Thanks to skeptic for triggering this reaction in me.

I believe that speakers and speaker wires are on opposite ends of the spectrum. On one hand, I don't think speaker wires vary that much in performance. Take care of the basics and the sound will travel from amp to speaker pretty much transparently. However, at the other end of the spectrum, it may well be likely that no two sets of speakers sound identical. And on top of that, it is highly likely that even two models build by the same guy on the same day would sound drastically different in different rooms.

If I wiped my mind clean of all I have heard and read about audio systems (but still retained my engineering knowledge), I would expect to enter these forums and hear about people discussing speakers and rooms in great detail. This could even go as fara as identifying what model speaker you have, how far it is from the side/back wall, how far apart, what kind of rug you have, the toe-in, the listening position, curtains and drapes, doors open or closed, and on and on.

From an engineering perspective, the most important aspect of audio reproduction starts when an electrical signal hits a voice coil and is converted into sound pressure waves. Ths path from speaker to ear is infinitely more variable than the path from source to speaker.

I would expect that this is where the bulk of the discussions should take place amongst anyone who is serious about this hobby.

We spend all this time talking about wires being the same or not when really, as skeptic pointed out, no two sets of speakers sound the same nor do two rooms sound the same.