2. cables
  3. 179108-164950

Serious Question About Silver vs Copper Conductivity for Power

Yes, I realize that this topic is going to bring out the sharks, but if I get at least one serious response, it will all be worth it.

I understand that silver conducts 7% faster than copper.  I also understand that using a dielectric insulation like Teflon is best at keeping the wire from overheating, stopping signals entering and stopping signals from leaving the conductor. I understand that a certain amount of math is involved in selected gauge of wire depending largely on how much power the component is going to take, and how much the amperage is (20 or 15).

My question is regarding certain features applied to either silver or copper conductors that may or may not have an advantage over one or the other.

I have the Kimber Kable P14 Palladian.  This uses 14awg copper conductors insulated in Teflon.  Then it adds a massive filter that attempts to mitigate the standing wave ratio to as close to 1:1 as possible. I had Kimber’s Ascent power cable prior.  It’s identical to the Palladian, except the filter. I have heard the difference between using those two cables.  Apparently, mitigating the standing wave ratio lowers the noise floor significantly. However, any filter that chokes the signal and will slow the electrical current.

As I understand it, the amplifier works by opening the rectifier to allow the capacitors to fill with energy that the system will draw from.  Being able to keep the rectifier open and fill the capacitors as fast as possible, reducing lag time, has the effect of creating more realistic and detailed sound.

With that said, changing to a power cable that uses pure silver insulated in Teflon, will ensure that power is delivered potentially faster.  Although, the silver power cable will NOT have a filter.  Therefore the standing wave ratio will not be mitigated and the electrical signal will not be choked either.

So, would the amplifier benefit from faster electrical current or slower, but cleaner electric current?  Since this signal isn’t directly applied to sound, the concepts of “colder” or “warmer” sound should not apply.

Can someone help me out without poking fun at the question?  Additionally, I am not interested in having a cable-theory debate.  If you don’t believe cables make any difference, I will not debate or have discourse on that topic.

 

128x128guakus

Showing 3 responses by clearthinker

clearthinker's avatar
clearthinker
1,582 posts
 

On a properly engineered power amp the capacitors are big enough to supply power to the main boards for quite a while.  So once they have filled on switch-on, the rate of current flow to them is of little consequence, they will be kept fully topped up at all times.  All you need is a wire capable of carrying enough current to refill what is taken out.  Standard power cables supplied with amplifiers can do that many times over.

And, in case anyone was in doubt, it makes no difference if the power traverses the cable 7% faster.

clearthinker's avatar
clearthinker
1,582 posts
 

@holmz   As to manufacturer's hype, we all need to keep our bullsh** detectors turned up full, otherwise we and our wallets are just cannon fodder..  Most people know that electricity travels at something approaching the speed of light, so a 7% reduction in the time to traverse a 6 foot length of wire will not be very long at all in audio terms.  In this discussion, we are only keeping a capacitor topped up of course.  You just can't beat good old common sense that regrettably appears in very short supply these days and not just in audio.

For those nervous types who are obsessed by the risk of noise, I concur about DC battery supplies.  These are particularly useful with preamps as you say, where the oomph required is much less than for power amps.  But unless you are an electrical engineer, you need to buy an amp with built in provision for a battery supply, and this restricts choice unacceptably for most.  I wonder if there s a place for a well-engineered all-in unit to do the job of inputting to an amp designed to take only 240v AC.  Battery supply kills off all noise issues except for the very severely obsessed.

clearthinker's avatar
clearthinker
1,582 posts
 

@holmz    Yes I should have said conductivity, not speed.  I am entirely prepared to accept your scientific explanation and I thank you for it.

But this element of the discussion relates to topping up large capacitor(s) in a power amp to replace power used by the unit in playing music.  If you employ a decent gauge of wire (as manufacturers put in the box for you), there is no way enough juice is not going to get to the cap(s), and no way sending 107 per time unit is going to be better than sending 100.  Indeed, the cap won't absorb anywhere near all the power that can run through the wire and will in fact draw a lot less than that.

The concern is entirely unwarranted and obsessive.

More to discover