It isn't true that only Siltech uses gold, and it's also not true that gold "is not recommended for audio cables." Or at least this conventional wisdom has been challenged. It is true that gold is a relatively poor conductor, but for IC's this isn't very relevant. Some van den Hull cables use a much poorer conductor. Stealth PGS ("pure gold signal"), true to its name, uses a very thin strand of gold on the hot side. It has been well received, though that by itself doesn't prove much since some very poor designs continue to be widely popular.
Only Siltech can make gold-silver cables?
I guess Kharma does the same, but is outrageously expensive as well.
After doing my little cable shoot-out here I just wonder, why not more companies would experiment with a gold-silver alloy like Siltech? I know that gold by itself is not a good conductor and is not recommended for audiocables, but I speak of alloys and Siltech has proven, that a gold-silver alloy works marvelous.
So why can't more cable companies start experimenting with gold and silver alloys?
It cannot be the price of gold, can it? One gram of 24kt gold is about $12, so even if a company would use a whole ounce of gold per pair of interconnetcs, we still are not talking more than $400 of pure material costs.
Imagine a company getting this right like Siltech, but only charging a third of the price. I can see this company selling huge quantities of cable.
Now I think, that the cable manufacturers have not waited for a guy from Germany to suggest such a thing, so there must be a few obvious reasons, why only Siltech does use gold, which I have clearly overlooked.
Maybe the more technical savvy people here can answer such a question.
After doing my little cable shoot-out here I just wonder, why not more companies would experiment with a gold-silver alloy like Siltech? I know that gold by itself is not a good conductor and is not recommended for audiocables, but I speak of alloys and Siltech has proven, that a gold-silver alloy works marvelous.
So why can't more cable companies start experimenting with gold and silver alloys?
It cannot be the price of gold, can it? One gram of 24kt gold is about $12, so even if a company would use a whole ounce of gold per pair of interconnetcs, we still are not talking more than $400 of pure material costs.
Imagine a company getting this right like Siltech, but only charging a third of the price. I can see this company selling huge quantities of cable.
Now I think, that the cable manufacturers have not waited for a guy from Germany to suggest such a thing, so there must be a few obvious reasons, why only Siltech does use gold, which I have clearly overlooked.
Maybe the more technical savvy people here can answer such a question.