Do Cables Wear Out?

Guidocorona,
That was good. I think you need a Machina Dynamica (AKA timex watch with an orange sticker on it) lcd watch to stick on your chest of drawers thingy and just step back and watch the tarnish dissapper as the mysterious device reverses entropy.

Jwpstayman: If you want to respond substantively to a question, you first need to pay attention to the question. He wasn't asking if cables degrade over time; everything in the universe degrades over time. He was asking if particle breakdown occurs, and if loud rock music makes it occur faster. And it doesn't.

As for oxidation, this is a trivial problem. Oxidation occurs ver-r-ry slowly, except for the small section of the cable (if any) that's exposed to air. I have 25-year-old lampcord (which I once used as speaker cable!) that shows no visible signs of oxidation within the insulation, The exposed ends have oxidized--EXCEPT where they were in direct contact with speaker and amp terminals. This tiny bit of oxidation has a trivial effect on overall resistance.

Pabelson, all commentary on breakdown that serves to inform us hi-fi buyer's of drawbacks should not be frowned on. We all spend large amounts of $$$ to get our systems to sound great so in regards to Jwpstayman answer I feel it is welcome. I admit a niave understanding to the world of cable and it's properties of longevity and input to edify and give one's opinion should be welcomed, even those here to scoff.

It's good to see there's still some humor around this hobby.

Spl, not all commentary on breakdown or other issues, comical or not, serves us IF the comments are incorrect or misleading. Pabelson's comments are correct. BTW, Jwpstayman, silver oxide IS NOT a good conductor, but it does serve to protect the rest of the silver from corrosion, which is not true of cuprous oxide which just continues to grow if still exposed to air. The inner core is not exposed to air and therefore no corrosion happens and no corrosion happens at the outside of the copper wire either if it is insulated.
Cleaning the silver oxide on contacts is beneficial as it is on copper contacts.
Bob P.