Quote text from Arny Kruger:I called Santa and told him FORGET ABOUT THE SILVERS MY COPPER IS JUST FINE!
> Given that speaker distortion amounts to full percentage
> points of the input signal,
Speaker distortion affects the output sound, not the input signal.
> can gold-plated cables etc.
> really make that much of a difference?
Most gold plating, particularly in consumer audio, is eyewash.
Besides, the cables themselves aren't gold plated, its the connectors that
they gold plate. Most of the gold plating goes on the outside where it is
seen. Furthermore, gold in addition to being the opposite of cost-effective,
is also not that good of a performer when it comes to electrical contacts.
> True, the conductivity of gold, silver is marginally better than
> copper,
No, the conductivity of pure gold is worse than that of copper.
metalresistivity, nano-ohm-meter
silver 14.71
copper 15.80
gold 20.11
aluminum 25.00
zinc 54.55
iron 87.10
In connectors, remember that the metal you see is only a thin plated layer.
Because it is so thin, its conductivity is secondary. The conductivity of a
cable is most strongly dependent on the wire, not the connector, or a thin
layer of plating on the connector.
But you're right about the conductivity of silver being only marginally
better than that of copper. Rule of thumb is that one wire gauge larger
balances the books. IOW a 12 guage copper wire has about the same
conductivity as a 13 guage silver wire.
Besides, when you're talking conductivity, there's another dimension to the
equation. For example, the conductivity chart above shows conductivity
versus volume. Conductivity versus weight gives a different ranking.
Conductivity versus cost is a yet another ranking. I believe that right now
aluminum is the champ for conductivity versus weight and cost. What matters
most depends on what you are doing.
> but it's hard to imagine that it would be audible.
Same story, all over again. What is the application? The rules for speaker
cables and interconnects differ.
> Not even in terms of speaker damping/ringing.
Speaker damping is a questionable concept. The relevant parameter is the
source impedance that the loudspeaker system sees when it looks back at the
amplifier which can affect the frequency response and therefore the sound of
the speaker at all audio frequencies.
The two strongest relevant parameters of cable are resistance by a country
mile, but also inductance to some degree. Some cable manufacturers obsess
over more esoteric parameters like skin effect, but in most cases inductance
is the stronger effect.
Of course, resistance rules. But even resistance runs into the law of
diminishing returns. Once you get the series impedance of a speaker cable
down to about 1/30th of the nominal impedance of the speaker, diminishing
returns has set in, big time. Cutting the series impedance of a speaker
cable even further to 1/60th won't make it sound twice as good. In fact,
its a bit of an argument whether it will make any audible difference at all.
> Might be able to see something on a 'scope, but maybe not
> even then.
Scopes are pretty crude tools for evaluating connectors and cables.
> Are there other considerations, beyond that of quality
> construction/cable longevity?
Most cables that I've seen fail, and I see lots of failed cables, fail at
the point where a wire is attached to a connector. Gold or silver does very
little good there. It's all about mechanical design and care during
construction.
The best way to connect a wire to a connector is a well-crimped connection.
Solder runs a close second. Except in the case of special connectors that
are not frequently used for home and studio audio, solder the more reliable
method to use in the field. But neither crimping nor soldering guarantee a
reliable connection when the cable is flexed even just a modest amount. It's
all about strain relief.
Probably the biggest name in professional audio cables is Neutrik, a
connector manufacturer. Most of their connectors don't have gold plating,
and most of us would have it no other way. Neutrik have arguably built their
business on connectors with base metal contacts, overall mechanical
robustness, and easy-to-assemble but highly effective strain relief systems.
> Some people swear there is a difference, certainly the
> mfr of Monster cables, who appeared on The Big Idea, and
> is apparently making millions.
Monster cable is AFAIK still a private corporation, majority stockholder
Noel Lee. They don't manufacture anything but advertising, press releases,
and other business documents. Their business model is based on evangelizing
salesmen and management of audio stores with promises of increased
profitability. They organize lavish rewards for top sellers. They sell
products that other people manufacture for them. They have a few patents,
but I don't know of any serious manufacturer of cables who worries much
about them. Monster IMO is about sizzle, not steak.
