Let's talk about Silver...


We got off on a short tangent in another discussion about the merits of silver in cables, but we did not want to derail that conversation. So I thought I would start a general discussion where folks can share their experiences, and opinions of course, with silver cables. This can include solid silver, silver plated or alloys, wire, connectors, analog, digital etc.

The knee jerk reaction in the audio world is to say that silver is bright, and in some cases that may be true, but I think it is not a universal truth. I am currently trialing some solid silver interconnects, and I have had some good success with silver in the digital realm. Please share your experience, and opinions of course.

 

zlone

Showing 1 response by ted_b

Strikingly many anecdotal accounts of silver plated copper conductors begin with, "At first ...," across various brands and types of cables. This implies the combination of these metals at first gives an impression of increased resolution, which is later concluded to be distortion of some type. Conversely, tin plated copper is another matter entirely that is much appreciated by many (myself included).

It is often said that "silver sounds bright," but this begs the question as to if the metallurgy itself is a driving variable (purity claims should be regarded with suspicion), or if this is at least partly due to differences in cable construction given the typically small diameter of silver cable conductors as compared to copper.

It would be interesting to conduct a blind test among a group of listeners using cables of otherwise identical construction aside from the conductor (and perhaps connector) metallurgy and determine if each can be reliably and repeatedly identified.