Most loudspeaker-wire mythology has no physical basis

Evidence

Minimizing wire resistance is easy: use large wire, having low gauge numbers—see Table 10.1—or, better yet, use less wire. If there is a risk of radio-frequency signal pickup, it is important to know that unshielded wires act as antennas. A great deal of mystique has evolved around loudspeaker wires, attempting to elevate this simple device to impossible heights of importance. 316. Notions that they behave as transmission lines persist, but Greiner (1980) offers persuasive arguments that this is unrealistic. There are other beliefs, some of which are impossible (e.g. directional wires), or irrelevant (e.g. skin effect, which is significant only at frequencies much above the audio frequency band). — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1156

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies why transmission-line and skin-effect treatments of speaker wire are unrealistic at audio frequencies.
• CANDY: ‘Directional wires’ and ‘wire stands’ as myths are amusing entry points into audiophile culture.