Some thoughts about tonearm wire

@kennyc Actually, you missed the point I was making.  If the gauge is not the same when making the comparison, then the variables of inductance, resistance, and capacitance start to become the dominant factors in sound quality,   

Case in point: that AT-1100 tonearm has what I would estimate as 50g silver wire, while the copper wire I considered replacing it with was 30g.  That is a very significant difference!  If they are both 50g, then inductance and capacitance is very similar, while resistance is slightly better with the silver.  Likewise, if they are both 30g.

Put another way, let's take an extreme example.  As wire gauge gets smaller, inductance goes up.  Consider that 50g silver wire that runs 1 meter from the cartridge to the pre-preamp for a MC cartridge needing a 30 Ohm termination impedance.  If that was the case, the bandwidth would drop to about 3KHz!  So, 50g silver vs 30g copper?  That 30g wins every time, regardless if is 30g silver or 30g copper.

In this case, you can squeeze by using silver for a short length, then switching to a heavier gauge wire for the longer run to the pre-preamp.  If you still had 6 inches of silver 50g wire, the bandwidth jumps to about 19 KHz.  

I don't know the gauge of that silver wire in the AT-1100 tonearm, but I can tell you that the diameter of the silver wire plus insulation is thinner than the stripped bare 30g copper tonearm wire I purchased.

So, if you are comparing silver vs copper or perhaps Brand A copper to Brand B copper, it is wise to make sure they are the same gauge wire.  So compare apples to apples and not apples to oranges.

And all this assumes the wire construction is the same!  If not, well, then you back to apples vs oranges.

@dover Yep, you are absolutely correct.  That tiny silver wire in the tonearm is about as flexible as air.  The 30g copper I bought is flexible enough when bare, but the insulation made it rather stiff, so I didn't bother to replace it.  Having great bearings becomes meaningless when the tonearm wire is stiff.  I am sure AT considered this when choosing that thin wire.

@dover WOW!!! LOL I did not know you had a comedy side to you.   

I kept info in my post about a Continuous Wire design on a removable Wand Tonearm, where the Wire is a run from Cartridge lead out Pins through to the RCA connection at the Phonostage.

Wire that is used within the OEM Model, is soldered onto concealed within the Wand Connectors, between Head Shell Bayonet Connection and the attachment to bearing assembly, is wire that does not impact on the freedom of movement.

Wire attached to the Connector on the bearing assembly and RCA Phono Cable connection is able to impact on the freedom of the bearing movement.

I proposed the methodology for a wiring, that is required to do away with connections onto the concealed connectors and explained the Tonearm would then become a permanent attached Wand Tonearm. Expecting for some users feeling that this restriction was to be unattractive for their intentions.

Your final comment is just hilarious, almost to the point you are believing a poor April Fool. How Blind are those in Love and those carrying Hate.

Mate did you get your wires crossed  

Recently I made a decision to rewire my Linn Ittok LVII tonearm since it had been repaired once before for a broken solder joint which necessarily resulted in deliberately crossing wires and compensating accordingly.  If I ever sold the Linn LP12 I'd have to explain the reasoning for the miswire and I really din't want to have to do this so I contact Brit Audio about a rewire.  My intention was to only replace the wires within the tonearm itself, from cartridge pins to the din connector at the base of the tonearm.  In my haste, I accidentally (that's what I told my wife) ordered the "Incognito" upgrade which replaces the wire from the headshell pins all the way to the RCA terminals that connect to the phono preamp thereby eliminating the DIN connector.  It was more expensive for sure but was clearly my error.  I was most concerned about the ability to dress the cable properly so that it did not consequentially affect the tonearm.  I put everything back together as best I could and damn if it doesn't sound better than ever.  The quality of the wire and eliminating the DIN connector made a huge difference.  The clarity, extension and smoothness is way better almost like what one might expect with a better phono stage.  Extremely happy I did the upgrade and my wife forgave me. Whew.

Spatialking, I strongly doubt that the wire in your tonearm is as thin as 50 AWG. 50 AWG wire is approximately 0.0010 inches or 0.0254 millimeters in diameter. Typical tonearm wire is 33AWG or thereabouts.  There used to be a school of thought among audiophiliacs that favored solid core wire and with a gauge as thin as practicable.  Michael Percy Audio used to sell and maybe still sells a special brand of Japanese 6N copper wire that is 40u (microns) in diameter, or .0015748 inches, which means it is a bit wider in diameter than your estimate of what you see in your AT tonearm.  I have seen an IC made with that 40u stuff; it was almost invisible and incredibly fragile, enough that the company that made it, Mapleshade Audio, gave up on it. Anyway, as others have said, I would leave the wire in your AT tonearm alone, if it were me making the decision. 

Also, you state you are worried about resistance, capacitance, and inductance.  By and large the gauge of the wire will only affect resistance per unit foot.  The geometry of the winding, if any, is what mostly determines reactance (capacitance and inductance). If the individual leads are twisted together, for example, that would affect reactance as compared to running the 4 leads (left, right, hot, ground) side by side.  Solid core vs stranded wire would also make a difference in reactance.