Why does the gauge of speaker wire matter? Options

[mkop]

I've read some things discussing speaker wiring such as speaker reviews and their is always something like "the included cables are ok but you'll probably want to go and get something thicker." My question is why do I want some huge python of a cable? And what principles are used to decide what size is big enough?

[sshd]

There sure is some interesting information about electronics and cables above. I am ignorant in this field and there is much of the above I do not understand. However, I noted an interesting thing - everyone is obsessed with the cable alone and completely ignoring the enviroment. I think this is wrong, based on this previous experience:

Back in 1997 I bought an external DAC and wanted to connect it to my 1993 CD player. Both CD player and DAC had coax and optical connectors. I really wanted to do it optically - seemed the coolest way. A digtial signal is a digital signal - there should not be any difference whether connecting via optically or electronically. When I purchased the optical cable, the guy at the shop told me there was and recommended me a very expensive coaxial cable. I ignored him and purchased the optical one. When I went home I compared the connectors using a cheap signal cable for the coax connection - it was considerable better than the optical. The explanation for this came a few years later: The 1993 technology for optical circuts was not good enough to transmit a digital audio signal. So while the optical cable was in perfect condition, the problem was in the enviroment.

I am not going to claim anything, as I have no real knowledge. But I am going to bring two things from the enviroment. Perhaps someone would like to comment on those?

1. Zip/cobber wire corrodes. I moved my speakers two years ago. They had only been standing in their previous position for 1½ year. When I unplugged the speaker cables the ends were visible corroded - even though they were firmly connected to speaker and amp all the time. I assume the corrosion will become a problem at some point. I also assume it becomes a problem slowly - that is slow degradation of sound quality.

Furthermore the length of the cable is discussed, but not how the "cable path". I know that things happen when you wind up excess cable in a circle/coil. I also cannot help wondering what happens if a 240V power cable is running along of across or twisted around a few places? What about the antenna cable for the TV and sattelite disc? I am using cheap solid core twisted pair network cable myself for my speakers. It was recommend by a friend and I am quite satisfied. However, I know this cable can be damaged by bending it sharply.