@pc997 - You make a good point...
Without any objective measurement, how can we differentiate conductive qualities between a $5/ft copper cable and $500/ft copper cable? Purely subjective??
You should be able to see/measure the leading/trailing edge of a square wave using a very good oscilloscope. This would assist identifying the "conductive" nature (e.g. the dynamic performance) of the metallic component, e.g. silver generally has faster dynamics than copper.
But an oscilloscope is not something most people have in their back pocket. :-)
The most reliable tool we all have available is our ears - which can easily detect the dynamic nature, tone and clarity aspects of a cable’s performance.
My own personal experiences and observations are...
I spent a few years years delving into different metals, insulation and geometries, I’ve found that "Generally" (i.e. in my own "laymen’s" terms)
- the metallic component of a cable impacts the dynamic performance, e.g. silver is faster than copper
- insulation can impact the tone (e.g. brightness) of a cable due to the effect of internal capacitance.
- geometry tends to effect the overall clarity of the cable, e.g. its ability to minimize internal noise issues
- and connectors have a significant impact on dynamics and clarity
And I say "Generally" because it is far a more complex process than just those three things, to produce cables capable of extremely good qualities. e.g.
- the insulation in combination with the geometry is directly related to the capacitance of a cable
- The gauge of the neutral in relation to the gauge of signal conductor has an impact on the dynamics and clarity.
- each cable has its own effect on the performance of components it is connecting.
But for anyone wanting to delve into the science of cables - those three aspects are a very good place to start their investigations.
And these are just my observations based solely on using my ears.
What astounded me was just how good my ears actually are and their ability to discern the subtle differences as each one on the above had changes applied.
Agreed - being able to "measure" the individual improvements introduced by each of these three things would be to everyone’s advantage.
But we all have a very good detection device built in - we just have to take the time to train our ears in what to listen for. This took me around four years and I am still learning, so it is NOT a trivial task.
Scientific? - No
Subjective? very much so
Enlightening? - oh yes
Effective - definitely
I definitely trust my ears - Steve :-)
