Does Silver Cable Sound Bright and why.

Well I read everywhere that Silver cable sounds bright, I think I have worked out why.
The cost of Silver (Ag) is much higher than Copper (Cu) and this would effect the amount that is used, ok it resistance is lower but that not the reason.

Using a thinner conductor will reduce the amount of current that can flow, and with the smaller diameter the effects of lets say Skin Effect will be pronounced and the cable will sound bright thin and not nice.

Now with reduced current and with loses in crossovers the bass will be appear to be lower or the top end will scream at us this is a unbalance in the loading cause by the design of the speaker not the cable.

So what are your thoughts????

OK Ag plating on Cu yes great idea but again we now have a outer conductor that is thin and great for speed and with a lower resistance, so how does this compare with just plain Cu or let say Gold (Au) plating or even the hard Rhodium (Rh) plating with it's great toughness compare to Cu but crap resistance relative to Cu.

So back to you more thoughts?

Comments

  • I like your lateral thinking. :-)
    Sounds plausible too.
    I have no idea about the facts of course!
  • Geometry plays a massive part and the insulator, The configuration stayed the same on a test I did and I found silk to be best, then Kevlar then PTFE but best of all was air gap, I also tried Mercury filled, it was interesting but not safe I wanted to try Woods Metal but never got round to it.
    The worse was iron followed by Aluminium and Magnesium pure yuk, Titanium was tried but stupid costs and not that good.

    So now for the extreme test, liquid Sodium maybe or liquid Helium but again costs.

    Also I found out years ago with Inca Tech Mains Plugs, Gold plated on Copper just caused atom migration so you need a blocker like Nickel, after 2 yrs the Gold is adsorbed into the Copper and looked crap.

    So now we are trying another method that should reduce energy lose in the cable by about 25%, OK this is small but as the frequency goes up the loses get worse., and no top end.
    The same technique I tried with mains cable and it proved to be fantastic so it will be out soon, when the tool is made correctly phew, money money.

    I did the air gap plus PTFE with TQ it worked well but this new idea I think is much better. ( but then I would !) 
  • edited August 2016
    Oh just a tip never leave me alone on a train, I feel asleep and missed Dave;s Station and arrived at the hated Eastborne, and on the way back again had to be woken in Victoria Station.
    But the Atom plus amp are safe and enjoyed the ride, my back is killing me but it is a vocation after all.
    Just a note 7 - 8th Sept strikes on trains into and around London.

    Sorry Dave
  • No worries.

    You never came anywhere near Littlehampton, mate!

    It may be safer for me to come to you ;-)
  • I was it is the same sea at least mmmm :(
  • Mercury insulated audio cables.
  • Measuring "atom migration". Col, you have the coolest job!!
  • Yep I love sweeping the roads here so much junk and never ending, a cool job.
  • Nice to see understandable tech talk on the whys and wherefores of cable design. I was also unaware of the atom migration of gold on copper.
    My experience of silver cabling is also of being too bright and silver plated copper being definite improvement on it. However, only "different" to copper alone. IME only using insulated or twisted pairs seems to give definite improvement especially for hook up wire.

    Has anyone done twisted quads of silver cores and of copper along with the spacing topography outlined above? Or would such an arrangement cause miniscule timing errors, thinking more of speaker cables of greater lengths there.
  • I found this when I started a cable company up a few year ago, I do not agree with all it conclusions but the site is worth a read.

Sign In or Register to comment.