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Sam was referring to a transformer-based device, which can indeed have voltage gain, though this is at the expense of the current flowing in the secondary winding.
Well, no. The electrical _signal_ does indeed travel at the speed of light, but only when the conductor is surrounded by a vacuum. When the conductor is surrounded by an insulating material, the signal slows down to (still sizable) fraction of the speed of light, depending on that material. But this is the speed of the _signal_, which travels _outside_ the conductor; the conducting electrons that support that signal move a few inches per second, and with an AC signal merely oscillate around their rest positions.
See my essay at www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/84/index.html, specifically the text at the foot of the first page.
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile