[[email protected]]

I found a great thread on this group which produced an informative
article about the use of 20 gsm silver wire for making your own high-
quality audio interconnects.
Without getting into the debate over coathangers versus high-end audio
leads, can anyone tell me why this article stresses using soft silver
wire and says don't use Sterling?
Here in Australia, Sterling wire is at very least a guarantee of
reasonable quality -- how can one be sure that plain 'silver' wire
really is silver without too many impurities? Would anyone know of a
source here for very pure silver wire which would meet this audio
requirement?
Thanks

[BEAR]

wrote:
I found a great thread on this group which produced an informative
article about the use of 20 gsm silver wire for making your own high-
quality audio interconnects.
Without getting into the debate over coathangers versus high-end audio
leads, can anyone tell me why this article stresses using soft silver
wire and says don't use Sterling?
Here in Australia, Sterling wire is at very least a guarantee of
reasonable quality -- how can one be sure that plain 'silver' wire
really is silver without too many impurities? Would anyone know of a
source here for very pure silver wire which would meet this audio
requirement?
Thanks

My experience says to stay away from sterling for audio applications.

One needs to know the source of your wire to have real knowledge of its source
and purity...

Otoh, if it is inexpensive enough, why not try it?

Personally, I don't prefer solid core silver wire (or copper) nor single
conductors...

The soft silver is because you don't want stress fractures.
Google annealing on that topic.

Not sure what "20 gsm" is, is that 20ga.??

Many folks here will tell you that regular hookup wire will work as well,
suggest that you decide for yourself.

_-_-bear

[Ray Garrison]

" wrote in news:frmtt402q43
@news2.newsguy.com:

rec.audio.high-end

Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% pure silver and 7.5%
other metals. The other metal(s) are(is) usually copper, but the term
"sterling" does not define specifically the alloying material.

[[email protected]]

On Mar 17, 7:12*pm, "
wrote:
I found a great thread on this group which produced an informative
article about the use of 20 gsm silver wire for making your own high-
quality audio interconnects.
Without getting into the debate over coathangers versus high-end audio
leads, can anyone tell me why this article stresses using soft silver
wire and says don't use Sterling?
Here in Australia, Sterling wire is at very least a guarantee of
reasonable quality -- how can one be sure that plain 'silver' wire
really is silver without too many impurities? Would anyone know of a
source here for very pure silver wire which would meet this audio
requirement?
Thanks

Your source should be able to give you the purity in percentage.
Reasonably pure will be soft. Sterling is actually only 92% silver
with other metals to make it harder. Pure silver is easily damaged so
it is not suitable for flatware, food service, or jewelery.

There is no physical reason for silver to be any better that copper
for interconnects. To suggest there is some sort of audible
difference is utter hogwash.

[Arny Krueger]

" wrote in
message

I found a great thread on this group which produced an
informative article about the use of 20 gsm silver wire
for making your own high- quality audio interconnects.

Without getting into the debate over coathangers versus
high-end audio leads, can anyone tell me why this article
stresses using soft silver wire and says don't use
Sterling?

Annealed (soft) wire has lower resistance.

Sterling is an alloy of 92.5% silver and the rest usually copper. Alloys
tend to have finer crystalene structures and therefore more resistance.

Here in Australia, Sterling wire is at very least a
guarantee of reasonable quality -- how can one be sure
that plain 'silver' wire really is silver without too
many impurities? Would anyone know of a source here for
very pure silver wire which would meet this audio
requirement?

For reference, we usually use 99.99% or better pure copper wire. By that
standard Sterling silver is very impure stuff.

http://home.san.rr.com/nessengr/tech...etalresis.html

seems to say that Sterling Silver is a little less conductive than pure
copper.

[Peter Wieck]

On Mar 18, 6:48*pm, wrote:

There is no physical reason for silver to be any better that copper
for interconnects. *To suggest there is some sort of audible
difference is utter hogwash.

Well... there is and under carefully designed conditions it could be
audible - but it is a trivial point.

a) Silver is the best room-temperature conductor available. Fine
silver, that is.

b) in terms of pure-metal conductivity, silver is followed by copper,
gold and aluminum.

http://environmentalchemistry.com/yo...lectrical.html

So, if one is to choose only by conductivity, then Silver is the
choice.

In the real and practical world, about any decent conductor of
sufficient gauge will be indistinguishable from any other conductor of
sufficient gauge at audio frequencies and current levels.

Of course, we *MUST* elevate the conductors so that eddy currents
induced in flooring nails (amongst other reasons) do not interfere
with the signal ;-)

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[Mike Mueller]

Peter Wieck wrote:
On Mar 18, 6:48 pm, wrote:


There is no physical reason for silver to be any better that copper
for interconnects. To suggest there is some sort of audible
difference is utter hogwash.


Well... there is and under carefully designed conditions it could be
audible - but it is a trivial point.

a) Silver is the best room-temperature conductor available. Fine
silver, that is.

b) in terms of pure-metal conductivity, silver is followed by copper,
gold and aluminum.

http://environmentalchemistry.com/yo...lectrical.html

So, if one is to choose only by conductivity, then Silver is the
choice.

In the real and practical world, about any decent conductor of
sufficient gauge will be indistinguishable from any other conductor of
sufficient gauge at audio frequencies and current levels.

Of course, we *MUST* elevate the conductors so that eddy currents
induced in flooring nails (amongst other reasons) do not interfere
with the signal ;-)

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

Hi Peter
I'm not the biggest fan of this cable mojo however I recently did a
blind test with an audio engineer and had an interesting result.
I like CALRad cables. These are pro audio/video cables sold through pro
audio/video outlets. (http://www.calrad.com/download/55%20Series.pdf)
At 50% less than the boutique cables they are a steal.
We played with 2 . the 55-705 (6mm) and the 55-715(8mm) interconnects.
after switching back and forth through blind testing. We both
concluded that the 6mm conductor was the better cable. The difference
was audiable. the 8mm was somewhat veiled. whereas the 6mm was very
open. Highs seemed muffled. The midrange was just there. . The bass was
the same between the 2 wire gauges.
Just following up were you said. "about any decent conductor of
sufficient gauge will be indistinguishable from any other conductor of
sufficient gauge at audio frequencies and current levels."
Thanks
Mike Mueller

[anthony]

On Mar 20, 10:01 am, Peter Wieck wrote:
On Mar 18, 6:48 pm, wrote:

There is no physical reason for silver to be any better that copper
for interconnects. To suggest there is some sort of audible
difference is utter hogwash.

Well... there is and under carefully designed conditions it could be
audible - but it is a trivial point.

a) Silver is the best room-temperature conductor available. Fine
silver, that is.

b) in terms of pure-metal conductivity, silver is followed by copper,
gold and aluminum.

http://environmentalchemistry.com/yo...lectrical.html

So, if one is to choose only by conductivity, then Silver is the
choice.

In the real and practical world, about any decent conductor of
sufficient gauge will be indistinguishable from any other conductor of
sufficient gauge at audio frequencies and current levels.

Of course, we *MUST* elevate the conductors so that eddy currents
induced in flooring nails (amongst other reasons) do not interfere
with the signal ;-)

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

Thanks Peter --
I appreciate your very perceptive points, which are framed in an
amiably corrective way. I still think I can hear difference in some
cables, but it may well be just wishful thinking, as you suggest ...
still, if it keeps me happy, that's enough. I did get some very nice
super-speaker cables thrown in with the deal when I bought some
equipment a few years back -- multi-strand - 16 in all -- flat copper
strands for bi-wiring my speaker, in a configuration the width of a
credit card and about as thick or even thinner. Looks good, even if
it's an aesthetic thing only!
And thanks for the tip about the flooring nails -- I've ripped all
mine out and replaced with plastic studs. Next I'm getting some nylon
wire and hanging my speakers from the roof to eliminate vibrations ..
Cheers

[Peter Wieck]

On Mar 27, 6:42*pm, mike mueller wrote:
Peter Wieck wrote:
On Mar 18, 6:48 pm, wrote:

There is no physical reason for silver to be any better that copper
for interconnects. *To suggest there is some sort of audible
difference is utter hogwash.

Well... there is and under carefully designed conditions it could be
audible - but it is a trivial point.

a) Silver is the best room-temperature conductor available. Fine
silver, that is.

b) in terms of pure-metal conductivity, silver is followed by copper,
gold and aluminum.

http://environmentalchemistry.com/yo...lectrical.html

So, if one is to choose only by conductivity, then Silver is the
choice.

In the real and practical world, about any decent conductor of
sufficient gauge will be indistinguishable from any other conductor of
sufficient gauge at audio frequencies and current levels.

Of course, we *MUST* elevate the conductors so that eddy currents
induced in flooring nails (amongst other reasons) do not interfere
with the signal *;-)

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

Hi Peter
I'm not the biggest fan of this cable mojo however I recently did a
blind test with an audio engineer and had an interesting result.
I like CALRad cables. These are pro audio/video cables sold through pro
audio/video outlets. (http://www.calrad.com/download/55%20Series.pdf)
At 50% less than *the boutique cables they are a steal.
We played with 2 . the 55-705 (6mm) and the 55-715(8mm) interconnects.
* after switching back and forth through blind testing. We both
concluded that the 6mm conductor was the better cable. The difference
was audiable. *the 8mm was somewhat veiled. whereas the 6mm was very
open. Highs seemed muffled. *The midrange was just there. . The bass was
the same between the 2 wire gauges.
Just following up were you said. "about any decent conductor of
sufficient gauge will be indistinguishable from any other conductor of
sufficient gauge at audio frequencies and current levels."
Thanks
Mike Mueller- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Mike:

There is (or did it miss it) no description of the conductor gauge
between the 6mm and the 8mm cables. Just the cable OD, and that the
8mm unit uses "oxygen-free copper and gold-plated ends". What actual
differences as may be are still unknown. There must be some?

Did you know which ones were in service when you were making this
test? Just curious.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA