Micro Max 282 vs. Exclusive EA-10

Dear DT, I really have no set opinion on wiring, except that I favor either pure copper OR pure silver (vs silver-plated copper or other combinations), and I favor very thin gauge solid core wire or a ribbon vs stranded wire. Litz is not "stranded" in this definition, since the strands of a Litz wire are insulated from one another. But the Litz configuration is still a matter of taste, IMO. In any case, you repeatedly have written here and elsewhere that because silver is a marginally better conductor than copper, copper will actually fail to transmit low level signals conveying inner details of the music, compared to silver, when one is using a cartridge with a very low output voltage. IMO, this hypothesis of yours is not correct, i.e., not supported by scientific facts. The difference in conductivity between the two materials would not result in the total loss of information when using a copper conductor compared to a silver one, that you suggest. I agree that silver and copper do sound different, but I don't think we know why. If I am wrong in this belief, please enlighten me.

DT, Until today I had not read your reply to my post. You write, "the silver litz in the Ikeda is not isolated from each other". If by this you mean to say that the individual strands in the wire are not insulated from one another, then the Ikeda is not Litz wire at all. The definition of a Litz wire demands that each tiny strand is insulated from the others and the strands are wound in a particular way. Anyway, that is a side issue. I am about to try out the Audio Note silver Litz wire (true Litz wire) in one of my tonearms, if I can get it through the bearing house, as you remark. If not, I may run it outside the arm tube. But meantime, I am also enamored of the C37 cryo-treated silver wire that I ordered to be installed in my Reed tonearm. Of course, I am comparing it to nothing, using only one cartridge so far, and my opinion is completely subjective.

I liked your post of Apr 29 regarding the subjectivity and inherent lack of "science" in the matter of comparing any two items in an audio chain. I totally agree. The devices we use are born from science and thrown out to us to pay for and use as we will and then to write about in these gaseous fora.

I don't argue with your statement that you think copper loses detail compared to silver, but this does not at all prove your conclusion that this is happening because silver is "6%" better as a conductor. You are taking two separate "facts" and positing a cause-effect relationship that does not fit the known science of conductors, IMO. (But if I am wrong, I would greatly appreciate a reference to the relevant scientific literature that proves me wrong. This issue IS amenable to a scientific approach.) Like Thuchan says, all for fun.

While Raul sometimes likes to take the role of gadfly, and I can see that you two are at odds on many subjects, I think your ripostes could be a bit more to the point and a bit less ad hominem. Raul could do the same, perhaps. Because, like Thuchan says, it's all for fun.