Ok you don’t want to spend $$$ what do you expect without spending any $$$…??? this is why people say stuff like cables don’t matter and I don’t wanna spend any money. It’s a component just like your amp or speakers. Lots of cheap options they all sound pretty much bad. No air on top, thin sounding and harsh or just warm and fuzzy without bass pitch definition. |
Perhaps someone could please explain to us the physics of sound transmission through copper, because it appears there is a lot of myths out there about the transmission through wire/cables. From the research I can do, copper has higher/better conductivity than gold, silver, or aluminum, yet people want those poorer transmitters to cover their cables. What is better than pure copper? Other than shielding, and solid connectors, what can make a strand of pure copper better? Nothing it seems to me. It seems there could only be things that could hinder it and make it worse. The price of copper is set in the commodities spot markets, and at times it is high and at times it is low. Copper is a commodity, differentiated only by price, by definition. So, unless we are talking about removing impurities in the wire or connection, there is nothing more that can be done. And with my apologies to others, a copper cable is not a component in a system just like an amp or speakers. Those components are constructed of many different and competing elements that require science, art and compromises to put together well, and this is what adds or subtracts value and price. But the natural laws of physics - and the Table of Elements - dictate that copper wire is simply a commodity - no ands, ifs or buts. And as to conductivity, gold, silver, and aluminum can only reduce conductivity - my apologies to JBL, and all the electronics manufacturers out there who specify a "solid gold (something)", etc. Or, has someone found a way to exceed the laws of physics? |
Silver has higher conductivity (lower resistance) than copper, gold or aluminum.
Define "better." Utilities almost always use aluminum wire for electric distribution because it’s relatively cheap and it’s lightweight. So aluminum could be argued as "better" for that purpose.
Opinion stated as fact. You seem to think all copper is of equal quality. |
@hsbrock Check out OCC wire, it is a means to make a strand of copper even better by changing the crystalline structure of the metal. The ‘better’ part is opinion of course, but OCC and the single crystal structure is real.
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@hsbrock If what you said was true then all copper cables would pretty much sound the same, and they clearly do not. Things like geometry, solid core vs. stranded, dielectric, etc. all make a significant difference, and as mentioned silver is a better conductor than copper so not sure where you read the opposite. Just listen to some different copper cables/interconnects and you’ll realize there’s a lot more to it than just connectors, purity, and shielding. This place is littered with people who once thought cables are just wire and can’t possibly make much difference to being shocked at how much difference they can make. So minimize the impact cables can have at your own risk — better to just use your own ears and make judgements from there. |
