Are silver coated cables a bunch of hype?

Until I heard Analysis Plus cable, I was always of the same opinion as Twl.

My experiences had always shown silver plated copper to be harsh sounding. I became a fan of silver, and felt a big reason many felt silver to be harsh sounding was they were instead speaking of silver plated copper. A lot of companies will market their cables in a manner in which the potential customer may not know. In fact, I believe that Pure Silver Conductor's cables are silver plated copper. Doesn't sound like they picked the correct name.

Low grade silver, or silver cables with substand terminations can sound bad.

Silver, executed correctly, does not exhibit these nasties.

Well, for years, I walked around with a distaste for silver coated copper. As I said, when I heard Analysis Plus, I found the cables to sound very good. As is always the case, I need to tip my hat to Megasam for turning me on to this wire. I have yet to try it in my system, but probably will at some point.

AudioQuest has always marketed copper cables and silver cables, but not silver coated copper. They used to provide some evidence and opinion as to why silver coated copper was a harsh sounding cable. All of which bore out in my experience. Interestingly enough, they now market silver coated copper. I guess what sells is more important than what they believe in.

Ray Kimber has also always sold copper cables, and silver cables. He also sells cables where some of the wire is copper and others are silver. He feels that silver coated copper is subject to a unique, long term degradation. I can see where he is coming from, as silver normally will migrate through other materials, most notably soda lime glass. I can see this migration occurring through the copper's impurities, and having long term consequences which may not be beneficial.

Albert's good experience with Purist Audio Dominus and me with AP show me that a silver coated copper has the potential to sound good, but the category should be viewed with a keen eye. Given the choice, apart from these cables, I would opt for copper or silver over silver plated copper.

To answer the question of this thread, yes silver plated copper cables are a bunch of hype. It is purely a marketing ploy to fool some people into thinking they are getting a better cable. In most cases, it is solely for the purpose of the company charging much more money for what does not cost them much more money. Silver coated copper was developed for the military, to protect copper wires from various forms of environmental degradation. Silver is dirt cheap, ~$4.25/troy ounce. You may remember that an ounce of gold, when hammered out, can easily cover a football field. The amount of silver involved is inconsequential. The process of plating is dirt cheap. It a win - win for the company.

Red, I think I speak for a lot of us here when I say that I wish you came around more, like things used to be. That goes for you too, Bruce!

Upon thinking of your post, I am tending to agree with your premise. Teflon and copper would have no interaction with one another. However, I can see how the plasticizers(almost always pthalates) in the teflon tubing, added to make the insulation flexible, probably have an acidic, therefore corrosive effect.

Copper reacts readily with all manner of materials, and this reaction(corrosion) would definitely be detrimental in the long run. Now, I believe I finally understand the reason behind many copper cables deteriorating over time, most notably the wire used inside Legacy speakers exhibiting their notorious green degradation(copper sulfate?) despite being protected from the outside elements. The copper is being attacked from inside the insulation.

Silver coating on copper would provide a useful means of protection. Silver is one of the 8 precious metals, a main characteristic of this category being its members resistance to reacting with other compounds. So, I now see a potential long term benefit to silver coated copper. Those old engineers again get a tip of my hat. I think the cable world needs more material scientists designing products and less marketing/salespeople.

Now, I leave it to the cable producers(uuuggghhhh) to produce good sounding silver coated copper audio cables. While I admit to taking a step forward in this thread towards this material, I still maintain that the material is used mostly as a tool to sell a cable at a higher price/markup.

Red, I may very well be wrong, but I believe that silver coated copper predates the use of teflon insulated wire.

Twl, you are correct, silver oxide is conductive. Copper oxide is a semiconductor(can be conductive or non - conductive, depending on circumstances). Semi - conductors almost never exhibit good conductivity.

The point of a wires insulators is to (1)keep the conductors from shorting & (2)protect the wire from the outside world. I would say that if a wire is not being protected, the manufacturer is not doing his job. Even if they are using a material which does not provide that protection because of sonic reasons, at today's prices, they more than owe it to their customers to insulate the insulator. Provide some means of protecting their wire and our investment.