I don't see a frontwards or backwards here, on a highly subjective subject boths sides are right and don't care much about the other sides opinion. At some level tastes in audio sometimes get so eccentric that you have to step back and say to each his own.
I wish folks would stop applying the same openminedness and relativism to the basic foundations of physics. It's amusing that some of us get accused of being slaves to "book" learning when those they defend have no learning.
Yes, and copper dulls the sound unless it has been regularly polished. Let us draw a veil over all the copper used in the professional audio transformers and professional cables which the signal probably has passed through in the studio; just a metre of silver wire between the source and the amp restores the sound.
The sad thing is that JC has a physics degree yet he still persists in asserting nonsense. An interconnect simply needs a sufficiently good conductor (i.e. almost any metal, or a banana) surrounded by a sufficiently good insulator (i.e. almost any plastic, plus some air). If silver sounds brighter then this merely shows how widespread is mild synesthesia.
The sad thing is that JC has a physics degree yet he still persists in asserting nonsense. An interconnect simply needs a sufficiently good conductor (i.e. almost any metal, or a banana) surrounded by a sufficiently good insulator (i.e. almost any plastic, plus some air). If silver sounds brighter then this merely shows how widespread is mild synesthesia.
For not to mention all those electrolytics within the signal path of the mixing consoles' vast majority. But, surely, silver vs. copper wires in tonearms improve the sound, of course by eliminating the imperfectnesses induced by those doubtful components. So they say 🙄.
Best regards!
Maybe good be careful about distinguishing between attempts at colorful or descriptive language, use of analogies, and synesthesia. The latter is an actual blended mental experience, such as when printed black and white numbers appear in color. The mental experience is exactly the same as if they were printed in colored ink.
On the other hand, sometimes people use words to try to describe sounds for which no preexisting words have been defined. In that case, it may be nothing more than colorful descriptive language.
Or, words may be chosen in an attempt to describe how something sounds using an analogy another person might find helpful.
For example, sometimes digital sound has been described as "grainy." I never understood why, but I kept trying to figure out what was meant by the term. Finally, I did hear some digital that had a rough, coarse, sort of sound at HF. Grainy wasn't a too bad a word to describe it, but I never mentally experienced grain and music blended somehow together. In fact, I don't think I have ever had a mental sensory experience called grain. I don't even know what it would be like. Maybe the closest would be rubbing some seeds of literal grain between my fingers, which maybe feels a little coarse and granular, but when I heard grainy music, my fingers and everything felt compelety normal. No synesthesia there. None.
Yes, audio signals are so much more sensitive to conductor material than medical, weapons, communications, navigation and instrumentation systems. There are Nobel prizes for people who can explain why.traderbam said:
The paragraph from Audio Note makes more sense to me than anything anyone else recently commenting on differences between silver and copper conductors.
Silver is used in high frequency equipment, isn't it? I have some big Siemens tubes with sockets that were ripped out of some medical equipment. Leads have been cut. Some of these leads soldered on to the socket are silver foil. Also suppliers of HF litz (e.g. Elektrisola) list silver as a standard conductor. What is that stuff used for? I could imagine winding inductors where the thick insulation and lower DCR gives a higher Q. I'm at a loss what's going on with the tube socket.
For high power RF there may be some reason to use silver because of skin effect and conductivity, relative to copper. But skin depth is very shallow in that case, not like for audio. It's certainly not used for RF because it sounds better.
Silver plating protects copper from tarnishing. I can't see any other advantages. In transformers it's enamelled anyway so no point. For Audio Note it's just marketing since they admit to not knowing what advantage is it does have. They say it's probably not about conductivity, then later go on to talk about the conductivity of silver oxide
A number of RF cables are silver plate on copper on steel core. RG-316 being one I remember. Silver can make sense when skin depth is low and loss per m matters. At least if you can't use a bigger, lower loss cable.
It is a little convenient - that the more precious metal sounds better. Good for margins. If it had been aluminum wire that sounded better would it have been used at all?
It is a fact that silver and copper are atomically quite different and Audio Note suspects their oxide properties matter and are different. So it is not absurd to entertain the idea that silver wiring sounds different to copper. I haven't listened to silver wire so I can't say.
I think the interfaces between different metals is an important area, particularly what materials are used to join them and the quality of those joins. The composition of the solder used could matter.
It is a fact that silver and copper are atomically quite different and Audio Note suspects their oxide properties matter and are different. So it is not absurd to entertain the idea that silver wiring sounds different to copper. I haven't listened to silver wire so I can't say.
I think the interfaces between different metals is an important area, particularly what materials are used to join them and the quality of those joins. The composition of the solder used could matter.
I am entertaining the idea of using a single material core for signal paths in cable. Not exactly sure what to expect in my design.
Suspicion or FUD. FUD is the key to snake oil sales!
Is is pretty absurd, the method of conduction is the same and the difference in conduction is around 7%.
Yes materials do matter, at least once you get into the GHz region. Gold plate traditionally used a nickel flash on the base brass. Nickel contains iron which causes IMD at high frequency. At audio levels it's FUD. Worried about it then buy a pair of KEF LS50 wireless speakers.
Someone once recommended a connector to me suggesting it was the best connector he had used. I sent it in for testing of material, it seemed to be copper plated with copper.
7% is significant.
Is the method of conduction exactly the same ?.....evidently not.
Dan.
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