..yet another Wire thread:

There is always the question of: "do audio cables sound different?"

Rather than say "yes or no" (..which is pointless, as you've either think you've heard a difference or not), I'm starting off this thread with this video:

The Big Misconception About Electricity - YouTube


(..and though much of video discusses AC as opposed to DC (relative to speaker connection), the most salient point of the video should give some idea that things aren't quite so simple as most would believe.)

It also makes me think a bit more about my proximity to high-power AC distribution lines near my home. 😱 😱
 
Cause and effect…

As to the nearby power lines: they are probably as safe as we all (read: the authorities) think they have to be. Personally I would have more worries about the chance of them breaking in a gale and roasting me and my belongings.
 
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Having enrolled in electrical engineering after school I have long understood the energy transfer is not in the movement of electrons inside conductors, but in the electromagnetic fields outside of those conductors. It is the natural consequence of fundamental physical laws understood since a long time ago before anyone reading this was born that the physical design of a cable impacts on external EM fields and hence energy transfer, hence transfer function, hence sound. It would be more extraordinary if it did not than the fact that it does! Just don't try to bring it up in a DIY Audio forum full of know-it-alls.
 
The video is crafted to stimulate viewer engagement and to draw the audience to a follow-up explanation. This has been done before on that channel. The author was a teacher and it knows very well how to trick a distracted and mostly young audience to spend time thinking about counterintuitive scientific issues, while respecting today very short attention span. When I first learned about the Poynting vector many years ago, the experience was a lot less engaging and interesting.

The gist of the missing explanation that is puzzling you is already surfacing on the comment section of that video, or you can check out on any textbook. The main message of the video is that electromagnetic energy transfer from a source to a load can be explained by a field. If you can wrap your mind around this concept (not easy without math knowledge) this is a better and more complete explanation than mentally comparing electricity to the flow of a liquid trough a tube.
 
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I think the big question is how big is that electromagnetic field? In the video it shows interaction between the source and load via the air as well as the conductor and I think that part is questionable unless very close.how big is the field around a conductor? I'm sure it depends on voltage and current.

Mark