Actually, the most defining factor in interconnects is the "geometry" of the cable which defines the main R, L & C parameters. (I've said this before in the forum) So, if you really want to compare anything *else* you must first have identically constructed cables. I've done that.
After the geometry, the next factor can be the metals - but this is a much smaller particpant. It's not terribly likely that anyone is going to find differences in the sound due to the purity of the metal. As it happens the purity of the wire used in most commercially made electronic wire is very high to begin with.
Gauge seems to play a role, but keep in mind that changing the diameter of a wire will effect L & C too, and R (but R should be playing a very minor role at these lengths). IMHO, within some reasonable ranges of 20 gauge wire things don't seem to change very much. Insulation matters, that controls the C.
I do personally feel that there is a subjective sonic signature to silver and copper (having said all that) and this is based upon listening to *identical* construction of both silver and copper interconnects.
When I designed my interconnects I felt that silver was doing some things that copper did not, but that copper seemed to have better mids and lows. This feeling was mirrored by others who were independently listening to silver. Keep in mind that this goes back now almost 15 years, before everyone and his brother had some sort of special recipe cable out.
So, what I tried to do is to find a way to get a silver cable to not just have those sweet highs, but to have the warmth and mid bass/low bass that I was hearing in copper cables. BTW, SPC seemed to merely screw things up all round and have the worst of both!
My design philosophy is to try to get the system under control FIRST, then if needed to attempt to adjust "color", but not before. So, the goal is to present the signal without colorations through the signal chain. That's what my interconnect product is intended to do, and seems to succeed, in as much as it gets out of the way, like taking the glass out of a window.
Tube-o-philes, especially those with ZFB, SE and DHT amps often happen to have a slight rolloff in the highs. So, they often favor the slight "tinkle" coloration provided by straight simple silver interconnects. Conversely, many other amps have overshoot (look at the square waves published in the mags...) and benefit from a cable that is a bit self inductive and shunt capacitive (rolled down) to compensate.
I prefer to try to set up a system without these complementary colorations and compensations, since they never completely and fully null each other and yield a mess more often than not. This messy situation results in some sonic confusion and accounts in large measure for those many people who report that they can not or do not hear certain differences, IMHO.
Speaker cables can be quite interactive with a given speaker. Again, merely by changing the geometry of a given cable I can remarkably alter the subjective perception of a given speaker. The interesting factor is that a speaker cable with a geometry that is known to have a "strong" effect, when used with different speakers, will not have the same effect at all. In other words, the interaction is often unpredictable. In my experience, the speaker cables with "boxes" are especially prone to this effect, as are those with highly reactive parameters (often very capacitive or inductive, or both).
Again, the Silver Thunder speaker cables that I make are intended to "get out of the way" as much as possible, and minimally interact with the load and the amp.
Just a perspective from someone who builds cables commercially.
_-_-bear
After the geometry, the next factor can be the metals - but this is a much smaller particpant. It's not terribly likely that anyone is going to find differences in the sound due to the purity of the metal. As it happens the purity of the wire used in most commercially made electronic wire is very high to begin with.
Gauge seems to play a role, but keep in mind that changing the diameter of a wire will effect L & C too, and R (but R should be playing a very minor role at these lengths). IMHO, within some reasonable ranges of 20 gauge wire things don't seem to change very much. Insulation matters, that controls the C.
I do personally feel that there is a subjective sonic signature to silver and copper (having said all that) and this is based upon listening to *identical* construction of both silver and copper interconnects.
When I designed my interconnects I felt that silver was doing some things that copper did not, but that copper seemed to have better mids and lows. This feeling was mirrored by others who were independently listening to silver. Keep in mind that this goes back now almost 15 years, before everyone and his brother had some sort of special recipe cable out.
So, what I tried to do is to find a way to get a silver cable to not just have those sweet highs, but to have the warmth and mid bass/low bass that I was hearing in copper cables. BTW, SPC seemed to merely screw things up all round and have the worst of both!
My design philosophy is to try to get the system under control FIRST, then if needed to attempt to adjust "color", but not before. So, the goal is to present the signal without colorations through the signal chain. That's what my interconnect product is intended to do, and seems to succeed, in as much as it gets out of the way, like taking the glass out of a window.
Tube-o-philes, especially those with ZFB, SE and DHT amps often happen to have a slight rolloff in the highs. So, they often favor the slight "tinkle" coloration provided by straight simple silver interconnects. Conversely, many other amps have overshoot (look at the square waves published in the mags...) and benefit from a cable that is a bit self inductive and shunt capacitive (rolled down) to compensate.
I prefer to try to set up a system without these complementary colorations and compensations, since they never completely and fully null each other and yield a mess more often than not. This messy situation results in some sonic confusion and accounts in large measure for those many people who report that they can not or do not hear certain differences, IMHO.
Speaker cables can be quite interactive with a given speaker. Again, merely by changing the geometry of a given cable I can remarkably alter the subjective perception of a given speaker. The interesting factor is that a speaker cable with a geometry that is known to have a "strong" effect, when used with different speakers, will not have the same effect at all. In other words, the interaction is often unpredictable. In my experience, the speaker cables with "boxes" are especially prone to this effect, as are those with highly reactive parameters (often very capacitive or inductive, or both).
Again, the Silver Thunder speaker cables that I make are intended to "get out of the way" as much as possible, and minimally interact with the load and the amp.
Just a perspective from someone who builds cables commercially.
_-_-bear