Regardless of usage, audio enthusiasts are always willing to spend the most on buying great speakers, a bit less on a good amplifier, even less on a receiver that seems to have all the functions and connectivity options, and close to nothing on a sub-par source.

Cables are just something even some of the most dedicated audiophiles expect to find in the box with the batteries and remote. It is assumed that as long as it’s digital, it’s immaculate, as there’s no loss in digital audio, which isn't true.

Every digital source component (CD/DVD player or computer) features an analogue output stage, the execution of which makes the biggest sonic difference between a good player and a poor one. This is where the pristine digital signal is converted to tangible analogue current, which then flows into the pre-amplifier via analogue RCA cables.

Cheap digital sources such as MP3/DVD players, or compression-plagued computer headphone jacks like the ones most of us are used to, will feature a ten dollar IC, low-quality resistors, a tiny power supply and internal wiring that’s as thin as hairs; whereas a great one will use higher quality op-amps (operational amplifiers) at the digital to analogue conversion stage, where most of those perfect bits are usually lost, in translation.

It’s a myth that all the fine musical detail contained within a disc will come through in a bit-perfect form, for it leaves the digital device not as digital bits, but an analogue sinusoidal wave. Sound as we hear it, is always analogue, as our brains don’t decipher ones and zeros, obviously. This is the reason a song played off the same CD or file, using a better digital source and cables – in the same room, off the same amp and speakers – will sound smoother and richer in tonal density over its cheaper universal DVD-playing cousin. The spatial cues will be better, the soundstage deeper and wider, the highs airier, the mids more luminous and the bass more gutsy and defined. This upgrade would most possibly bring out a better performance, much closer to the limit, from the same players.

Cables are usually the last thing people want to pay for. Expecting that the manufacturer will simply have thrown in the cables that best match the component’s requirements for optimal performance, everyone’s happy to live with the factory-supplied cables, having spent their last pennies on getting an infeasibly capable speaker, one that’ll perhaps reveal the flaws of everything upstream of it. After all that expense, who wants to pay top dollar to pick up a good HDMI or speaker cable?

Sometimes the very reason one product from the same manufacturer is considered far better and priced higher than its identical-looking lesser model (which in pure marketing terms is aimed at the mass bazaar and positioned to benefit from looking the same as its higher-spec sibling), is because the cabling within it is of a higher quality than the cheaper model. And that makes all the difference, not to mention better resistors, transformers and other parts that are upgraded in parallel the further you go up the model chain. After all, the integrity and construction of the components that are carrying our precious audio signals does matter. If we were to track the audio signals journey from the disc to our ears, it goes something like:

Example 1: FLAC/Wave/MP3 file, ripped or downloaded, is stored on a computer’s hard drive. It is played using software. Before this digital signal leaves the computer it is converted from digital to analogue form by the computer’s own cheap built-in DAC (digital to analogue converter), which brings in a second layer of noise once the software has made its errors decoding the file. The noisy analogue signal leaves the computer via the headphone jack, at which stage it is compressed.

Inside the pre-amplifier, this feeble signal travels furthermore, from the input of the preamp stage to its output and then again from the preamp to the power amp input and output stages, from which it flows via speaker cables to the transducer (speaker), which is subject to its own colourations, given its crossover (the device that splits the signals between woofer and tweeter), parallel surfaces and resulting ‘standing waves’, to name just a few.

Most good components use quality cables on the inside, offer massive power supplies and have quality inputs and outputs. With a better understanding of the signal’s journey, you can imagine the effect cheap wires have going between the components. All the loss that occurs from one source to the next (and it does occur to some extent, no matter how well the components perform) in any case, is further worsened when the cables connecting the dots are of a lesser quality. They say that your music system is only as good as the weakest link in the chain.

Jitter is inherent in the digital world, and this is an area where the good cables separate themselves from bad cables. Since high resolution digital music playback (Blu-ray movie tracks, high res SACD and FLAC/Wave files) requires a big fat stream of data to travel from one point (the computer) to the other (DAC or receiver), there’s a constantly varying number of data packets travelling at high speed through the cable.

It doesn't help that the busy master clock inside the computer often conflicts with the clock inside the receiver’s DAC as they attempt to align or take control from the other clock in the space of milliseconds. This may not be audible to most, but the brain is another beast altogether. It hears that noise. This causes listener fatigue and is the main reason why people get tired of listening to music in a room after some time. A good music system draws you in and invites you to engage with the music.

A good USB cable, going from the computer to a DAC is the first step towards preserving a quality signal. The signal must be of high resolution, ripped properly using the right settings and preferably using a software such as J.River Jukebox on PC or Amara, Pure Music or xACT on Mac. A good USB cable such as AudioQuest Carbon, available at SmartLife Karachi or Synergy Lahore is a wonderful way to go. One could spend even more on a better cable, but unless you’re using a 10,000 USD amp and 7000 USD+ speakers, don’t bother. Purist Audio Design, Kimber Kable and Nordost also make some fine cables, but these are not available in Pakistan.

In the same system, be willing to spend about the same amount on RCA cables that will carry your fresh analogue signal from the DAC to your preamp and power amp/receiver. All amplifiers, even all-in-one-box receivers (which have little DACs built into them) and integrated stereo amps, have a preamp (inputs/source selection/volume control) and a power amp stage, which handles power delivery to the speakers.

So basically there’s no skimping on cables between the different stages. You have to link your good equipment up with good cables. Reasonable spending on speaker cables is also advised, as during this stage the signal strength might be at its weakest (in signal to noise ratio). It is therefore wise to preserve the signal’s integrity here by using cables that lower noise by way of technological wizardry of many sorts: cables wound together in a certain twisted pattern make for better isolation between channels (somehow), thus lowering noise.

The multi-layered damping on others keeps them free from oxygen, airborne noises and ground frequencies. This is especially significant in power cords, which in my opinion, are the most important of all the cables in our systems. Many audio enthusiasts would discredit me altogether if they knew…and I’m now telling them, that my main power cord costs more than my speakers!

The assembly of some cables in perfectly vacuum-ed laboratories provide other benefits such as longevity and speed. Yes, though electrical currents flow at the same speed, it’s the molecules in different metals that respond at different rates, depending on their conductivity and such. Silver is faster than copper, for example. There’s always exotica that one can buy for a lot of money, but there are some products that really do transcend the limitations of their breeding and often shatter the price/quality equation.

Such a family of cables, in my opinion, is Kimber Kable’s Hero interconnect (RCA - 160 dollars) and 8TC speaker cable (300 dollars). Although Kimber Kable is not represented by a dealer here, it’s safe and convenient enough to order theirs as well as Harmonic Technology’s slightly more expensive but effective Magic Link 2 interconnect and Pro-11+ Reference speaker cable, which makes for an even greater but undoubtedly higher priced combo. I'll also recommend the Shunyata Research Venom (available at Desert Sound, Karachi) series power cords (Venom 3S for sources, HC for amplifiers and subwoofers) that cost no more than the Kimber Kable Hero RCA cables mentioned above. Their higher priced Viper and Cobra Zitron are also excellent bargains offering great value in greater increments up the range.

At the end of the day, whatever have you, at least ensure that all your cables flow without knot or other overlapping cables, from one point to the next. Keep in mind bare wire connections to the speakers are always going to be as good if not better than fancier plugs and pins; that there is a benefit to lifting cables off the ground and isolating them from other devices in their path of travel. Every little improvement to what you have will make a small (and sometimes big) audible difference. Certainly getting more bang out of your 500 dollar system is way more satisfying than getting the same for something that cost a thousand.