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Copper v. Silver IC sound

I think most would agree that there is a trend for copper IC's to give a fuller midrange at the expense of some transparency, and for silver to give a pure extended top end while sounding a bit lean elsewhere. Some people will "mix" their IC's, say, using silver from source to preamp, then copper from preamp to amp. My question is: In this example, could one "lose" the warmer midrange in the first silver run, such that it could not be "recovered" in the second copper run? Conversely, could an initial copper run "reduce" the highest frequencies, such that they would not be "available" to the silver cable during the second run?
Or, are all the frequencies always carried along equally by most silver/copper IC's, with the final "presentation" of mids versus highs determined by the last cable in the system? Obviously I need to just try the experiment, but I don't have all the cables on hand, and I'd like to hear the experience and opinion of others. Thanks.
ral

Showing 2 responses by subaruguru

subaruguru
1,376 posts
 
Phononic Energy?! Just means LOUDNESS, right? Correlated to sones, etc....
Yet indeed I find a shimmeriness (good word) for the silver IC I used from CDP to pre. A great all copper cable seems fuller in the mids, but I believe only because the silver cable's mids are laid back. What's the absolute reference here? I dunno...either the copper has a bump at 1-3k and/or rolls off up top AND/OR the silver has a dip and/or peak, respectively.
If this is all it's about, then sure you can mix and match, without respect to additive/subtractive order, right?
My Pass amps LOVE the silver in Red Dawn, but only after the copper Discovery Essence perfected (filled and flattened?) the source (EC EMC-1 MkII); the Pro-Silways are lean and WAY laid back by comparison, with a wispy shimmer up top.
So for me, great copper and then good silver works fine....
Keeping to one manufacturer for all cabling needs is a notion I still can't give much credence to, as the components (especially the transducers: source and speakers) and room are far more responsible for spectral and timing phenomena.
In the end, you'll just have to trust your ears, and perhaps avoid the extreme mismatches, like lean silver with cheap ss or extra-warm copper with high-output impedence SETs, etc.
subaruguru
1,376 posts
 
Hmm...my brother has been pressure-laminating precious metalds for Texas Instrments for 15+ years...mostly gold, some silver, for commercial, defense, NASA accounts, etc.
I'll try to remember to ask him if there's any diodic potential variation as a function of pressure at the metals' interface. He probably won't know...or care, but I believe as long as the barrier is anaerobic you're done!
Oh well...nice marketing ploy, anyway, eh?
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