The author of these articles is right about the fact that the copper and silver have very similar resistance. But that is a rather irrelevant conclusion, because cable resistance alone has little correlation with sound quality.
so i installed the wires today after finding it in the mail but lo, realized too late that the seller jibbed me on the thickness. So I ended up wiring the tweeters and the midwoofers with .5mm & .7mm instead of .7 & 1.0mm as planned. It's still a definite improvement, however, it seems as though I have lost some dynamics in those drivers. Yes the sound seems to have gotten thinner. I hope this to be a placebo effect brought on by my pissed off mood at the seller, but can my subjective observation be accurate by any chance?
probably, yes
silver plated copper does that too, but worse
maybe it gets better when the wire turns black
I use silver for signal interconects only
not for any specific reason, just noting
but using very different type of wire to each driver in a speaker can upset the balance
I think it usually does
xo changes might cure that
maybe its simply your tweeter playing too loud
you could try try silver plated copper to the woofer, but woofer only
but might just be a silly thought, I dont know
well the benefit of the silver is so great that whatever the loss I have in dynamics, if it's even that, is now seen as a minor trade-off.
I'd like to speculate that it's not dynamic loss. Instead, it's the smoother transients of silver that my uninitiated ears mistook for something else. Silver has gentler attack and decay. Everything comes and goes more gradually. After a long listen, I think the density is still there. But it's just that rocky hills have smoothed into sand dunes; hence the less dynamical scenery- as my poor metaphor suggest.
How do yo think the sound will change as the silver tarnishes?
Also, as I love the result so much, I am going to replace the woofer hook-ups too with silver. They're originally 12 gauge cardas litz. But do you think 1mm (19guage?) silver will be a good stand in?
I'd like to speculate that it's not dynamic loss. Instead, it's the smoother transients of silver that my uninitiated ears mistook for something else. Silver has gentler attack and decay. Everything comes and goes more gradually. After a long listen, I think the density is still there. But it's just that rocky hills have smoothed into sand dunes; hence the less dynamical scenery- as my poor metaphor suggest.
How do yo think the sound will change as the silver tarnishes?
Also, as I love the result so much, I am going to replace the woofer hook-ups too with silver. They're originally 12 gauge cardas litz. But do you think 1mm (19guage?) silver will be a good stand in?
Solid core silver has delicate sound, and my experience was also initially that of subjective "less dynamic" treble. Although I quickly came to a conclusion that it was the old (copper strand) cable was actually shouty, imbalanced and aggresive, while silver was much closer to neutral. It was quieter and smoother in treble, making an impression of being less dynamic (less "in your face").
Depending on your system, round silver cable may sound too "rounded" (pun intended
) and too mild. Apparently, flat silver cable, like that made by Duelund, improves this aspect - although I have not tried it yet in speakers because it's expensive, just used it as a hook-up wire for my amp/CD/DAC and I think it's pretty good.
As for your woofer cable, I think it's worth a shot, 1mm is plenty enough for a reasonable length of cable. Cardas litz is a decent cable though and, depending on your taste, you may find it a bit of a sideways move.
I'm not really sure about the sound of tarnished silver... I never allowed mine to tarnish because I have a feeling it's better this way, I have no science to back it up
Depending on your system, round silver cable may sound too "rounded" (pun intended
) and too mild. Apparently, flat silver cable, like that made by Duelund, improves this aspect - although I have not tried it yet in speakers because it's expensive, just used it as a hook-up wire for my amp/CD/DAC and I think it's pretty good.As for your woofer cable, I think it's worth a shot, 1mm is plenty enough for a reasonable length of cable. Cardas litz is a decent cable though and, depending on your taste, you may find it a bit of a sideways move.
I'm not really sure about the sound of tarnished silver... I never allowed mine to tarnish because I have a feeling it's better this way, I have no science to back it up
hehe thanks Leon. such a reassurance that neither my ears or my mod has gone 'kaput'. I love the silver sound so far. Everything is so smooth that it just melts. And acoustic instruments are simply surreal. I'm using a lowly japanese ht receiver as a stand in and it suddenly sounds like a valve amp coming through the silver. I can see how a real tube amp could sound too "rounded", though I might probably will like it .
I am definitely going for the silver woofer hook-up. The soundstaging hasn't improved as much as I hoped, however. Perhaps this is a testament to how good the
copper litz was initially.
. I am definitely going for the silver woofer hook-up. The soundstaging hasn't improved as much as I hoped, however. Perhaps this is a testament to how good the
copper litz was initially.
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