The whole point of the balanced line system is to eliminate cable artifact, and to that end sliver and gold wire should not make a difference! However, the balanced line system is a standard and if the standard is not supported by the equipment in use, cable artifacts will appear.
Its not that hard to support the standard. Here it is, in a nutshell:
1) pin 1 ground, pins 2 and 3 are signal (usually pin 2 is non-inverting and pin 3 is inverting)
2) ground is ignored at the input and output
3) the cable will be a twisted pair within a shield
4) the impedance of the drive circuit will be low.
A common problem is that many high end products do not ignore ground! If signal currents are present in the shield of the cable then the construction of the cable will become audible.
I am able to use very long and relatively inexpensive cables on account of the fact that the equipment in my system supports the balanced standard (also known as AES file 48). Installation of high end cables really does not change the sound- and that is how it should be (and fundamentally different in this regard as opposed to single-ended cables).
Its not that hard to support the standard. Here it is, in a nutshell:
1) pin 1 ground, pins 2 and 3 are signal (usually pin 2 is non-inverting and pin 3 is inverting)
2) ground is ignored at the input and output
3) the cable will be a twisted pair within a shield
4) the impedance of the drive circuit will be low.
A common problem is that many high end products do not ignore ground! If signal currents are present in the shield of the cable then the construction of the cable will become audible.
I am able to use very long and relatively inexpensive cables on account of the fact that the equipment in my system supports the balanced standard (also known as AES file 48). Installation of high end cables really does not change the sound- and that is how it should be (and fundamentally different in this regard as opposed to single-ended cables).