Cable manufacturers often take their lead from the hi-fi industry when it comes to marketing. Terms such as oxygen-free, skin effect, directionality and dielectric biasing are bandied about and, while there may be a scientific basis for some of these claims, the idea is to make customers think there’s always something better out there.
Not all cables are created equal, but factors that affect their sonic characteristics can usually be measured and quantified. As musicians, we are primarily concerned with instrument and speaker cables. So, what’s the difference?
Speaker Cable
Cables used to connect amplifiers to speakers are very different from the cables used to connect instruments to amplifiers or pedals to pedals. Speaker cable is by far the simplest, and the two key requirements are adequate power handling and low resistance. The object is to transfer all the amp’s power to the speaker without wasting any as heat.
Hi-fi enthusiasts make all sorts of claims about speaker cable, and if you’re listening to a halfway decent system,
