Cotton-insulated silver wire

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Was over on VHAudio's website the other day and noticed that they're selling some very nice looking cotton-insulated, 28 gauge, solid core silver wire. I say nice looking because I haven't tried any of it and silver's not been my cup o' tea anyway. Just thought it was a rather unique product that those who do like silver might be interested in.

cottonsilver.jpg


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Steve Eddy said:
Was over on VHAudio's website the other day and noticed that they're selling some very nice looking cotton-insulated, 28 gauge, solid core silver wire. I say nice looking because I haven't tried any of it and silver's not been my cup o' tea anyway. Just thought it was a rather unique product that those who do like silver might be interested in.
se
Steve,
I found Venhaus' landscape pictures a lot more interesting, though a bit "stiff" in composition.
:)
 
diyAudio Senior Member
Joined 2002
Hi,

Thanx,Steve...

Chris jumped into business after all...

Anyway, that cable at least looks as if the cotton is sleeved over the bare wire...

Not like some other vendors I've seen on the web who are religiously offering ML insulated silverwire and the cotton sleeving to go with it...
You wonder what good that cotton's gonna do on that one?
So do I...:rolleyes:

Cheers, ;)

P.S.

From Venhaus' site:

Cotton has a dielectric constant of 1.3 to 1.4, which is even LOWER than foamed PE (1.6) or FEP (1.5). Another significant advantage of cotton insulation is its dampening and non-resonant properties.
 
fdegrove said:
Thanx,Steve...

Chris jumped into business after all...

Yup. He made the jump a while back.

Anyway, that cable at least looks as if the cotton is sleeved over the bare wire...

Yup. It's a four layer serve.

Not like some other vendors I've seen on the web who are religiously offering ML insulated silverwire and the cotton sleeving to go with it...
You wonder what good that cotton's gonna do on that one?
So do I...:rolleyes:

Hehehe. Well, if one has concerns about mechanical vibration and such it could serve a useful purpose.

P.S.

From Venhaus' site:

Cotton has a dielectric constant of 1.3 to 1.4, which is even LOWER than foamed PE (1.6) or FEP (1.5). Another significant advantage of cotton insulation is its dampening and non-resonant properties.

See? :)

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Is the cotton treated in any way to control its moisture content?
If so, with what, and what is its characteristics, if not, that great dielectric will vary with humidity. Perhaps baking it and then sealing the whole shebang in a hermetically sealed teflon tube would be the ticket.
 
marsupialx said:
Is the cotton treated in any way to control its moisture content?
If so, with what, and what is its characteristics, if not, that great dielectric will vary with humidity. Perhaps baking it and then sealing the whole shebang in a hermetically sealed teflon tube would be the ticket.

I don't believe it's been treated. Chris told me he went to some lengths to make sure the cotton was as natural as possible without any bleaching or dying, etc.

You'd have to aks Chris to make certain.

And it should be noted that humidity in the air will affect the the sound coming out of your speakers anyway (high frequencies will attenuate more). Is your room hermetically sealed in Teflon? :)

se
 
Questions about the wire...

Is the cotton treated in any way to control its moisture content?

No, the cotton is not treated. It is natural, unbleached cotton.

If so, with what, and what is its characteristics, if not, that great dielectric will vary with humidity.

Yes it will, but Steve made a great point about the same humidity affecting other areas of the system... I live in Wisconsin, where extremes in humidity are common, depending on the season. I have not experienced any significant sensitivity to humidity changes while using this wire...

Perhaps baking it and then sealing the whole shebang in a hermetically sealed teflon tube would be the ticket.

I looked into extruding teflon over the cotton, but it wasn't feasible, as the cotton would muck-up the machinery when run through. Also, I think one of the main advantages to the cotton is it's lack of significant resonance.
Silver oxide is not an issue as silver oxidises VERY slowly. Hydrogen Sulfide in the atmosphere will form silver sulfide (tarnish) on the surface of any exposed silver, but I have not found that to be an issue that affects sonics negatively. Certainly you could mitigate the formation of the sulfide by treating the cotton/wire to provide a barrier, but then you are mucking with the dielectric and mechanical properties, which may have a sonic penalty. An interesting factoid is Hydrogen sulfide is mainly a product of air pollution, but is also in high concentrations in some well water which has a "rotten egg" smell. Boiled eggs also produce this...
 
Tarnish is good?

I'm talking tarnish....
"Tarnish is good"..... In some of their older marketing materials, Siltech claimed silver oxide is actually a better conductor than pure silver, and that because of this their cables improve and sound better with age.

Not sure about this... but I have two pairs of 12+year old Siltechs which handily keep up with or surpass the newer competition, and they do seem to get better without any sign of degradation.... so maybe it's true.
 
diyAudio Senior Member
Joined 2002
Hi,

"Tarnish is good"..... In some of their older marketing materials, Siltech claimed silver oxide is actually a better conductor than pure silver, and that because of this their cables improve and sound better with age.

That is absolutely untrue.
Siltech never said that and no, their cables nor anyone else's cables for that matter do not sound better with age.

Cheers, ;)
 
Cotton sounds pretty good as long as it's unbleached and natural; dyeing it can add some coloration. If red, the sound can be a little too 'warm', while blue lends a coolness that sometimes edges beyond neutrality and into the shivery.

Cotton exposed to the air can yellow over time, which eventually begins to shave brightness off top end transients. Varnishing the cotton is the answer, but note that it will lead to the rhythm getting a bit 'bogged down' and sticky until it's had a few weeks to harden.

US home-grown cotton is to be preferred over Indian imports unless you like your music 'spicy'!
 
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???Tarnish is good???

Hi,

Siltech never said that (silver oxide is good) and no, their cables nor anyone else's cables for that matter do not sound better with age.

Cheers, ;)
Uh you are wrong about at least one of these statements. Actually, Siltech very much DID say that, and did so in print...no reason for me to lie about this!

I found it on the web, in some of their older materials... I'll try to find it and copy it here.

Please note: just because they said silver oxide is good doesn't make it true.
And just because you say it's absolutely bad doesn't make it so either.

You could say I'm neutral, equally not willing to accept statements just because of the "authority" that states it.

I'll try to find that old material for ya.
 
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