Silver v Copper wire phono cable

If the latest technology for Wire Production is to be considered, the OCC replacement Copper PC Triple Wire will be a Wire to consider.   

The Cat is Out of the Bag and there is a steady growing movement toward this Wire at a commercial and enthusiast user level.

As far as I know SAEC are the only company at present offering this wire used as an internal Wand Wire, and there is also the possibility this wire used is      PC Triple C / EX, which has a forged High Purity Silver Sheath on the Copper Core. The EX is the same wire I am working with, the goal is to separate the strands and produce a Insulated Internal  Wand Wire, the Sheathing Method for adding the Insulation, is being worked out between a few friends at present, using much cheaper strands of wire. The ease of the process, ensuring the Wire is not stressed and the Overall Wire Diameter as an end product are presenting there own challenges.

As for Burn In times for a Phonostage, a reverse riaa adaptor used in conjunction with a CDP will enable endless hours of Phonostage use, and save the Cartridge.

If a Valve Phon' is in use, do the same method, but swap out the chosen Valves for cheaper options to preserve the life of the preferred valves.                                      This is my preferred method and have put a few hundred hours on a New Phon' in quite short periods of time, having the music on low level and within hearing range will reveal noticeable changes to the SQ as the burn in progresses.     

The Intention to use a Tonearm Internal Wand Wire that is a continuous length from the Cartridge Lead Out Pins through to the Phonostage RCA Connectors will offer the best method that assures that the Signal being delivered, is with the least interfaces on the signal route.

There are other considerations worth looking into as well which are outlined below.

As an additional thought on this AN do a high purity Silver Female Tag Connector and Zavfino supply a Pure Copper, I did not discover a OCC as a Standalone Part that can be purchased, even though there are XLR connectors that have OCC as Male/Female Inserts.

I have not been able to carry out a A/B Comparison on Internal Wand Wires, additionally I have not met anybody who has carried out such a practice either.

In my conversations with friends who are recognised as adept Tonearm Builder and Modifiers, some of these individuals are only focused on one thing of importance when it comes to an Internal Wand Wire. Which is what I will assume is where their experiences are quite important on how they assess the wire in use.                        The Ideal described to myself, is that a Wire inclusive of Insulation is best, if it has a Outside Diameter of 0.3mm and the Wire ’must’ be extremely soft and supple. Building Up Wires within a Wand of more than 0.3mm, especially a Wire that has an increase in stiffness will impact on the Tonearm Performance as the freedom of movement will be interfered with, and in certain cases with certain wires, this can be very noticeable for the worsening of the Tonearms performance.                          If a wire of a particular design philosophy can be found to meet these parameters this is a Wire that will have been trialled.                                                                    Interestingly Copper is the preferred arm wire, even when used with Silver Cartridge Coil Wire, and there are commonly seen offered Branded Tonearm Wires that has been deselected as Wand Wire due to the impact discovered on the Tonearm Performance. 

With the above in mind about Wand Wire, my own endeavours, attempting to achieve a DIY version of a Internal Wire as previously described, is to be met with assessment from friends with an experienced background on such materials and the application of the material.  To get the ideal finish on the Wire will be quite a bit of R&D and failures.

When it comes to Copper vs Silver I can offer this as a description based on personal experiences.                                                                                                  I used OCC Silver Wire in 5 Pin DIN Interconnect for about two years as replacement for OCC Copper.                                                                                       A PC Triple C Copper 5 Pin DIN Interconnect has now replaced the OCC Silver for approx’ 1 year and I do a A/B comparisons every few months and will not return to the Silver OCC Cable.                                                                                                  I have also loaned out the PC Triple C and to date those that have heard it in their Systems have bought Cables with the same Wires.                                                    As said SAEC are looking like the only company offering this Wire as a Internal Wand Wire, but it can be purchased as Tag Wire. 

I attended in the not too distant past a 5 PIN DIN Cable Bake Off, a selection of Cable with a Gross of approx’ Value of £3500 was in the Line Up, all attendees did not select Silver Wire Cables, Copper was placed over these Cables and the organiser of the Cable Bake Off chose a Copper Cable for their system.

With the same group of attendees at a Speaker Cable Bake Off, where approx’ £5000 of Copper and Silver Cables were in a Line Up, the Group were much more mixed in their assessments and two attendees Home Auditioned Silver Cables and purchased these quite expensive Silver Cables as a result of the influence the Bake Off had on them. I have heard these Cable selections in each system and agree with the choices made.

Systems develop and that brings Interface changes, a Cable is a umbilical at a Interface and one great cable choice from the past, might prove to need changing as the items attached to the umbilical are changed, and that could quite simply be a swap out of a Cartridge.     

@frogman A good Post and one that is off interest to myself, especially as I have already got the AN Silver Female Tags on a short list to use with a wire I am looking to produce along with a Pure Copper Female Tag.   

The trial will include Wires that are used already and selected for continued use and the Wires that I am attempting to produce. It has been agreed that the Wires used in the Trials are to be mounted externally on the Wand and be a continuous Length from Female Tag Connector to RCA.

Your report on your experiences and the differences discovered are hopefully going to be reciprocated in a similar form, when the trials I am trying to encourage are undertaken. 

Your experience has highlighted another wire to be considered and the use of the AN Silver Wire is also one I would like to experience during these trials, even though I know the Tonearm Builders who I working with are with a enthusiasm for pure copper.