Any time components need to be connected together, the type of connectors that are used become important. More than anything, designers look for connectors that will provide a secure connection, with low signal loss.
With speaker cable, this problem is amplified over other types of audio and video connections. The signal going to speaker cable is a relatively high powered analog signal. Compared to electrical house current used for appliances, it isn’t all that high, but compared it is much higher than any other audio or video signal used in most systems.
Any analog signal can become distorted if the wire size or connector contact area is not sufficiently large to carry the signal. This is not based upon the signal’s voltage, but rather the signal’s amperage. At the same time, signal loss, which is a reduction in voltage, increases over small wires. This is why many audio consultants recommend large wire gauge sizes for speaker cable, especially on systems which are using high power audio amplifiers.
Even with this clear need for high power capacity, speaker cable connections have been largely ignored, using other types of available connectors, up until recent times. In many cases and for many years, the only electrical connection used for speaker cable was a simple screw terminal with bare wires. While functional, this type of connection is not highly portable or secure. Often, only part of the wire’s strands are captured under the screw, making for poor electrical and mechanical connection.
This article comes from rame edit released
