Silver vs. Cooper speakers cables

As you can see Eluende14, you get about as many opinions as you do posts. Best advice, as given above, try a set in your system and see what the results are.

IMO silver can be great, but it seems it is more sensitive to how the cable is designed. I recently borrowed a friends Audio Note AN-V interconnect and after a few days I looked at the cable to double check the model name, as I wanted to go online and read about it, to my surprise it said silver, I had no idea it was silver. I do not agree with what some say categorically about silver cable. Of the cables I have heard in my systems, I have heard two all silver cables and they rank amongst the best I have heard.

I have definite biases against pure silver, but a great love of cables containing silver and either gold and/or copper. I realize it does not tell you anything other than my opinion but it is based on what may be facts that 1) silver is easily contaminated hence a combination that allows it to be plated, and 2) above 10k there can be problems depending upon its purity. Rather than find out which cables are best and going through that learning curve I prefer to try ones that have silver but with it plated. Others may correct me freely if I am mistaken, knowledge however obtained is always good. Michael

I totally agree with Beemer,regardless if the cables are silver or copper you MUST try them in your own system to tell if you will like them or not. Paul when you audtioned the AZ silver reference cable was it the first generation or silver reference II? I found quite a difference between the two cables in my system. The II's were much better then the I's. At that point I found they gave me a more extended top end with wonderful details and air without any glare or harshness. I did not experience any of the problems sonicly that you did,hence my question.

My experience has shown me that no advice will do....you need to try the cables in YOUR system.

I recently tried the Acoustic Zen silver Reference between my CD Playar and preamp. It turned the sound flat and unemotional compared to the AZ Matrix II copper.

Ya gotta try the cable yourself!

Best,

Paul :-)

This is a tough question since Silver can show the warts in your system very clearly. I have just replaced all of my 47Labs OTA cabling with Audio NOte silver wire. The differences are NOT subtle. The silver wire (in my system) is both more detailed, but more vivid of tone also.One thig is certain, the AN silver is better in the bass. It is more extended, and has more impact. It's the tone that is most noticeable. There is NO coarseness, only music. I am a convert. It so happens that my amp is wired with the same silver wire. (AN Neiro) The is a synergy.

Have all the people that are recommending your use of silver listened to your stereo?

Do you like how your system sounds? Are you trying to change something specifically?

Regardless of recommendations, the final outcome is to try them in your system & decide for yourself.

I took a quick look at your threads & notice they follow a pattern. Perhaps you need to optimize what you have before embarking on another upgrade/change. I'd suggest a full evaluation of the room, including the AC and you could start w/spkr placement, which is the easiest way to change the presentation.

Once you have a baseline, you can move in the direction needed to achieve the results you wish to obtain.

In my experience with silver cables, generically one could expect a little extra detail (and perhaps tizzyness) while sacrificing some warmth and fullness.

Generically, one could also expect slightly less detail but more warmth and fullness and naturalness with a copper cable.

But as with most things, it ultimately, it comes down to the attention given and execution of the design by the mfg'er. And once this special attention has been given to either cable, all bets are off.

It would seem however that it is more common to see the extra detail designed into a copper cable than it is to see added warmth and fullness designed into a silver cable.

But again, when a truly smart cookie is designing the cable, it should matter less what material is used.

-IMO

Addendum: I also use Silver Audio Q10 and T14 silver coated copper speaker cables in my home theater system. This was a nice synergy between an NAD processor, 7 ASL Wave 8 amps, and Soliloquy speakers. My main tube-based system , however uses all copper 47 Labs OTL for interconnects and speaker wire. As I often hear from discussions on A'gon, it's often if not always about synergy among system components and personal taste.

Whether or not silver is a good choice depends primarily on two factors. One, the quality of your components ahead of the cables should be quite refined since you might expose high end harshness that you didn't know was there (IMO). Second, your personal preference should be toward a detailed rather than a musical presentation (again IMO or let's make it IMHO).

I have Tannoy NFM8's in a project studio. Personally, I would not use silver speaker cables (biases evident from above comments). That said, I do use Silver Audio BL1 II in bulk to make my own interconnect cables for my guitar equipment to capture and maintain high end sparkle from the guitar strings. This cable is priced right, sounds good, and is very easy to work with when making your own cables with both balanced and single ended connectors.