My understanding is that the oxides and/or impurities of the two metals have different conductive properties and that is where the main difference resides, everything else being equal. Regarding physics, keep in mind that the electrical properties of the overall cable design also affects the sound of a cable - materials being only one part of the equation. Consider overall impedance, as well as capacidance and series inductance. In my experience, series inductance has the most effect on overall cable sound. Consider that cables must transmit short term transient signals, and that inductance resists signal changes, and maybe you can see my point. I have found that very low series inductance cables sound best. Keep in mind though that most cable manufacturers don't publish their specs, though I wish they would - that way maybe we could develop a worthwhile coorelation between measured specs and empirical data. This is just my opinion :o)
Speaker Wire material
Could someone please explain this to me. I have heard that using speaker wires made out of different materials will have different sounds such as using silver would sound differnt than say using copper. I have a background in electronics and don't quite understand this. If both wires have the same load carrying capacity (silver being a better conductor the wire could be smaller diameter than the copper) what would cause the the sound to be differnt. When it comes down to the physics of it aren't you just pushing electrons along the wire?