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Skin Effect

Hi guys! I was curious about "skin effect" so I made a post about it in the AudioShark forums. I got some good replies, but was still interested in what others thought (since there seems to be a divide), so I thought I'd post it here too.

First of all, I am fairly new to the audiophile scene, and am a bit hazy on some of the finer details.

I'm about 300 pages in to Robert Harley's “Complete Guide to High-End Audio;” right at the cables section. One concept he was discussing was “skin effect” (where frequency signal flows more along the conductor's surface rather than through the center). Up until now I had heard that “skin effect” was inaudible and should be ignored, however Harley states that “most designers agree that skin effect, and interaction between strands, are the greatest sources of sonic degradation in cables” (291) and “the musical consequences of skin effect include loss of detail, reduced top-octave air, and truncated soundstage depth.” (292)

So my question is: Should skin effect be taken in to consideration when looking to purchase cables? I appreciate the clarification.


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Topic - Skin Effect - lrizzo 09:08:19 12/01/14 (6)

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