[Review] Copper or silver cables-which ones?

R

rollo

Joined
Nov 30, 2006
Messages
339
Reaction score
0
Location
N.Y. U.S.A.
Copper or silver cables-which ones?

Can we say Copper is better than Silver?Do they have thier own character?Is silver threadbare?copper rich?Can we classify the sound of the material one way or the other?
rollo
 
No silver is better than copper as it is the better conductor of the two. After changing from copper i am getting a cleaner sound.
Although more expensive its up to you to try them and see for yourself. Jim.
 
I, not really being technically literate, was just wondering to what extent the resistance within a cable affected the energy received by the transducer. IE energy loss = less energy to reproduce sound, and if the energy loss is not linear throught the whole frequency spectrum then any energy loss could result in changing the overall sound picture. If this is the case then silver being a better conductor than copper, should be a better cable. Unfortunately though it is not as simple as other forces are at work too, such as inductance and capacitance which may (I'm not so sur about this) but perhaps may affect the transmission of energy. The difference between copper and silver here is of little or no consequence. RFI or other interference may leak from adjacent cables and affect the transfer of energy. Hence I suspect that keeping all cables short and apply adequate screening and good placement is as important as the material used for the conductor. Any way just a few thought to probably cloud the pool of thought on cables.
 
I doubt the differnce in resistance has any effect whatsover - silver is a better conductor but this has nothing to do with signal quality - its an inference drawn mistakenly by the cable industry to sell cables. The effects on power transfer will be negligible as will any frequency effect. Cables are so close to linear you would be unable to measure any effect whatsoever and any distortion is orders of magnitude below the thermal noise floor if it exists at all. The only difference wil be due to the different LCR characteristics and those values interaction with the i/o characteristics of the two connected boxes.
 
Jimbo said:
No silver is better than copper as it is the better conductor of the two. After changing from copper i am getting a cleaner sound.
Although more expensive its up to you to try them and see for yourself. Jim.
Click to expand...

JIMBO,
I own Stealth silver ribbon speaker cable,NASA grade 7 0f 9's solid silver made by Sperry-Rand for the space shuttle.and finally Worthing Audio handmade IC's.Over $4000 worth of world class silver IC and speaker cables.
To me silver has a house sound of thin,dry,detailed and clean and transparent.It boils down to synergy with your system.
Trying to establish that silver as well as copper has a house sound.
The only silver IC that maybe rich and clear is the Anti-Cable silver with Eichman silver Bullet plugs[$200] a meter.
rollo
 
I've tried both and have never found it to make any difference. Copper is better because it's a lot cheaper, so you get more for your money. Silver is the better electrical conductor, but is only slightly better. IMHO, a decent bit of copper is all you need.

I think that this is one of those cases where folk tend to attribute the actual or perceived physical qualities of the material involved to the sound, e.g., wooden shelves producer a more natural, warmer sound, glass shelves produce a brighter sound, that sort of thing, so silver is perceived as "cleaner", "brighter".

There is no scientific basis for this (or at least none that I've ever seen). In fact, IIRC, the crystal lattices of the metals are very similar (they are in the same group of the Periodic Table), with the silver lattice allowing a bit more freedom for the mobile electrons that make metals electrical conductors.
 
I think that this is one of those cases where folk tend to attribute the actual or perceived physical qualities of the material involved to the sound, e.g., wooden shelves producer a more natural, warmer sound, glass shelves produce a brighter sound, that sort of thing, so silver is perceived as "cleaner", "brighter".

Perhaps Lead cored wire for HEAVY METAL
 
I own Stealth silver ribbon speaker cable, NASA grade 7 0f 9's solid silver made by Sperry-Rand for the space shuttle.
Click to expand...

I bet the NASA space shuttle has a great hi-fi system. Blast off!
 
copper sounds fat,bloated with a sort of distortion like edge to the sound once you've got used to the sound of silver.

I recently had to use a set of copper speaker cables in place of my own silver cables......the result was such an awful sound that I didn't listen to an music whilst these well regarded budget items were in place.

I still say that if your not hearing the changes you need to address problem elsewhere regardless of kit.....too many people have now heard this for it just to be my imagination.

If you want to try copper speaker cables get some 20 amp solid core twin and earth mains ....

I'd agree its not just a question of conductivety theres something else going on too.....

Check your purity figures 5n is the practical limit of silver purity ..this will cost more than gold anything beyond 6n is a figment of imagination. Another interesting point an purity figures are quoted for the orginal ingot, not the final product....once drawn the wire purity is greatly reduced as impurities are ground into the wire surface by the dies..especially if made of hardened steel.
 
Perhaps Lead cored wire for HEAVY METAL
Click to expand...
Great idea! Lead isn't particularly brilliant as a conductor, so it would let less of that awful noise through. But why don't we do the whole hog and use cables of 100% PTFE for heavy metal? That would improve things infinitely by letting none of it through!
 
brizonbiovizier said:
Copper cables distort? Thats a lot to swallow.
Click to expand...

That's not quite what Zanash said - you have to add on the bit "once you've got used to the sound of silver", i.e., in comparison with silver, copper distorts.

I don't believe it either, and I suspect that "getting used to the sound of silver" is tantamount to convincing oneself that there is a difference. I'm equally convinced that there's none whatsoever, but, hey, if the silver fans hear a difference, they hear a difference, and if they enjoy it, good luck to them, regardless as to whether or not that difference exists in reality.
 
Even in comparison I find it dififuclt to beleive. Saying you can only hear it if your system meets certain criteria is a bit dubious too.
 
I've upgraded(?) from van den hul the wind mk11 (18 quid a metre rrp) to some van damme (2 quid metre) as I needed a longer run of speaker cable in my new house - and I can't tell any difference in sound quality between them...
 
My experience is also that copper distorts compared to silver. The copper adds a kind of harshness to the sound that isn't present with silver.

Of course copper and silver aren't the only games in town. There are all sorts of exotic alloys involving copper, silver, gold, rhodium and palladium to name but a few and all are capable of giving a different sound. One advantage of exotic alloys seems to be that you don't need much. It's also true that silver can be a lot thinner than copper and still give better results.

In value for money terms, copper is of course far cheaper than any of the alternatives. To get the best from copper I think you want to get the fattest wire that can be accomodated.

I use 2.5mm Twin & Earth (household ring main) for my power cords. I use two runs twisted together. This effectively extends the household ring to the hifi component. Of course you need big (and expensive) plugs to accomodate it. Also it does take a day or three to run in.

I haven't tried using T&E for speaker cable as I was lucky enough to get some Silver Mithril second hand (but still expensive).

One other point worth noting is that whilst alloys can work very well, plated mixtures do not seem to work so well. Silver plated copper sounds worse than either pure silver or good thick copper in my experience. On the other hand, the plating of contacts in plugs and sockets does seem to be beneficial with gold being my favourite here.
 
zanash said:
copper sounds fat,bloated with a sort of distortion like edge to the sound once you've got used to the sound of silver.

I recently had to use a set of copper speaker cables in place of my own silver cables......the result was such an awful sound that I didn't listen to an music whilst these well regarded budget items were in place.

I still say that if your not hearing the changes you need to address problem elsewhere regardless of kit.....too many people have now heard this for it just to be my imagination.

If you want to try copper speaker cables get some 20 amp solid core twin and earth mains ....

I'd agree its not just a question of conductivety theres something else going on too.....

Check your purity figures 5n is the practical limit of silver purity ..this will cost more than gold anything beyond 6n is a figment of imagination. Another interesting point an purity figures are quoted for the orginal ingot, not the final product....once drawn the wire purity is greatly reduced as impurities are ground into the wire surface by the dies..especially if made of hardened steel.
Click to expand...


I agree with Zanash. Unless you've been fortunate enough to compare two identical IC's, and I do mean identical in every way, one copper, and one silver, it's a job to make a valued judgment.

Probably the only way to do it, is to construct your own. Two IC's in a simple twisted pair geometry, one using the best 28awg copper you can get, the other using 28awg not less than 99.99 silver.

Always use detoxed, polished bare wire, then insulate it in clear PTFE tubing. Make sure you twist the two IC's the same pitch.

You should now have two identical IC's, apart from the conductors used.

When you listen, you will find the difference in sound quite marked.

Never be tempted to use any silver less than 99.99 pure.

IMHO it's difficult to find two conducting materials that actually sound identical, and again, have to agree with Zanash that it doesn't appear to have anything to do with their conductivity.

Graham.
 
I have to agree with Zanash, I will never go back to Copper again in my set up.
I've DIY all my Cables now, Silver has given me great results.
Silver does take a while to burn in, it took around 4-6 weeks for that bright razor sound to mellow, I can only echo Zanash in regards to the sound of copper, the bass is flabby and timing in slower, and HF is not as clean.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top