jcmusic Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 In your opinion which cable do you like and why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrestonTom Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 I doubt that there would be any difference in the sound. Having said this, someone is sure to reply with some arcane & highly unlikely scenario where there might be a difference. However, I suspect that even that difference would be at a level or frequency region that none of us could hear anyway. Save your money and get some well-recorded CDs Good luck, -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmusic Posted April 6, 2006 Author Share Posted April 6, 2006 Tom, any advise on what to look for in a properly recorded cd, certain name brands etc. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScorpsFan Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 I prefer copper over silver, but that maybe because my copper interconnects are stranded and more flexible for easier installation and hiding and the silver is a coax in a casing that is nearly twice as thick and much less flexible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chops Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 I'll be the first fool to come on here and say that I prefer copper over silver. There is a clear difference between silver and copper. Silver tends to sound a little thinner in the bass and a little brighter in the treble. Good quality copper just sounds much more natural and even. At least I can hear the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 you know there is always a debate on copper v silver. The thing is silver oxidaizes at an alarming rate and so any interconnect that claims it is silver must have the connections coated with another material. Since silver is the best conductor of electricity barring rare compounds and super conductors, and copper coming in at a very close second, I would hypothesis that copper is better This is due to copper being actually copper on the ends while silver must have a coating of a lesser conducting material. But that is also why most are gold plated which comes in believe 4th in conduction but gold does not tarnish unless mercury is present. But that is 24 carat gold not 14, 18 or miniumum 10 carats (to be called gold it must be atleast 10 carats) which consists of silver, copper, tin etc etc as others. But to me it seems like whatever connection you are using has to pass through gold (usually) so gold is the filter that is the limiting factor, it is like in race cars where you have a restricter plate, yeah you can have a 8 inch wide tube but if the restricter plate is 2 inches wide, the 8 inches is relatively useless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrestonTom Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Tom, any advise on what to look for in a properly recorded cd, certain name brands etc. Jay Jay, I am glad I have got you considering the more important aspects of sound. You can sometimes judge by label, but it is a generalizarion. The are a number of good choices for classical music, Harmonia Mundi & Naxos are a good place to start. For Jazz; the Impulse, & Blue Note recordings tend to be good (both performance and sonics). Again this is a generalization. For Rock it is more difficult. Over the last number of years both Paul Simon, and Steely Dan have had consistently good recordings (although this may not be music that interests you). Good Luck, -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmusic Posted April 6, 2006 Author Share Posted April 6, 2006 Thanks Tom, that's as good place as any to start. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Silver doesn't "oxidize". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 eh tarnish whatever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott0527 Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 SIlver is always described as sounding brighter. Could it be because it's shinier than copper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy W Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Yup, tarnish is caused by sulfur in the air... which didn't happen until people started burning fossil fuels... coal, oil, etc... Copper tarnish is from oxygen. Adding zinc to a copper alloy (which makes brass) retards the process. The majority of the connections are nickel plated brass or gold plated brass. Silver is the best conductor, followed by copper and gold, but gold has better corrosion resistance by far, and for the distance of the very thin plating on a connector the difference is unmesurable. A 3 foot length of copper (22AWG) will be 0.016 Ohms, so the impedance will be dominated by (mostly) capcitance and (a little) inductance, but the effect will be unnoticed until a couple octaves (at least) above the range of human hearing where skin effect starts to come into play. When you measure the resistance of an interconnect you're mostly measuring the contact resistance, and silver wire won't make any measureable difference (silver solder might). Keeping contact resistance low (by using gold plating) over a long period of time is the best you can do. If you want to buy silver, get copper wire interconnects and invest in silver coins, the profit margin is A LOT lower on silver coins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brokenarrow1 Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 So where does Audiquests Diamond backs fit in to this discussion? I am looking at going from a Hk635 to a B&K Reference 200.7 S2 So should I buy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Well if we had the connections gold flashed then sealed with a pressurized nitrogen blanket (outdoor waveguide, hardline,styroflex) their would be no worry about oxidation or tarnishing. Maybe some Berylium based nickel plated with final chrome plating would hold up. (High power cavity bendable fingers in Klystron transmitters) This might make a difference of .0000000000000000001%. Since my ears can only hear 1% distortion it would do me no good. I forgot to add the moisture cleaning and removal equipment that runs 24/7 and can be costly. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmusic Posted April 7, 2006 Author Share Posted April 7, 2006 Thanks Andy, that's the most informative info I have gotten yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brokenarrow1 Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Is it worth buying the Diamondback Audioquest RCA interconnects, I am buying 2M for $ 129.00 a pair? I am headed to the this morining Let me know, I know that the blue jean stuff is good also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ygmn Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Does anyone actually think they will hear a difference from a decent quality copper interconnect vs a a decent quality silver interconnect? not me... Can we have a speaker wire debate too? I love those....hehehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Is it worth buying the Diamondback Audioquest RCA interconnects, I am buying 2M for $ 129.00 a pair? I am headed to the this morining Let me know, I know that the blue jean stuff is good also. RTTR made a post on them and he loves them much cheaper to boot too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hardy Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Gold is the best conductor; silver is number two. Silver does indeed oxidize (i.e., there is such a thing as silver oxide). Silver I/C's were harsh sounding on my system. I used I/C's made from a twisted pair of varnish-insulated 30 gauge magnet wire (Radio Shack grade, not OFC or single-crystal or anything like that) and I am very happy with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chops Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Does anyone actually think they will hear a difference from a decent quality copper interconnect vs a a decent quality silver interconnect? not me... I find it hard to believe that people cannot hear the difference. And NO, it's not just in my head either. Whatever floats your boat I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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