In Reply to: Best for IC's - copper? silver? gold-plated silver? posted by hukkfinn on February 16, 2007 at 14:20:09:
There is a lot of hype in the high-end audio market concerning what type of wiring is better (ICs & speaker cables)...the fact of the matter is that no component manufacturer (amplifiers, DACs, sources, etc...) that I know of uses solid silver conductors in their internal wiring inside the amp.It is almost always copper or tinned copper inside your components and speakers.
So, for short runs, it is better to use copper, to maintain "signal purity." Silver is a different element, and unless you have fully silver circuitry and signal paths, always choose copper.
There are tangible benefits to using silver as ICs and wiring, but most manufacturers claim that at lengths of 0.5M and 1M a silver IC will drastically improve your system sound quality. This is simply not true in the majority of cases.
If there are any manufacturers out there who would like to debate this with me, I'm more than open to it.
In addition, think about it practically. Do you really believe that paying $449.99 for a 0.5M pair of Ag interconnects will improve your sound that drastically over a $50 copper pair?
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Follow Ups
- Re: Best for IC's - copper? silver? gold-plated silver? - MJR 14:42:17 02/16/07 (18)
- MJR, it sounds like you have not done much comparing of interconnects? Is this correct? - hukkfinn 05:50:10 02/17/07 (0)
- Contemplation doesn't = fact - Cpk 18:16:48 02/16/07 (0)
- Wow--lots of highly subjective opinions spouted as facts. - jeffreybehr 16:00:27 02/16/07 (4)
- Re: Wow--lots of highly subjective opinions spouted as facts. - MJR 17:28:41 02/16/07 (3)
- Re: Wow--lots of highly subjective opinions spouted as facts. - Ted Smith 18:04:15 02/16/07 (2)
- Re: Wow--lots of highly subjective opinions spouted as facts. - MJR 18:24:05 02/16/07 (1)
- DIYers want to know. Why not try silver and just see if it helps. nt - Norm 06:30:57 02/17/07 (0)
- Hmmm - Ted Smith 15:38:36 02/16/07 (8)
- Re: Hmmm - MJR 19:32:24 02/16/07 (1)
- Re: Hmmm - Ted Smith 19:53:05 02/16/07 (0)
- Re: Hmmm - MJR 17:33:42 02/16/07 (5)
- We'll be watching the MJRAudio web site for cables [nt] - Ted Smith 17:40:51 02/16/07 (4)
- Re: We'll be watching the MJRAudio web site for cables [nt] - MJR 17:52:34 02/16/07 (3)
- Ah, you've taken down the "MJR Audio - Reference Quality Cabling for Audiophiles" page... - Ted Smith 18:41:57 02/16/07 (2)
- Re: Ah, you've taken down the "MJR Audio - Reference Quality Cabling for Audiophiles" page... - MJR 18:57:59 02/16/07 (1)
- Re: Ah, you've taken down the "MJR Audio - Reference Quality Cabling for Audiophiles" page... - Ted Smith 19:18:36 02/16/07 (0)
- Disagree; my Vandersteen 5a's come wired with silver... - Steve Parry 15:10:42 02/16/07 (1)
- Re: Disagree; my Vandersteen 5a's come wired with silver... - MJR 17:50:11 02/16/07 (0)