I spent years trying various cable configurations to make my own cables.

I made a number of cables from silver cable of various types that I was able to get at a wire wholesaler that had aerospace suplus cable.

The results varied all over the place, but I was never able to identify any difference between copper and silver per se.

The differences were much more significant due to various physical configurations of the conductors.

The best I found were where the cable had two inner conductors with a shield, and I used the two inner conductors for the signal and "floated" the shieild ( only connected it to gound at one end).

IMO the idea that silver VS copper would have any effect on low frequencies or high frequencies is absolute nonsense.

Of course, all of this is in reference to unbalanced (RCA) cables.

You can make 100 different Balanced cables fron almost any shielded balanced cable stock, and the result will be perfect every time.

That is why my system is almost all balanced now.

In my limited experience with Kimber's Silver Streak, I found it to be siblance enhancing with popular recordings and too annoying to enjoy for any length of time. I also have an old AQ Lapis IC that introduced a similar character that I just couldn't live with in the long run. They both had really good low frequency punch and articulation, but unless you want to hear what your recordings actually sound like, (Heh!) you just might find that trying to tune your system for poorly recorded music is a circle without an off ramp. On the other hand, if your music tends to be mostly well recorded works by good engineers, you might have a greater appreciation for the sizzle of the silver.

Check out Silent Source cables/cords.

Great ears guys! You have to be pretty careful with some of the materials used in the system. Silver definitely tilts up. And, when it does you have to offset it somewhere else in the system. My favorite cable to work with is 22 guage solid core basic copper, with a PVC jacket. There are different thoughts on this of course, but for an easy to live with full range cable this is a good place to start. I do a heat treatment on mine, but there are a few different things to do to change the flavor.

michael green
MGA/RoomTune

I master WAV files with a cable I made over 7 years ago with 56
strands of 24 gauge PVC jacket, C101 copper and .05% oxygen.

I have duplicated this phenomenon with the same design over and
over using FEP and FTPE insulation with no audible difference, period.

I guess when people hear the word Teflon or FTPE or FEP they think
it's the best.

These days silver is what you might call cost prohibitive for most things, anyway. Like Quicksilver Gold contact enhancer I do believe good tainted high purity silver might just be the ticket for some applications, however. Naturally no cable is going to sound right until it's cryo'd and broken in on one of those nifty AudioDharma Cable Cookers for 2-3 days.

Geoff Kait
Machina Dynamica

These cables are very promising, though it's too early to be sure.

I don't like the sound of cryo cables personally. Heat treating gives you a more open sound, cryo treating gives a tilt to the top end and can also give soundstage holes. There are people that like this, I'm not one.

If you have silver in your system plus cryo and sense a lack in bass and an unnatural candy coated squeezed type sound there's a good chance you have shifted the tonal balance up as both of these tilt things. If your system is over done in the bass department you might like this to give you balance, but since most high end audio systems lean toward the upper tilt anyway you might want to go the other way.

here's something to think about

Take off the top of your component and look at the cables and part leads. Your part leads are usually tined copper and most of your cables are copper as well. There are some materials that get along with copper and others that will shift the pitch up or down which is an often problem with systems and many times a trading game. Your probably not going to resolder your components to match things (well some do) but you might keep in mind that every interconnect you have is similar to a solder point. The closer you get your cables to the same size and material, without bulky ends the more your sound will be balanced.

Here's an experiement you can do to show you what I mean. Unscrew the barrels on your interconnects and move them away from the rca. By taking away the mass (unless your cable ends are dampened) you will hear your system open up in most cases. Mass has a major affect on your sound and the connections you have passing signal really shouldn't be any bigger than your part leads when you think about it. The industry goes the other direction many times mostly for marketing or a design that is trying to make up for other parts of the audio chain, or even the designer doesn't know what mass does and thinks signal isn't affected, but the simpler you can make your connections the less signal you will loose to mass distortion. If you look at my Picasso interconnect ends http://tuneland.techno-zone.net/t73-mga-cable-accessories you'll see that I don't use a barrel at all.

michael green
MGA/RoomTune

"The West Star"

The finest copper speaker cable on earth.
Completely hand made in the USA from the finest C101 copper available. [rest of content deleted by John Atkinson]

Working with the different elements and experimenting
with my own kilns creating pieces for different things,
and the experiment goes on and on since the early 90's
long before this topic was an issue for the best sound
in any given system.

If you have to unscrew the RCA barrel to open up the
sound from a cable then that cable should be rendered
useless. All connectors affect the wire, period. I will
not even begin to get into metallurgy.

This is why the best speaker crossovers are hand built and point
to point soldiered "Old School" no fancy looking crossover
board with a name and a pricey logo with paper thin copper
contacts that would burn up if you tried to jump your car with
it.

I agree with Green, unscrew the barrel or just chop the whole
end off!, and re soldier it directly to to piece of equipment.

Getting back to reality, silver vs. copper or a blend, in my 27
years of building low frequency cabinets for car and home that produce over 155db @ 30hz for numerous car show and live venue events. has led me into the last 20 years of audiophile 2 channel mastering with no equal. Hearing the difference between every cable silver or copper I have ever made or sold for the last 17 years has led me to believe in both! Silver solid wire for the mids and highs
and solid copper wire for the mid bass and lows. That goes for your
internal wiring of the speaker crossovers too, whether or not the inductors are silver or copper.

There are to many variables in the audio chain that can lead me
to think otherwise.

Good luck and always remember, your ears! They do the final judging.

An ardent audiophile's perspective.

When I tried Siltech cables (silver with gold inclusions) my quest stopped and I never looked back. Now I only save for the next-in-line Siltech. Boy, do they "make music"!!!

Toroid wrote:

"The West Star"

The finest copper speaker cable on earth. Completely hand made in the USA from the finest C101 copper available.

I note that you have posted multiple messages promoting this cable in the past few days. I have deleted some of these postings and edited the others because they appear to be spam advertising. If you are a manufacturer please note that there are specific areas in our forum and gallery devoted to manufacturer announcements. If you are not a manufacturer, please refrain from continuing to promote this cable.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

Copper is going to be the easiest to integrate into any system. Both silver & blended cables are less forgiving and many require system matching. The best remedy is to go out to a dealer/retailer and listen.

Company, Superior Mass Audio. Superiormassaudio.com
I have been a religious follower of you and your reviews.
I am not trying to promote this cable on your sight.
I apologize for this I just got excited about this topic.

I have been creating cables since 1985 and have been religious
about them since, just trying to give others a view from someone
who has worked with Dynaudio drivers and others and hand made
x-overs, interconnects and speaker cables for them for over 18 years.
I have worked with my own Silver, Gold, Platinum, Iridium, Inconel, Palladium and other metals in audio.

Again I apologize and this will not happen again.

Steve Schoonover, owner Superior Mass Audio.