Silver Speaker Cables

Since the OP started this thread over a year and a half ago, one might conclude the choice has been made by now.

Go straight for golden or platinum. 

+ 1 for the ArgentPur cables. Highly involving and no "silver brightness"!

I don't doubt some of the posters in this thread can't hear differences in components like cables.  Just cause they cant hear differences they incessantly go on acting like noone else can hear what they cannot.  I just put in some Grover Huffman Pharoah power cables on my Parasound JC1 monoblocks.  They changed the character of these amps immediately taking away the crystalline edge that was a bit too incisive and gave me a more delicate airy presentation.  I don't know if I have golden ears but I can clearly hear differences in components, before and after modding, and understand unambiguously what differences that I like, am indifferent about or dislike.  

For silver speaker cables I may try the Albedo Metamorphosis which seems like their top speaker cable.  Bummer unsuccessful in finding any reviews yet.

             Source

Some people's brains do not discern differences in audio kit and cables that other people can hear.  I get a continually amused that they believe that noone else can hear differences.  I don't begrudge them if they can't tell a piece of lamp cord from a Zavfino Silver Dart speaker cable.  They should not lighten their wallets for kit that makes no audible difference.  Unfortunately many others can hear differences, some to a degree greater than others. And, our wallets are lighter as a result.

@deep_333 Fact:  Not all silver cables push systems to sound bright or edgy, and many of them are listed here.  It is an over generalization and both inaccurate and misleading to lump all silver cables in the same sonic basket, and in the end it’s all about system synergy. 

Fact#1 A lot of modern equipment already teeters on the edge of sounding bright and edgy. Silver cables can just push it over the edge.

Fact#2 Many dudes misconstrue an increase in brightness as an increase in perceived detail (facepalm).

Saving some cash by sticking with copper cables can be wiser (in general, with a few exceptions).

ArgentPur silver cables are excellent.

@cakyol  (and the others of the Cargo Cult/Denyin'tologist ilk):

                                    PEACE (on you too)!

     Tried some Monster (many decades ago),  AudioQuest and Wireworld's best.            Then: leaning toward Analysis Plus's 'Big Silver Ovals' for my system, based on the reviews of a few trusted individuals; I let AP's science, measurements and NASA's testing/comparisons/experience with them* cinch my decision to buy a pair, some twelve years back.

                                 NEVER a moment's regret!

                 *https://homeaudio.analysis.plus/knowledge-base/           

@vsrrr; Other interconnects that I tried and use in other systems I have are Audioquest Silver Extreme, Powell Silver GrandIllusion Signature II, Zavfino Fusion, Cardas Clear Cynus, Diamond9, High Fidelity CT-UR, Cerious Technologies Graphene, Duelund, Western Electric, Soniquil, to mention the interconnects I remember I'm sure there are others. Not to say that the Grand are the best, just that the silver interconnects, silver speaker cables and silver power cords (all Grand) have very good synergy with my integrated tube amp and tube amp.

1. DIY Kits: Some companies offer DIY kits that allow you to assemble your own silver cables. These kits can be more budget-friendly than pre-made cables and still give you the experience of using silver in your setup.

2. Budget-Friendly Brands: Look for audio cable manufacturers that offer more affordable silver cables. While they might not be as high-end as some of the well-known brands, they can still provide a noticeable difference compared to regular copper cables.

3. Used or Secondhand Cables: Check for used or secondhand silver speaker cables on online marketplaces or audio forums. You may find cables from reputable brands that are being sold at a lower price.

4. Silver-Plated Cables: Instead of pure silver cables, you can consider silver-plated cables. These have a layer of silver on the surface, which can still offer some of the benefits of silver at a lower cost.

5. Smaller Gauge Cables: Larger gauge cables tend to be more expensive. If you have a small to medium-sized audio setup, you may not need thick cables. Opting for smaller gauge silver cables could be more cost-effective.

6. Negotiate with Local Dealers: If you have a local audio equipment dealer, visit their store and inquire about budget-friendly silver cables. Sometimes, they might have clearance sales or special offers that could make them more affordable.

Ultimately, the best approach is to try out the silver cables in your own setup and see if you notice any discernible improvement in sound. If the difference justifies the cost for you, then it's a worthwhile investment; otherwise, you can stick with more affordable copper cables without feeling like you're missing out on a significant upgrade.

@lak Out of curiosity, what interconnects did you compare your Lavricables against?

+3 @jimski 

@jimski 

👍 

@jimski : great post. Spot on!

My experience with both speaker and interconnect cables is that they can make a big difference, in fact can be the most cost effective system upgrade money you can spend, dwarfing the cost effectiveness of upgrading electronics (which I've done plenty of).  If someone's ears hear differently, so be it, although I don't see the logic in telling others how their ears should hear or that they are fools because of how their ears hear.  As for solid silver vs solid copper vs a mixture, I have had all and have been impressed with all (in varying degrees and combinations).  So, rather than coming down clearly on the side of one or the other, I feel that other factors, like the overall quality of design, material, construction and manufacturer, application, other equipment, etc., i.e. what others have cited above, all go into making a decision. 

Jim Heckman

@akg_ca 

+1. Nordost makes some of the most amazing cables. I agree, at the high end they are amazing… but much less impressive at the low end… I made this observation as well.

@akg_ca the Alan Shaw extract is interesting, and brings to mind the speaker cables I bought from NRG Custom Cables in Canada.

Nawaz who owns the company seems to follow a similar philosophy; the more metal/conductor, the better. I've had his 6:6 copper speaker cables in my system for a few months, boy are they heavy/thick, and were a marked improvement over previous Atlas SCs. I won't go on as this thread is focused on silver 👍😊

I had the Ag-over-Cu NORDOST FREY thin ribbon cables array. As I changed speakers, the migration to all-Cu commenced …, the preferred metal option is intuitively system dependent .

However, ….

Curiously as I swapped in the comparatively hefty CARDAS CLEAR ICs and CLEAR REFLECTION speaker cables, the highlights in the following published guidance rang true for my system. The speaker wire diameter mattered significantly, not just the choice of metal.

AUDIO: SPEAKER CABLES - From Alan Shaw (owner and designer of HARBETH)

” … So, the moral of the story is this: the most important factor of the loudspeaker cable that you should select is the amount of metal in the cable core. More metal means lower resistance.

If the core is round (as most are) then the correlation is simple: the fatter the diameter of the metal core the better because the electrical resistance between amp and speaker will be lower.

Thin and really thin cores should be avoided regardless of how exotic the metal material is claimed as the lack of metal in the core conductor will increase resistance. That will reduce amplifier damping, effect the frequency response of the speaker and give unpredictable results that will vary from amp/speaker combination.

Do not be fooled by the diameter of the external plastic sheath: what matters is the metal content of the core. The more the better, without exception….”

My take: I haven’t seen many hefty and quality- build silver cables because of the costs. I’m not knocking NORDOST, in their premium lines ( I had them in my prior system as a fine shotgunned speaker cable ) . However , I had less than satisfying results in their lower model lines where metal content was reduced .

Go figger.

Thanks for your kind comment Jim. I appreciate your consistently  insightful posts on this forum.

Charles

@charles1dad you are a true gentleman ;-) tip of my hat to you.

On cables to the OP - you have been given a lot of informed advice with some low risk listening experience options….. The Kimber you are using is excellent  affordable wire and works in many systems. IME better executed copper at tge lower price points typically beats silver … see @mulveling  comments about silver content… and think thru what is required $ to build an all silver speake wire of any substance at reasonable $. Purity and mass unfortunately cost…… ask the Hunt brothers…. ha.

i have lost a lot of sleep lately..listening late into the night…not analytically…but immersed in emotional engagement with 3 new loaner cables from Audioquest.. Thunderbird ( Copper ), Firebird ( Silver ), and finally Dragon ( silver w silver ground )….. All destroy a very good sounding Sky XLR …..

My hat is off to Garth at Audioquest….. now get the new architecture deployed down the line for those with lower budgets….

Best to those chasing musical satisfaction 

Jim

Best analogy I can make, is looking at a child's normal picture book, then looking at the same picture book, but now it's the 3D pop-up version 😊 if that makes sense

I thoroughly understand your analogy.

Charles

@charles1dad thanks for that; what I'm hearing is very encouraging.

Best analogy I can make, is looking at a child's normal picture book, then looking at the same picture book, but now it's the 3D pop-up version 😊 if that makes sense.

+1 @charles1dad 

@painter24 

Congratulations!

They will  be pretty much burned-in at roughly 200 hours. As your listening comments reveal, you are headed in the right direction. Improvement will continue.
 

These are really excellent and well-made cables that are hardly recognized or discussed. A successful merging of transparency/clarity with full tone/ flesh on the bone sound quality.

Charles

I've had the Lavri Grand RCA ICs in my system for nearly 2 weeks. (probably around 100hrs on them so far. They've changed in the last couple of days, they're staring to open up a bit, more back to front depth; the HFs seem a little enthusiastic at the moment though, but hoping this will settle down as they get more playtime. They've replaced a pair of Inakustik NF-204 RCA ICs which I liked, but I maybe a silver cables convert after this, and will try more LavriCables

As an aside, ridiculously fast shipping from Lavri by the way; ordered Friday night time; they were in my hand on the following Tuesday afternoon (UK) 👍

@jayctoy 

I'd also like to say thanks for your kind comment, starts my morning off on a really positive note ;-)

I own the Grand Lavricables; RCA & XLR interconnects, power cords, speaker cables, and speaker jumpers. I just ordered a third Grand power cord and I'm a happy customer.

@jayctoy 

Thanks for your kind comment. I would like to clarify however. In my system I have the Lavricables Grand power cable (3) and 1 Master power cable. I do not have any of their interconnect cables.

Charles

I believe Lak and Charles, both are matured and experienced audiophile, I wonder how their master ic will sound compare to Kimber silver streak?

Since the install, the sound excelled just like everyone (except naysayers) said it would here in this thread. ...... the soundstage, air, clarity, etc. all were upgraded.

I am assuming you were able to identify the improvements in a double blind test? If so, do you have a certification to show from a third party independent panel that observed and certified the test procedures & results? If not blind test, how do you know the improvement is just in your mind, placebo, hallucination, confirmation bias etc.?

Just kidding 😂🤣

Enjoy! and as they say, good things come to those who dare (read: "try")

Recently purchased an RCA cable from Lavricables (Master line of 14 strands of 5N silver laden cables) and placed it between my DAC (Schitt Yggy) and my preamp (Rogue RP-1). Previously, and everywhere else, I had/have Audioquest Sydney interconnects. 

Since the install, the sound excelled just like everyone (except naysayers) said it would here in this thread. Thank you all for the advice as the soundstage, air, clarity, etc. all were upgraded. I had Lavricables burn-in the cable for 150-hours before shipping, so it was simply install and listen to the change between a copper and silver cable and it is - without a doubt - a step-up and worthy investment. I could not find any other cable manufacturer that could compete with the price of Lavricables silver cables content. 

I am not real active in Audiogon, but I can typically find good advice here and appreciate all those that put their two cents in to guide other audiophiles to the promised land of super sound. Thanks!

The guys behind Vogue, is a former partner of Cabledyne, Pure Note, and Audiodyne. 

I also asked him if I could pick up the cables if I bought them, since they are only 1hr south of me. He said no.

The question becomes whether the most expensive and thickest grade of Lavri cables gets you close enough to the AQ solid silvers.

There was an earlier thread on this question that has since been deleted unfortunately. The OP had AQ silver cables and then moved on to Synergistic Research silver cables. He subsequently compared both to his Lavricables Grand and preferred the latter in his audio system. 
 

Obviously only one individual’s listening experience but it generated a good discussion. Too bad it is not still available.

Charles

The question becomes whether the most expensive and thickest grade of Lavri cables gets you close enough to the AQ solid silvers.

I would restate that large-gauge silver cables (AQ Kilimanjaro, Everest, Wildwood - though the latter are hybrid, they have the equivalent of at least 11 AWG solid silver content) sound very different and much better than smaller-gauge silver (AQ KE-4, SR Foundation). Large gauge silver doesn't have any problems with being too lean, tipped-up, lacking warmth, or having anemic bass. The sonic difference is big; the problem is cost, and actually getting real silver content - not plated / clad / fused / "bonded" etc. The AQ’s are easy to open up and see all the discrete silver wires.

@gnoworyta - Not sure if you have taken the plunge yet?

Here’s my two cents...

1. I have NOT tried silver speaker cables lately
   1. Many year ago I did audition some very thin Silver cables and they sounded extremely "thin" - they lacked bass
2. I have tried
   1. bare UP-OCC solid copper in Teflon tube for both signal and neutral
   2. and also bare UP-OCC copper in Teflon tube for the signal and a Stranded Silver plated wire with Teflon insulation for the neutral
3. of the two, I preferred #2
4. #1 sounded far too analytical i.e. "brittle" or harsh

Dont think the silver plated cables are a step towards solid siver

• I did not like using silver plated wire for the signal wire
• I prefer a solid UP-OCC copper wire inside a teflon tube - very detailed and dynamic with good bass and image with a stranded silver plated wire for the neutral
• The two wires DO NOT have to be identical, UNLESS you have an amp that uses a balanced output approach
  • - i.e. where both +ve and -ve terminals carry the same signal but 180 desgrees out of phase

I hope that provides some useful info

These observations were in my system - each system is different - so trust your ears

Regards - Steve

There is such a difference. I could hear the difference between silver and copper jumpers! Not kidding. 

These guys with there is no difference in sound between copper and silver is just preposterous. I think these people like to argue for the heck of it. I bet they could hear the difference themselves between cables and speaker cables most definitely if given it a try. Instead they fall back on measurements to justify not spending any money. 

I own the Grand Lavricables (5N) (Power cords, RCA & XLR Interconnects, and speaker cables) all in one system and I agree they are exceptionally good-sounding products. My thanks to charles1dad for introducing me to the brand.

When it comes to buying legit and quality build, you ALWAYS only get what you pay for

Let’s not toss out the babies. The Vogue Audio cable I have is very well constructed and also sounds very good. It’s quite reasonably priced for its performance.

The Lavricables silver conductor power cables I own are exceptionally good sounding. Again very good quality cable for non exorbitant price

“low priced silver cables” is an oxymoron. Legit pure silver is gonna cost you accordingly. Quality Ag coating over Cu is not cheap either.

And that’s before you factor in the added cost of good quality connectors worthy of the cables themselves . Otherwise, you end up with a junk build quality mismatch that totally defeats the objectives,

Thirdly, are you also considering a proper full loom array? ( ICs, speaker, ?)

When it comes to buying legit and quality build, you ALWAYS only get what you pay for.

@twoleftears

Thanks for the additional information. I purchased one of their power cables to use between my wall outlet and isolation balanced AC transformer. My 1 meter cable was 50% off costing me 345.00 USD. I can confidently say that in this specific function it is very good sounding and I am happy with it

I agree with all who have questioned the description approach. Openness and clarity are always the best way to present a product to potential customers. Just be upfront about all aspects of materials and construction. Ultimately sound quality is the arbiter.

This is why in an earlier post I raised the question concerning silver purity. 7N silver wire for that price didn’t seem likely. So, it is not a pure silver wire conductor, rather it is an alloy. in summary, I can vouch for it’s very good sound quality placed as described in my audio system.

I do believe that the Lavricables that I mentioned earlier in this thread are true pure silver wire conductors. Their claim is 5N purity. I can vouch for their excellent sound quality.

Charles