I agree with what Marakanetz stated about the inability to do conclusive comparisons between silver and copper without adequate information on each cable design. Cables vary in their capacitance, inductance, resistance, and resonance to mention just a few of the variables which affect the sound of the end product. Unfortunately, their are no truely "neutral" components nor are their any "neutral" cables. We all work with a bit of a "bent tool" since recordings sound different due to all the variables in a recording studio chain. In my experience, silver and copper do sound very different. However, solid sounds very different than stranded, and PE sounds different than PTFE (Polyethylene and teflon) as dielectrics. I have designed a large number of cables for an audio manufacturer and all of these variables were very audible. Which was "best" depended on which system was utilized. The only generalizations I could make is that silver sounds faster, leaner, more extended on the top but can turn hash if your source is poor or if the cable is of poor quality. Stranded copper sounded smooth and seductive with a PTFE dielectric in interconnect but a little loose in speaker cables with our configuration. Solid copper sounded a lot like silver and silver plated copper even more so. Personally, I use silver interconnects and silver speaker cables all with Cardas connections or Vampire. I hope this is of some help. Get a bunch of cables, have a friend change them, and listen, listen listen. Cables I would recommend are Cardas Neutral Reference, one of the best for the money I have heard, some of the AQ are good but a little high priced, Nordost, Kimber, Siltech, and MIT. Happy listening, JW
Copper v. Silver IC sound
I think most would agree that there is a trend for copper IC's to give a fuller midrange at the expense of some transparency, and for silver to give a pure extended top end while sounding a bit lean elsewhere. Some people will "mix" their IC's, say, using silver from source to preamp, then copper from preamp to amp. My question is: In this example, could one "lose" the warmer midrange in the first silver run, such that it could not be "recovered" in the second copper run? Conversely, could an initial copper run "reduce" the highest frequencies, such that they would not be "available" to the silver cable during the second run?
Or, are all the frequencies always carried along equally by most silver/copper IC's, with the final "presentation" of mids versus highs determined by the last cable in the system? Obviously I need to just try the experiment, but I don't have all the cables on hand, and I'd like to hear the experience and opinion of others. Thanks.
Or, are all the frequencies always carried along equally by most silver/copper IC's, with the final "presentation" of mids versus highs determined by the last cable in the system? Obviously I need to just try the experiment, but I don't have all the cables on hand, and I'd like to hear the experience and opinion of others. Thanks.