DIY silver non inductive ww resistors

[tom1356]

What made this so affordable was the wire was un-insulated and sourced from a jewelry supplier like Myron Tobac.
It is sold by the ounce and very inexpensive.
I use the fine silver but for resistors maybe the sterling would be better.
I mean AWG.

I have thought of a better way to do the winding.
I will wind two un-insulated silver wires at the same time right next to each other tightly, when done I secure one wire and unwrap the other one. This leaves a perfect void between each wind for the second layer to sit in after the first is enameled.
All in all it should make for a nice tight wind.

I have a lot of silver in the chain and every little bit more has helped.

I am impatiently waiting for my silver foil PIO Mundorf coupling caps to arrive from Germany.

And I just ordered the wire for a few DIY 16 AWG solid silver power cords for my SACD player and mono blocks.

I've yet to have copper win a listening test so I will replace them with silver ones.
Radio shacks magnet wire pack should allow you to experiment for very little money.
Let us know how you do.

[fdegrove]

Hi,

How on earth was your silver wire so cheap?!?!?

Silver isn't actually as expensive as most people think...

There's silver and there's silver though; don't use jeweler silver for audio, it's not nearly pure enough.

The problem Tom's project is facing is that he may have to order a one off and that often involves a minimum order of 2 Kgs of silver which quickly amounts to 2K Euro.

Cheers,

[tom1356]

Originally posted by fdegrove
Hi,



Silver isn't actually as expensive as most people think...

There's silver and there's silver though; don't use jeweler silver for audio, it's not nearly pure enough.

The problem Tom's project is facing is that he may have to order a one off and that often involves a minimum order of 2 Kgs of silver which quickly amounts to 2K Euro.

Cheers,

I am not quite ready to make that jump.
But I'm not too far.
By the way, thanks for all your help.

Any interest in a group buy on some quality insulated silver wire?
It would be great for interconnects also I bet. Maybe in a litz design.

I should clarify that I have not bought anything from Myron Tobac but I know others have recommended them.
The price estimate was based on their .999 fine silver wire prices. Which I think would be a great place to start with this experiment.

[fdegrove]

Hi,

By the way, thanks for all your help.

It was my pleasure, Tom.

Keep in mind that most (93%) of all silver wire used in the audio industry comes from the US (one single company), goes through Europe and ends up in MM, MC cartridges, IC and LS wire in the most respected high-end companies...

In this case it would be apropiate to say you've been talking to the horse's mouth directly....Sort of as I' the man behind the design scene.

Best of luck,

[SimontY]

Hi,

Thanks for all the info Tom. I'm actually rather reluctant to put any silver in my system, nearly always it's sounded too bright. I guess the colouration it received doesn't suit my speakers and rest of my system. I realise the harshness is probably due to impure silver and/or using too thin conductors.

I think I'll try some resistors using copper instead for now, at least until I find somewhere that isn't a rip-off! I know people who work for a silverware company and can get things at trade price. Needless to say I asked about wire.. they don't do it Not that I think using sterling (92.5% iirc) silver could possibly be as good as pure copper.

Keep in mind that most (93%) of all silver wire used in the audio industry comes from the US (one single company), goes through Europe and ends up in MM, MC cartridges, IC and LS wire in the most respected high-end companies...

Interesting, and to me that explains perfectly why silver gets such a bad press for sound quality!! (if poor silver is compared to good copper...) Ah, you didn't mean 93% purity did you...? Well, it could still be the reason.

Hmm, you mention Radioshack, I wish we had that in the UK! We used to have Tandy, which is similar, but I think that's all but gone now. I have to put up with comparatively costly Maplins and Farnell...

I like your new winding method Tom, sounds good.

I really need to get my x-overs offboard before doing this!


Thanks,
-Simon

[GaryB]

Originally posted by tom1356
Any interest in a group buy on some quality insulated silver wire? It would be great for interconnects also I bet. Maybe in a litz design.

Not currently in the market for silver wire, but I know a few folks who have bought teflon insulated silver wire from the following folks:

http://www.a-msystems.com/physiology...silvertef.aspx

They make this for medical work, so its quite high quality. The people I know used it to rewire tonearms and were pleased with the result. Some of this wire is very thin and easy to break, so be sure to get an appropriate diameter.

---Gary

[mrfeedback]

In my experience, silver plated copper, or pure silver wire does not go well with lead containing solders - adds a nasty note that is not there with lead-free solders, and not there with silver free wires or solders.
Silver + lead solders sound nasty to my ear also.
I think this is some of the basis of bad press regarding silver.

Eric.

[fdegrove]

Hi,

In my experience, silver plated copper, or pure silver wire does not go well with lead containing solders

Well, well, well....I do agree with that statement.

According to research done by the guys from Isoda Electric lead sounds dirty and muddy.

I think this is some of the basis of bad press regarding silver.

Since when is this going on? Any references on this?

Cheers,

[SimontY]

Well, when I made my silver interconnects, I used lead-free solder I think, and it was silver-loaded, and not cheap. The sound took everyones ears off who heard it. It was snappy and detailed, but so what?

I guess it works in some systems, but I've heard few that are truly free from harshness, so I doubt many could accomodate this kind of wire... Would thicker gauge help with this?

-Simon

[mrfeedback]

Originally posted by SimontY
Well, when I made my silver interconnects, I used lead-free solder I think, and it was silver-loaded, and not cheap. The sound took everyones ears off who heard it. It was snappy and detailed, but so what?

I guess it works in some systems, but I've heard few that are truly free from harshness, so I doubt many could accomodate this kind of wire... Would thicker gauge help with this?

-Simon

Hi Simon,
The solder is the mission critical bit.
There are two types of solder containing silver - those containing lead (60%Tin,38%Lead,2%Silver) and those without (96%Tin, 4%Silver).
The lead type hardens to a pretty very shiny silver colour, and the lead free type cools to a frosted appearance - you will know which is which.
The shiny ones suck sonically with solid silver wire and silver plated copper wire and produces highs that will drive your dog out of the room - it sounds like this is what you have.
The dull looking ones are harder to do correctly, and if anything give an ever so slightly quieting characteristic that improves audibility of low level stuff and never gets nasty sounding - I know which I prefer.

In my experince good silver with appropriate solder gives nice detail and quietness, and does not get nasty, snappy or fatiguing.

Eric.