Speaker cables are responsible for carrying electrical signals from the amplifier to the speakers. The thickness or gauge of the speaker cables can affect the amount of electrical resistance in the cable. In general, thicker cables have lower resistance and can carry more current, which can result in better power transfer from the amplifier to the speakers. However, in most home theater setups, the speaker cables are relatively short, and the resistance of the cables is usually not a limiting factor.
The perceived improvement in sound quality when using thicker speaker cables is often attributed to the placebo effect or other factors unrelated to the actual electrical performance of the cables. Speaker cables can certainly have an impact on the overall sound quality, but their influence is typically limited to subtle changes in tonal balance or clarity, which may or may not be noticeable to the average listener.
If you're looking to improve the performance quality of your home theater speakers, it's generally more beneficial to focus on the speakers themselves, such as upgrading to higher-quality models or optimizing their placement in the room. Additionally, room acoustics, proper amplifier matching, and source material quality can all have a more significant impact on the overall sound quality compared to speaker cables.