Yes, speakers do the most damage to the signal PHASE as they have lots of inductors in the X-over and voice coils that change PHASE.
The musical signal itself is rather complex, too. At any given moment there is but ONE voltage at the loudspeaker terminals. This one voltage is the superposition of ALL the musical signals added into ONE single voltage with a specific PHASE angle derived from all the phase angles associated with every signal “added” together. So we introduce PHASE even at the earliest stages of the signal.
It is like your checkbook, the very LAST number is what matters, and is the “superposition” of all the other account variables added. Capacitance and inductance would be the payments and deposits that aren’t here yet. They are shifting the TIME value of the account some. Like your checkbook, using calculus, you COULD deconstruct all of what was in the final signal, however.
A really good question is if it is just ONE voltage, and the current amount determines the wattage we listen to, why do we HEAR so many signals at once? The best I can say is like the checkbook example, we hear ALL the register entries over TIME such that it represents the final total of signal. A SQUARE wave is a whole bunch of sine waves compiled over TIME. If we add reactance to those sine waves, we see DISTORTION in the square wave. This is way easier to see than in a musical signal that is a mess over time so many testers use square wave responses to get an idea how an amplifier does, or even a speaker (step responses on time-aligned speakers).
I chose to limit INDUCTANCE in my cable products because it effects PHASE in the audio band. Capacitors aren’t bad until you reach the Fc –3 dB and 45 degree PHASE frequency (in the MHz range) and as capacitors act the OPPOSITE of inductors, they change the high frequencies where inductors change the audio band frequencies. Given the choice, and there is one, I chose to keep inductance LOW, but still hold capacitance as low as I can while doing that. This helps PHASE stay as low as we can in our systems.
Amplifier stability kind of goes in a BIG circle to the entire chain. Cable’s aren’t magic, and another good source is https://www.qed.co.uk/cablesmatter for accurate REAL measurements that cables exhibit. I like sites that provide a more meaningful user experience. All electronics are a balancing act because of REACTANCE.
Best,
Galen Gareis