Do Cables Age Badly?

[walpurgis]

As interconnects and speaker cables etc. age are there any effects that are detrimental to sound quality?

I'm not refering to dirty plugs here or design advances, but more asking. Does the dielectric suffer (apart from getting harder in some cases)? Does the conductor deteriorate or just break in more and improve? Any answers out there?

I have speaker cables I've owned thirty years that still sound excellent, although the sleeving is showing age.

[YNWaN]

The surface of some cables may oxidise and, in some cases, I have seen the dialectic react with the surface of the copper over time.

[myles]

As stated above, oxidisation is a cause of cable degradation. I have seen it, not in a hi-fi context, but a comms context.

[Mr Kipling]

In the end of the '70s when Monster cable first appeared I got some to re-wire my speakers. I never got round to doing it and some 18 months later when I thought about it again I found the conductors had oxidized and turned rather green. For nigh-on 35 years I've had QED 79 strand with joins. Often wanted to replace it but the whole cable business tends to aggravate me. However, have just got this off eBay item no. 300590215025. It's a low-cost Nordost type. Something I've been looking out for.

Kind Regards,
Stephen

PS,
Forgot to mention the insulation on the Monster cable was clear so the oxidation was easy to see.

[walpurgis]

Funny you should mention Monster, one of my oldest speaker cables is Monster spiral and it has not oxidised and still sounds very good. Anything by Nordost is likely to be good, I use many of their cables.

[YNWaN]

Funnily enough, it was precisely that Monster speaker cable I was thinking of.

[WOStantonCS100]

Yup, same experience with that Monster speaker cable. Maybe the newer stuff is better now. Doesn't matter to me as I won't be going back to that watering trough.