Cooper is doing well. I finally disconnected him from the amplifier and speakers. |
The only difference between copper and silver is that silver has slightly less
resistance. So, all you have to do is use lower gauged copper and you will get
the same effect as using silver. Since silver has slightly less resistance, it is
possible people substitute the same gauge silver for their copper cables, hear
the music slightly louder in comparison and they think they are getting more
detail when in fact they are only getting slightly higher volume. In tests,
people will experience slightly higher volume as more detail and that's why
this is also the oldest trick in audio sales. The salesman A/B's two pieces of
gear, bumps the volume ever so slightly for the higher priced piece while
you're not looking and -- voila -- you hear more detail and he racks up
another sale.
The rest of the stuff people say about silver is unsupported.
Which means you can believe or not -- your choice.
I believe the idea that silver would impart a sonic signature is a holdover from
the world of musical instruments. Nickle or steel strings sound different from
bronze, a silver trumpet sounds different from brass, etc. But, these
instruments make sounds by vibrating -- that's different than carrying signal.
In blind listening tests when levels are matched, people cannot hear any
difference between silver and copper and aside from the difference in
resistance, no one has come up with a reason why they should.
Again -- your choice to believe or not. |
I think it is interesting that you would claim to already know my experience,
since you claim I come from a third party perspective, and yet you go on to
ask me to spell it out for you.
That would make you a sort of Kreskin with Alzheimers or something.
Let's examine your experience.
You claim silver sounds "tizzy."
That's interesting.
That would mean a lot of people are paying a lot of money for "
tizzy" sounding cables.
What, in your belief, would cause a silver cable to sound "tizzy?"
Did you a/b copper against silver?
What safeguards did you employ?
Did you a/b copper and silver in the same configuration? Employ precise
level matching? Did you try a lower gauge of copper and a/b it against the
silver to see if you were simply experiencing lowered or different resistance?
Did you do your listening tests double-blind?
What did you do to eliminate the possibility of the placebo effect?
Anything? |
Baldness has a warm tube-like sound with mid-range bloom, sparkling highs,
a huge, three dimensional soundstage and organic musicality. Behives have a
hi-fi type sound that is artificially exciting, colored, lacking in palpability, and
digital/solid state sounding. Where one parts one's hair is largely dependant
on how one feels about the demise of eight track. |
For thinning hair, air dielectric is a must. |
You know, if you look carefully, this thread asks us to compare silver versus "cooper." So, in the interest of accuracy, I a/b'd a silver cable, which sounded good, but a little bright against cooper. While blindfolded, I asked an assitant to connect a friend of mine named Cooper between my amplifier and speakers. With a live human being as my cable, I felt I gave up a lot of detail and soundstage shrunk to nothing. Still, I liked Cooper better. Go figure. |
I feel that not enough attention is paid to aluminum. |
Gold has the benefit of being way more expensive than copper. |
Aluminum, on the other hand, makes excellent siding. |
It is true that gold will not corrode like copper. Gold has more resistance, so
you have to use a thicker gauge of solid gold to get the same resistance as
copper. If you take care of copper cables, seal the connections well, clean
them from time to time, etc -- they will not corrode for years and years.
>>My understanding was that gold slightly attenuates the frequency
extremes<<
There is no evidence to support this. The only reason you might
experience attenuation would be that because of the expense, you might use
thin gauged cables and since gold has higher resistance, thinner gauge might
cause you to lose signal across the entire audio band. There are many myths
and wive's tales with regard to cables. There is no hard evidence to support
the idea that silver, copper, and gold sound different from one another
because of a sonic signature due to the material itself. People claim to hear
differences, but when blindfolded, can no longer tell them apart. What does
that tell you? It tells me that these supposed sonic signatures are imaginary.
You look at silver -- it is bright. People claim it sounds bright. It is the mind
at work.
>>The cable I'm using did indeed sound a little rolled-off at both ends
initially, but surprisingly is starting to open up<<
This would be surprising. More likely, it is your imagination. Amazing Randi
has a $1,000,000 offer to anyone who can prove to hear the difference
between a cable that has been "burned in" and one that has not.
There have been no takers. If anyone can hear this difference -- contact
Randi and claim the $1,000,000. But, you have to do it blindfolded.
|
>>I can't imagine a three cables constructed from three different materials
not sounding different.<<
You said the key word, IMAGINE. If you can only imagine them sounding
different, your imagination will take care of the rest. I believe this thinking is
a holdover from musical instruments where nickel would strings sound
different from bronze, a silver trumpet sounds different from brass, etc.
There's no reason for a silver speaker cable to sound different from copper or
gold, etc. The only meaurable difference between the three is resistance --
you want low resistance -- so if you use thicker guage gold you can match
the resistance of silver or copper and if you do they all sound the same.
There are no other measurable differences.
|
>>There's no reason for a silver speaker cable to sound different from copper or gold, etc.<<
>>Wrong<<
LOL. There is only one reason -- the power of the imagination.
|
We can measure differences in amplitude as fine as .01 db at 40Khz. Can the
human ear hear this? Absolutely not. There are many other examples just
like this -- where we have the ability to measure differences that are far
below the threshold of audibility. So, Mr. Newell's "personal"
view, if unqualified, is simply incorrect. It is as valuable as my "
personal" view that the moon is made of green cheese.
But, let's not discount the importance of the human ear. Afterall, this is what
we use to appreciate audio. If the human brain and ear have the awesome
ability to distinguish a difference between the sound of copper and silver, you
should be able to produce at least one double-blind study where someone
has heard the difference between silver and copper when matched for
resistance. You will not be able to do this. No one has ever demonstrated
this awesome ability. Ever. |
