What we perceive as bass, warmth, or body in a cable has less to do with how loud the lows are—and more to do with timing.
That’s the final idea from Bill Low of Audioquest I want to explore. In a note to me, he describes how different conductor sizes and geometries affect the way we feel music, not just how we hear it. For example, comparing a single solid 17 AWG conductor with a 20 AWG one, he notes that the thicker conductor sounds more rolled-off on top, with a forward upper midrange, articulate bass, and a surprising lack of warmth. Yet none of these differences are about volume or frequency in the traditional sense—they’re about how the conductor handles timing across the audio band.
Let’s unpack that. As current flows through a wire, the physical dimensions and layout of that wire influence how the signal is carried. Thicker conductors have more surface area, which affects skin effect at high frequencies. They also present different inductive characteristics, which means they can subtly smear timing—especially in complex musical passages rich in harmonics.
It’s not about reducing treble energy or boosting bass response. It’s about how coherently the signal arrives at your ear—and whether your brain can stitch it all back together in a way that feels natural.
From a design standpoint, this is tricky territory. These aren’t effects you can easily model or measure with conventional tools. They live in the realm of microsecond-level differences and phase behavior—things that may not move the needle on a graph, but have real consequences when you're listening to a familiar track and it suddenly feels flat or lifeless.
Bill’s argument is that this kind of perception—what feels like body, presence, or bloom—is a neurological response to how cleanly or cohesively the signal lands in time. If the transients are just slightly scattered or smeared, the bass may feel looser or thinner, even if the actual frequency response is unchanged. Likewise, a cable with excessive resistance might let a woofer ring longer than it should, making the bass sound bloated. Flip that around, and a poorly damped high-mass conductor can obscure the sense of low-end extension, even while technically delivering the same energy.
That’s a far cry from the old idea that cables are just tone controls. What Bill brings to the table is an appreciation for how the brain, the wire, and the circuit all interact to shape our perception of musical truth. And while all of this is fascinating—and I don’t always agree with every detail—it sure opens the mind to other possibilities.
It also helps explain why Bill’s cables sound so damned good.
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