[Samurai7595]

I've read that in a solid state system, silver cables can make music sound a little bright.

Researching various cables (interconnects & speaker cables), it seems that manufacturers are either using copper or silver or silver coated copper (among others that are using some very "fancy" materials).

What has your experience been with audio cables (i.e. copper vs silver vs voodoo vs etc.)?

[Tympani]

In my experience, multiple factors beyond metallurgy contribute to a specific cable sound. I've heard many lush silver-based cables, and more than a few bright coppers. Cable geometry, shielding, grounding, terminations, and mostly system synergy, contribute equally, if not more than metallurgy. And beyond bright or mellow (or their dysphonic counterparts, edgy or dull) there are characteristics like "air" and "depth" and "soundstage" that for me, contribute just as much to the musicality of a cable as the tonal balance.

There's no substitute for trial and error, and the "error" penalty is minimized using a service such as The Cable Company, which allows you to sample at minor cost.

BTW, I have no relationship to TCC, I just find their service top notch.
 

[Chicago]

Bryston has great cables at a very reasonable cost with top notch connectors.  They sell them by the foot and will custom make any length you want with whatever connector combo you wish.  They will not color the sound, at least not to my ear.

https://store.bryston.com

Good Listening,
Mike

[Grit]

In my experience, multiple factors beyond metallurgy contribute to a specific cable sound. I've heard many lush silver-based cables, and more than a few bright coppers. Cable geometry, shielding, grounding, terminations, and mostly system synergy, contribute equally, if not more than metallurgy. And beyond bright or mellow (or their dysphonic counterparts, edgy or dull) there are characteristics like "air" and "depth" and "soundstage" that for me, contribute just as much to the musicality of a cable as the tonal balance.

There's no substitute for trial and error, and the "error" penalty is minimized using a service such as The Cable Company, which allows you to sample at minor cost.

BTW, I have no relationship to TCC, I just find their service top notch.

I'll second this. You really need to try and see. I personally didn't think digital cables should be able to make a difference. I swapped one out a few months ago, thinking nothing of it when I did it. As soon as I played music through it though, I knew something was different and not in a way I found pleasing. Swapping the cables back rectified the problem.

- Garrett

[drummermitchell]

Besides your no name cables I have spent STUPID  money on C,S,an others and were talkin the top of their pc's and interconnects and speaker cables
Yrs ago,sold em all and guess what no FN difference,
the difference because the anticipation and when you get them the excitement and the PHYSICAL energy of disconnect and reconnect of all that cabling(I had 12)and folks figure after there physical and mental install they hear a diffference(of course you will).
Just like exercising your body....don't you feeeel better right after you connect them all(of course you do)..
If cabling had a Major effect....everybody would hear it....course a lot   here believe we have superior hearing because we spent a mess of money and our FKN imagination got the better of us because of  fancy advertisements and so forth.
I really like the PC's...2" thick ...well its probably plumbers foam insulation you use on pipes(and its flexible)the wire doesn't change)its size,but it looks cool..LOL been there.
I'll add I use VAC sig MKIIa pre,28 brystons ect,maybe my gear isn't good enough to hear a difference or even a suttle difference.
Cabling now is ALL BRYSTON....end of and happy musically and MO MONEY IN DA BANK instead of feedin these parasites.
You didn't think about that yrs ago did you baby....BB King

[Grit]

I agree that cabling does not have a MAJOR effect. I've had some very expensive ones to test, some less expensive ones, and some generic ones. Sometimes I hear a difference, some times I don't. But there are times I've heard a difference.

[rmurray]

 I can say that there is a difference. These have been in small ways but closer to the truth. 

[R. Daneel]

In my experience, if cables make a significant difference, then your system is either poorly matched or the cables you're using are voiced to create an impression of different and therefore "better" sound.

I have some pure silver custom-made cables. They don't make a lot of difference. They seem to add a little sparkle on the top but given the difference is less than "2%", that could easily be an illussion.

Pure silver cables won't make a lot of difference as interconnects. Where they'll make a difference is between an MC phono cartridge and a phono preamplifier because these signals are faint. This was my experience. However, in this application, shielding of the conductors will have a dramatic effect, greater than the sheer metallurgy of the conductor.

One other application where silver might have benefits over copper is in between a magnetic record/playback head of a tape deck and the head preamplifier. These signals are even more sensitive. But usually the preamplifier is placed very near the head assembly to keep the signal path as short as possible. Nakamichi sometimes placed the preamplifier right underneath the head assembly. People don't seem to appreciate these things nowadays.

[Krutsch]

I'll second this. You really need to try and see. I personally didn't think digital cables should be able to make a difference. I swapped one out a few months ago, thinking nothing of it when I did it. As soon as I played music through it though, I knew something was different and not in a way I found pleasing. Swapping the cables back rectified the problem.

- Garrett

I had a similar experience, with a couple of difference coax S/PDIF cables, except that I was experiencing minor drop-outs with high-res music.

Changing to a Kimber D-60 silver cable eliminated the drop-outs. It was proof to me that all digital cables are not created equal. Can I *hear* the difference? I don't know, but I've convinced myself I can, even though I doubt I would pass a blind comparison test.

[Grit]

I think the concept of a blind test itself is tainted. The expectation to choose A or B itself can interfere with one's ability to do so correctly. Besides, we're talking about a subjective interpretation, not an objective one.

I've found that if I live with a piece of equipment (amp, pre-amp, digital player, cable, etc) for a month or so, and then switch it, I'll notice a difference. After a few hours or days (depending on how great the difference), any change seems to become my new normal.

What really concerns me is if a change results in my inability to enjoy the music. If I can close my eyes and get caught up in it, I'm happy. If something becomes distracting to me, I need to hunt it down and fix it.

The funny part is that I have not found a correlation between cost and my happiness. Just because a component cost more doesn't mean I'll enjoy it more.

[Krutsch]

^^ You and I are in complete agreement there... I am also very skeptical of ABX, but I'm sick reading the same talking points over and over about expectation bias and placebo effect.

I've been conditioned to write things like that last line in my previous post 

[avsdeals]

Sorry I'm late to this thread as I am very passionate to the topic. I see enthusiasts paying an exorbitant amount of money on not only speaker cables but these elevators to keep the magnetic field off the floor. OMG 

I don't want to offend anyone. You buy what you want. This is all subjective. If your ears like it.

There are SO many white papers on this topic. Don't listen to me, the forum newbie. Google speaker cable white papers written by Degree'd E/E's on this topic and ingest. They are pretty much saying the same thing. You want pure copper, largest gauge, fine strand, and best possible termination (least resistance). What comes into play next is the dielectric properties of the conductor's insulator. This ONLY becomes significant if you go beyond the normal speaker cable lengths of 10ft or so. OK, stay away from Zip cord type insulation. This is capacitance and inductance or the cable's reactance at specific frequencies. Then, you listen to these different cables. You will certainly hear differences in low end with inappropriate gauges. Then, you compare a really nice hand made 12g with a $4000.00 pair of platinum/gold/nuclear plated magnetically shielded, hyper driven, you get the idea. You compare by actual listening session and with reflectometry. Yeah, you see that the 4k cables have slightly lower reactance in the charts. Do you hear it? No. No you don't. HOWEVER, its these cable properties that are altered to change the character of the product. Solid core cabling is for higher impedance tube amps. Fine strand, rope lay, large gauge is for lower impedance solid state amps. Cables do not have gain. They dont make components sound bright. What they are doing is choking low end with excessive inductance or the cable diameter is to small. Plating with anything other than Silver increases resistance. Alloys are used to strengthen the termination but they are lower on the IACS chart. Higher resistance. Some of the white papers read you should use anything but the bare wire. They have a point.

Make your own. A little patience, source your termination and copper. 4 hours later, a couple of Scotch Ales, you get this:




Ill have more money for the Scotch Ale. Ill pay stupid prices for good beer.