George Cardas' view on the silver debate:
(Full article at:
http://www.cardas.com/faqs/index.html Lots of other good stuff at
http://www.cardas.com/insights/index.html )
Copper vs Silver
Q.) Why hasn't Cardas manufactured a silver cable? -Tank
A.) Many manufactures have experimented with silver and other metals in the development of their products, and most have decided that ultra pure copper is the best conductor material. Cardas manufactures most of the silver stranding used in the industry, but the fact remains, ultra pure copper is generally better as an audio (AC) conductor.
The highly refined copper we use has a DC conductivity of approximately 103.8. This is within 1% of Silver's DC conductivity, but the critical differences here are copper's slightly lower inductivity and skin effect ratios that make it easier to work with in audio (AC) applications.
This is not to say that some embodiment of silver could not compete. There are ways to make an excellent silver interconnect, but given the costs involved and the inherent problems with silver, I believe the money is better spent on conductor geometry.
In interconnect cables, where capacitance is more of an issue than inductance, a silver conductor could have a small advantage. Silver's downfall is its low internal damping or loss ratio. It is like a speaker box with no internal damping, you end up with a very efficient speaker that does not sound good. The tendency for a slightly forward, hard or bright sound is always there. My initial work with silver in Golden Ratio, Constant Q, Litz configurations is encouraging, but I haven't come up with a configuration that I care to live with as yet.
I'm not ready to consider silver speaker cables. If there is any advantage, It would come at a price that seems over-the-top to me. I think I will leave the Black Pearls to Ray for now. -George
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