is soft and doesn't corrode, so it's great for connections.
6) Reviewer X likes Y, so Y ought to be good.
X has his own ears, not yours, and possibly some dark economic motives
for
liking Y. Reviews make great science fiction. You can learn a lot, but
it's not the gospel it claims to be.
7) Some optical cable is better than others.
Optical cable isn't susceptible to any sort of external interference.
An
optical cable either carries all the bits, or it doesn't. I've never found
one that didn't, and I get mine at Radio Shack.
8) Some digital cable is better than others.
If it's marked for use with digital signals, it's fine. I've used short
runs of the cheapest audio RCA interconnect known to man for digital
transfer and had no problems, though I don't recommend this in general (it
might radiate RF). Blowing hundreds on a digital cable is madness; any
shielded cable specifically sold for digital use is good.
9) Raising wire off the ground makes a system sound better.
If your floor is filled with power cables or metal plates, maybe.
Otherwise, no. And especially not speaker wire, which is the only kind of
wire likely to be on the floor.
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