I was born an obsessive reader and a compulsive tinkerer. In the 1960s, I subscribed to Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Hot Rod, Auto Craft, Motor Trend, Road Track, and (of course) Stereo Review and High Fidelity. Each of these magazines had articles discussing the importance of upgrading stock wiring to better quality "premium" wiring, with examples of improved electrical performance and increased reliability.

That's when race cars started using thick, "fuel and flame resistant" silicone sheathed wire between the magneto and spark plugs. Every street racer who could afford one had a Mallory Super Mag distributor. Bare engines are the norm, and the Tach-Drive Super Mag with its expensive, brightly colored spark plug wires is a status symbol for small street cars. Even the humble act of swapping out your daily driver's black rubber-sheathed wires for bright red silicon sheathed Mallory or cadmium yellow Accel wires that cost five times as much proves you're serious about high performance. Likewise, when using hi-fi in your home, forgoing lamp wire and rolling your own better-quality wireless speakers wire proves that you are serious about high-quality sound.

The magazine articles focused on wire diameter, conductor purity, harness geometry, and dielectric materials. I remember reading in an Audio Engineering Society article on telephone communications that the difference between a conductor and dielectric time constants is an important factor in voice transmission. Cable science was a hot topic during the "Summer of Love".

High Fidelity magazine encouraged readers to try using thicker, high-purity solid copper wire or multi-strand configurations. They told audiophiles that speaker wire in parallel (as in lamp wire) and in twisted pairs had different effects on sound characteristics. During my first year of college, I DIY tried all such speaker wire configurations. After two semesters of experimentation, I determined that a loose 14-gauge solid pair best captured the snap of a snare drum and the leading edge of a piano note, while a tight 14-gauge multi-strand pair best revealed the pure tone of a soprano and the wobbly texture of a piano sustain. My obnoxious, highly intelligent, race car driver, bassist, and radar technician friend Bill Brier repeatedly said that vacuum, then air, then silk, then cotton, was the most effective dielectric for accurate signal transmission. Like loud speakers.