Copper for Solid State / Silver for Tubes ?

Golden rule must be to use Siltech which has gold alloy in the cables also, HA!! I guess I agree generally, but as Creeper sais; trust your own ears.

I don't know about silver interconnects with SS preamps and amps, but I can tell you that I really like silver interconnects between a SS CD Player (Arcam FMJ CD23) and a ARC CA50 Integrated Tube Amp. It is the best I've heard so far, and that includes some of the better copper interconnects.
That one interconnect introduced into my system made a significant difference ... increased focus and definition ... increased transparency ... and increased stage width ... and incredibly quite background!
I've got a gold interconnect coming just so that I can see what gold can do with the silver. It should be interesting.
If you have apprehension about silver with all SS, I would try the gold. And the most affordable that I know of is the individual who made my silver interconnect. He is making an amazing product for whatever the price ... but, with his price, it is a fantastic deal!
You can reach Ray at:
[email protected]
If you try his cables, I would like to hear from you. I've been at this for a long time, and I think he is a real unsung surprise in audio. He is just a one man operation ... so his overhead is low.

Frankly there's not one thing the "reputable cable salesperson"(an oxymoron?) said that I agree with. They are all gross generalizations that may or may not hold true for your system and/or tastes. Personally I've heard bigger and more meaningful changes with interconnects than speaker cable, but that could just be a function of the cables I tried or my system or both. I guess my point would be that with cables there are absolutely no absolutes(how 'bout that?) and there's no getting around the fact that you have to try different combinations in your system to see what works for YOU. The good news is that cables are easy/cheap to transport and most cable companies or dealers will let you demo them risk free(less shipping if applicable), so your biggest costs are time and effort--but isn't that the fun part?

My advice would be to try everything you can--you'll learn a lot and you'll find the cables that really do it for you. Particularly with cables you should avoid any "one size fits all" generalizations and just go by your own ears. Best of luck.

Tim

'Couldn't agree more with Tim. The danger about generalizations such as "silver is bright" or "copper is warm" is that people actually start to accept and spread this as a universal dogma. If you can't find a dealer that will let you try cables in your own system then find another dealer, they are out there. This kind of "stereotyping" of cable based on metallurgy reminds me of the BS that we brass players (trumpet) hear (and spread) constantly: silverplated trumpets sound "brighter" than goldplated trumpets, raw brass sounds warmer...etc. ad nauseum. [Far more important on sound and timbre is the GUAGE (thickness) of the metal, not the plating]. Interconnects also come in different guages, cabling patterns, with different dielectrics, etc. The PURITY of the copper or silver may be more important than the fact one is copper and the other is silver. The dielectric may actually have more effect on the sound than whether the cable is silver or copper. We have said nothing about a wire's capacitance, impedance, and inductance which have major influences on component compatibility. My own experience is similar to Tim's insofar as interconnect's having made more of a difference in most of my systems over the years than speaker cables. But I have also found that some preamps or amps are more sensitive to cable changes than others. Further, do your speakers resolve well enough to enable you to hear what changes are taking place upstream? When listening to my system, I am not listening to a cable, I am listening to how well (or not so well) all elements in the system are working together. And, if you change just one component (for example, active preamp to passive preamp) the synergy may be disrupted. That IC that was "the best cable in the world" with the active preamp may be all wrong for the passive preamp. There is no "one best cable", regardless of what any audio dealer tells you.

Very well said Richgib.I couldn't agree more.I'm glad you detailed it out.If the dealers would only say this same thing( some do ) then they would not only make more sales of cables but would reduce buyer's remorse and uncertainty as well.