The copper sounds more muted, like a recording. The silver sounds more live. Had to go back and verify it wasn’t just a different take after a 2nd listen. Definitely a difference. I Ike both.
To me personally, the silver sounds better. If I was to describe it, I would say the copper sounds two dimensional, and the silver sounds 3 dimensional. I'm currently using Audioquest K2 speaker cables (Which are silver), and handmade pure silver XLR between my pre and power, but I've heard silver foil for speaker cables at least, are next level, and not having heard any til now, was somewhat unsure, and after hearing this, will definitely consider upgrading to foil in the future. Thanks for the vid !!!
The silver has more clarity, resolution and extension especially in the high notes. The biggest difference which some may prefer is the weight of the hammer on the key feels more full body which extends through the musical instrument for example here in the body of the piano that is on the copper however it’s a trade off. You get it in the silver but not with the same level of weight and resonance through the piano. You do however get it in a tighter package with the silver. Technically audibly I’d pick the Silver on a system like this it shows more of the capability of the entire system over the copper. Comes through very clearly on UA-cam excellent job with the video thanks for sharing.
Remember- not all copper is the same, not all silver is the same. Metallurgical properties vary.... its hard to navigate through this in our current supply chain situation.
That's true, but I think the purpose of the test is just to show someone that there is an audible difference between the 2 metals. When I do copper/silver comparisons, I make sure both cables are made by the same company, and the construction is identical. The only difference is the type of metal, but everything else is exactly the same so that any differences can't be due to some other factor.
Hey Mike. Sometimes I also switch with speaker cables. Both, copper, silver, carbon, gold, or combined. I can hear the difference between dynamica or height, mid-low etc..... I think they all have something special. Greetings from the Netherlands Limburg Maastricht and of course continue. And as you know, coffee beans coffee hhmm. SSEEYYAAA Brother..... ✌🏾🌍😘💯%☕️👈🏿😎
I set up a blind test with a few of my friends to listen for audible differences between copper and silver. I'll share how I set the equipment up so that any differences heard has to be from the cables, and nothing else. The first thing I did was pick the cables. I chose a 1 meter pair of Audioquest Cheetah and Panther. I picked these 2 cables specifically because if you look at the design, they're absolutely identical in construction. The only difference between the 2 is the metal used for the conductors. I plugged both pairs of cables into an old Arcam 33 cd player I had laying around. I used this specific player because it has 2 identical sets of single ended outputs. Each pair of cables got their own channel on a preamp. When a CD is playing, all you have to do is switch channels using the remote. And yes, I swapped positions to make sure there was no variance in the CD player or preamp. I'm sharing this because in most cable A/B tests I've seen, they never quite isolate everything completely. So the difference heard is probably the cables, but not 100%. I can't find fault with this setup, but if anyone can, let me know so I can make changes for my testing in the future.
Imho there is no clear winner here. Of course i appreciate what silver make - better clarity, more extendet higs, more dynamic bas - more beeing there feeling. But for my ears my undertansing of sound cooper have more weight, intruments have more weight, more mass. And thats why i prefer cooper. Peace 🙏
I prefer the copper ...a lot , even if we hear more resolving sound or resolution, but a bit crispy and we loose weight on the notes . I m hearing with the Abyss TC headphone and a linear amplifier as it is in live , thanks for the comparison and your work !
Same, I only had cheap silver coated interconnects in the past, but this gave me the same impression of long term unbearable sheen from the mid-highs on... perhaps in person in the right room at the right distance it would be different. I had a similar experience with gold lion 6922 tubes, a wow sense of realism from the exagerated detail that took them out of the system in very short time.
A suggestion would be , instead of saying which cable is which maybe you could say cable 1 and 2 ? i am enjoying my afternoon coffee now and couldn't hear a difference, amazing system as usual though. When are we getting an update on the new subs you're building, i got bit by the diy bug when the pandemic started so it is an extremely interesting topic to me. Keep the great content coming!
You make a reasonable point, but it really doesn't matter because if you can't hear the difference in a sighted listening test, you won't hear anything in a blind test. You use a blind test to make sure what you're hearing isn't biased in some way.
@@AT-wl9yq Oh i know, i am just making that suggestion because some people will say it is the only way to compare stuff like this and all that, good way to avoid attacks like those before they even happen if you ask me.
@@andr192 Those people are going to attack no matter what you say. If those guys (I call them audio junk science review people. I don't know why, but the term just pops into my head for some reason.) wanted the truth, its easy enough to be had. To prove there's an audible difference between cables is not hard to do. We've all done it many times over. For the type of people you're referring to, this has nothing to do with cables, or anything audio related. Its about the argument, not the facts. Consider this. I've been listening to these people screaming blind testing and measurements for decades. And not different people, the same people. In all these years, I've asked every one of them the same 2 questions. 1. Can you refer me to any well done blind test on any type of audio gear for any reason? Not one time have I ever been given an answer, so that means they're lying every time they claim there's been test done. 2. What would you like to see measured, and why? Again, so response. So, when the measurement freaks can't tell you what they would like to see measured after they claim measurements are everything, isn't a good sign. How could they not have a response? For some reason, the concept of high end audio offends some people to the core. They literally hate it, and devote time out of their lives to pursue their hate. Whatever the underlying cause for this hatred is, it has nothing to do with audio equipment.
Mike, IMO your system is richer and more pleasant with copper. The copper provides (your system again) a fuller sound; the silver to me sounds too thin. My system (SET tubes w/Aventgarde horns) sounds best with a combination cable (Synergistic Research SRX). It seems this choice is system dependent; possibly room dependent too. BTW, love your channel. Peace.
Same here. To me it sounded fuller with the copper wire. I wanted to say the silver but it just sounded too thin to me. It could be the due to UA-cam compression at this end. Take it with a grain of salt. Loved this comparison, keep it up.
I use 99% pure copper 2.5mm solid copper for speakers (tightness , definition, etc / certified industrial grade) and 0.5mm pure silver solid (bought industrial and certified purity) for balanced interconnects and love the combination. YOu should try the comparison of cables with feminine voices to see if there is apronounced sibilance or the typical "shh" effect on the "S" letter.
The Pure Silver Cables sounded absolutely amazing it is audibly brighter and silver tends to sound livelier while offering more clarity and harmonic richness.
Rather than tell us that the difference is in "upper mids", it would be easier on us to tell us to focus on the effect on specific instruments, like separateness and punch of the percussion instruments Once I focused on that, it became more apparent. Well done.
Yes Mikey I've just changed my whole loom over to silver in regards to interconnects. I can hear quite a big difference in the way the cable performs. The midrange and Upper frequency extension is definitely something that has improved in the presentation I'm hearing in my rig. The speed has improved I could hear that in your presentation as well. In my set up I noticed when using silver I could really hear right into the music more clearly then what I could with copper.
I did the same test with silver and cooper interconnects. Silver is going to be brighter and sharper than cooper not just for speaker wires. My ear was bleeding with silver so it depends on the overall equipments used to achieve what you want. I can be ear fatiguing.
Just like the difference between Jantzen Silver-Z and Jantzen Alumen caps. Silver is bright and wimpy. Copper is more full-bodied, darker and warmer. Goes to show why regular copper cables usually sounds just fine.
I have a pair of old Realistic two way speakers hooked up to a old Pioneer integrated amp that is awesome but I cannot hear any difference from these low fi speakers ..
Can't believe no one mentioned: Silver is PURER sounding than copper. Silver is the best conductor of electricity, and is the Fillet Mignon of metals. Some like gold plated silver, but both are better than copper. But lumping all silver cables together under the same blanket, and doing the same with copper cables and then making absolutistic statements about each versus each other. Wait a minute! That's crazy. Each silver cable is different and so is each copper cable. There is particularly relevant things involved in their manufacture and how each company does things is different. The way the metal is drawn, the way it is cooled. How many strands of wire, how thick the strands are, how well isolated the strands are from each other, how they are wound, what material the cable sheathing is made of. There are papers on skin effect, which is influenced by what material the cable are wrapped in, and then there are the connectors at the ends of the cable. What are they made of and how are they made, and what care was taken? Making blanket statements about all these variables is ridiculous. Each cable is different and sounds different. Sometimes so different it is hard to believe. You wouldn't put all speakers under the same blanket and pretend they are all the same The best copper cables are worlds better than the worst silver cables. The best silver cables would outperform the best copper cables if everything is done just right. But often it isn't. You really have to know what you're doing working with silver. Someone mentioned about the possibility of combining silver and copper in a cable. It's been done. One example is Kimber Silver Streak interconnect. The positive wires are silver and the negative wires are copper. It must be a popular cable. It's been in the Kimber line since around 1990. It is forward sounding and does not emphasize depth. It makes many copper cables sound grainy, distorted and harsh, especially in the highs. There are better cables at higher prices including Kimber Select and cables from some other companies.
@@OCDHIFiGuy Silver and copper require many different steps from melting the metal to stranding. At least a dozen different steps in between. At best you are comparing 1 silver cable using what processes and care whoever manufactured it used, vs. 1 copper cable made with what processes they used from melting the metal to finished product, even if it was the same company. Just so your readers understand your are not pitting "silver" and "copper" against each other. You are pitting 1 particular silver cable in the world against 1 particular copper cable in the world, no matter who made it or how similar it was constructed.
I have a mid fi system using silver flat cable from a chinese company Xangsane and it def sounds better than my previous Van Den Hul round copper cables that costs 4X more. My system is around 9k total.
They should make cables with copper and silver mix. There's an idea. Connect both copper and silver cables to the binding posts at the same time. Best of both worlds
Thank you, your comparison perfectly hits my buttons: By random just last week I moved from copper to silver in some relevant areas of my system with absolutely identical results. I was not prepared for it and I also feel sad that I did not do it years before. Where the difference to copper is most prominent is before the phono stage, where the low MC signal is very fragile. But of course everywhere else as well. I am not using these ribbon cables but regular solid core in cotton/silk. Big thumb up!
Can't say I manage (in attempt) to hear the difference. My mind wanted to select silver as " better clarity and air" cable, but playback in copper to the same seconds of music (yep, I divide into section of 10 seconds listening), my ear could not tell the difference, and certainly not able to in blind test. Having said, I'm listening thru iem, maybe I will catch the difference thru sr1a, which I use 5N silver digital cable between DDC to DAC, the rest of interconnect in 6N copper
it's human nature that the more one tries to concentrate of hearing something specific, the more illusive it becomes. it's just how the mind processes sound , accuracy over illusion was not an evolutionary advantage, whereas direction , distance and movement, the things that avoid predation, are very accurate. double blind tests can be utilized to avoid the mind's expectation bias during listening . No wire has ever passed such a test, despite the obvious sales advantage of demonstrable proof .
I’ve just done 6 comparisons ... have to take your word that #1 is Copper and #2 is Silver ... that said I think there was maybe 15% difference (improvement) in clarity with the Copper over Silver. It’s hard to understand why the sound should be different just because Silver is about 5% more electrically conductive, I’d have to defer to an audio engineer what that could be so. In all 6 comparisons I did, the music sounded more pleasurable with the Copper, particularly with clarity and depth. So there you go.
WITHOUT any doubt the silver is more focused, controlled and sweeter sounding. What mike did you use, because your system was right here in my place? Tuanis.
Is the Cu/copper 6N ? The Cu is warmer (meaning masking. I don't like it) & 2 D sound. I prefer Ag/ silver one. It's more transparent, soundstage, better tone & more revealing. It's as if listening to live music (I mean they playing in front of you). I've ever bought some meters of pure Ag cables in some diameters from an Ag company. It's cheap (of course the value is higher than Cu). The problem is when it's in finish product, eg. cables, the mark up price is way too much because people think, "Wow ! Silver !). I've never heard gold plated cable. A friend who owns it (2 m headphone cable) said the it's warmer. I told him I don't like it. It's masking & manipulating. I myself is a DIY electronic assembler. Some audiophile gears (amps, pre-amps, DAC) using Ag fir internal wiring. For a short distance, in my opinion, we can't hear the difference. They use it for fancy only. However, if it's longer distance, say more than 1 meter, yes it has sound different. Google "What's the best electrical conductor". Result: 1. Ag, 2. Cu then 3. Au (gold).
Did you do this because of my comment? I only wonder because on your dancing video about having fun with your Hi-Fi I made a comment jokingly of course about how I don't have fun with my Hi-Fi I spend all my time obsessing over how much silver is in my XLR cables. Anyway if you did I think it's kind of funny. What I noticed more than anything regarding your experiment here is I better sense of rhythmic drive with the silver. Like with the copper I couldn't really care less about what was playing but as soon as the video came up with silver I started really focusing on it and actually enjoying it better. You see I'm big into tone and prat so I'm kind of like art Dudley in that way, I could care less about sound staging because if you really look at it sounds staging is just an aural illusion. Whereas tone is real and rhythm and timing is real.
I’m shocked, but I was able to hear the difference through my phone’s speakers. I’m sure in person it’s much more noticeable. It was similar to the first time I heard an isolated bookshelf speaker vs no isolation.
No difference. I would suspect the voltage between the 2 cables is negligible. It should be a blind test -10 times greater than 80% accuracy . Video the procedure to get authenticity
No difference here either. A better description of the wires (gauge etc.) would help in determining what wires we are actually listening to. In that we are all listening over different devices makes this whole exercise pointless.
maybe its just the remote listening or me but the top end always sounds more pronounced than it should be, the cymbals, they are just as loud or louder than the piano. To me the cymbals should be about 10-20% more reserved. Next time dont tell us which is which. lol Todays song suggestion- Artist- Soundgarden Song- 4th of July
@@OCDHIFiGuy Nice work and apologies for being a smart ass, I'm into making cables myself, a couple of whisky's down, I just couldn't resist, stay cool bro.
I had to laugh because the difference between the two is so plain and so clear in this video (so much more in real life). You are correct, if a person can’t hear a difference then they should thank their lucky stars, move on and enjoy music through whatever system they have.
According to many shitty youtube channels you are mistaken because you cant possibly hear a difference. Imagine the arrogance and backwardness of that.
I can tell a difference in your presentation..... I hear better extension on the mids and also feel a bit cooler feel on the silver, this brings out the detail of strings and also the copper gives a thicker bass response, but at a loss of how the instrument really sounds. The best cable reproduces the music to how it was originally intended to sound ! .......I am a true believer in cables and can tell the difference between every single Iem I own and the sound of every cable I own.....
My problem with these 'youtube' demonstrations of sound differences is how much the differences are totally lost starting at the microphone picking up the sound in the hifi room all the way to my best headphones. It's sort of futile and really ends up just being someone (no offense to Mikey at all) telling what I should be hearing, and then even going so far perhaps unwittingly insulting me telling me that I don't have sophisticated hearing ability. I never respect any salesman and there are lots of them who use insults to push someone into buying their products. On my end of it the king has no clothes, but if I were i the room it might be a whole different story. That said I've never purchased one product in my life due to a salesman pulling the bullying tactic out of his or her (sorry folks there are only two genders) tool box and I've seen it a lot (I know what's in the toolbox) I don't care what they're selling, they all try it if being the 'nice guy' isn't closing a sale. I'm not about to begin now. One last thing. I don't want to detract from the possibility of the 'placebo effect'. It's very real in medicine and in other areas of perception. If a person believes they hear a difference then they will. Of course it won't hold up in a double blind test at all because it works on belief. So all the fancy cables, and other paraphernalia that the industry thrives on works on the people who actually believe it. I say to those people, enjoy, and stay away from the graphs and the scientific study , measurements etc which will only detract from your faith. One last point. If I were doing the test and I wanted to get the most honest results from my youtube listeners, I would tell them what kinds of cables are being compared but I would NOT tell them which cables are being used during each sampling of music, only that I changed them. I won't bring up the problem that has happened in the past regarding some hifi salesmen bringing people to their hifi studios and running a comparison between some subtle component differences and doing something 'else' to the system to alter the quality of the sound to achieve the desired response from the listeners. It's been proposed that Danny at GR research does this (for example). There's not a lot of integrity in the world of sales, it's the nature of the beast. When money is at stake, integrity will often lose out. Nothing to be done about that.
@Fred Flintstone.... yep you're toast. The industry has lost you completely where you don't even RESPECT sellers. That's effed up. Well I stand to change that and my numbers show that the people who do trust others find me. You're right however. Only 2 genders and Integrity has shit the bed. But eff that nonsense, it's unacceptable to me and I refuse to participate in lack of integrity.k The rebuild starts with each one of us.
@@OCDHIFiGuy I can respect a seller but that's up to them, not me. I do have a brain and can tell if they're trying to bamboozle me or not. If they try to bamboozle me which is really a lack of respect for me in order to manipulate me, then they get no RESPECT. If they don't, they have my respect. Another tactic that people try to use to shift the focus away from themselves is to gaslight the other person. That doesn't work around me either. I grew up with narcissists and had relationships with narcissists later in life as well, and I know those tactics. Sellers of pretty much any kinds of wares doing it for a living have a box of tools as I mentioned and they are ready to use whichever one works. Insulting is one of the tools.. I've had salespersons end up telling me that I'm not worthy of their product when all else failed for them. Yes, they were working on my ego. This is what sales people will do. So again I cannot be gaslighted. I know who I am, what I'm saying, and who the manipulator in a dialog is. 😉😉
@@fredflintstone8048 dang. That sounds pretty heavy. I don't usually give a hoot about buying anything enough to simply just walk away from a manipulator. Or ignore them. This goes beyond selling products to the Media, Doctors, Lawyers, Corporations... we are even getting manipulated by our cel phones these days.. it's rampant. The key is to think for oneself and be firm in our convictions. For instance, if you don't like the cable proposition, don't buy them. Walk away. ;-) No big deal... ;-)
@@OCDHIFiGuy Yes, I agree. My point is that this happens with most people in the world when how they make their living is involved. The salesman is the most obvious about it, but it applies to everyone as you stated when the money is connected to the task. Tell me what you do for a living and I can predict your politics, your agenda, etc. The motivation for making money is behind the narrative they promote and it's rarely honest. We live in a world full of lies. However that doesn't make it OK or a good thing and yes, I always do my own homework and decide what I'm going to buy. I don't let the seller decide for me although most would like to. I do have to snicker a little bit about foil type speaker cables. If they are flat wide runs of foils separated by layers of insulation, but in close proximity which appears to be how they're made, what you have there is a capacitor. Granted, not a large enough amount of capacitance (I would have to measure it), for the Capacitive reactance (XC) to present much impedance to frequencies in the audio range to notice, but an impedance never the less. If they did anything at all to the circuit they would shunt higher frequencies, but they would only really be inclined to do this in the radio frequency spectrum. But I won't debate cables with you. I've done my own homework. I don't care about making youtube videos but there are some very good hifi engineers who do that get into the topic of cables. KissAnalog is a good channel for it, and there are some others. You know I already addressed the placebo effect and that I do have respect for the effect but it's based on belief and beliefs do impact a person's perception so I can't discount that and I also suggested that people in hifi who actually hold those beliefs to stay away from taking a double blind test. Not only will it make them look silly, it will collapse their faith and I can't say it's a good thing for their psyche. Some people need bubbles to live in to survive this crazy world and I don't mean to pop them even if they are illusions. In fact if you don't like honest feedback I can join the group of sycophants you have if you like. 😉
@@fredflintstone8048 well I'm about our Civil Rights in this country, so I won't censor you if I don't like what you are saying. I understand your tack, and it's fine. I believe nothing until it's proven to me. Regardless of science or double blind party killers. To me double blind is for strict realists that are honestly not fun people.. I love the dream and I create my own every day. Without fantasy and dreams life is no storybook. It's suffering. Saying you can tell all about a person from thier career choice would be a magic trick in itself. Plus it's a way to stereotype others. Doing this is a way of "story making" and is very much rooted in fantasy and personal bias. I appreciate your attendance and would be happy to converse at some time. I highly doubt you've got me "pegged". Lol. ;-) love to you my brother. Keep on expanding your mind.
The silver has a slight higher pitch that I don't like as much. I didn't notice with the copper. It's very subtle but I prefer the copper. I'm here because I was looking at computers and I was looking for an example of gold plating for audio jacks but I can't find a sound comparison. This was very interesting though.
Skin effect via surface area & conductivity of the metal used for the conductor. Using silver instead of copper yields an advantage in conductivity. Using a ribbon style conductor could have significantly more surface area than the outer “skin” surface of a stranded cable and therefore due to the skin effect, those electrons can skate along more happily, less impeded by the confines of a stranded cable. This being said, there are points of diminishing returns. Surely silver conductors can become cost prohibitive especially in the context of diminishing returns.
@Rik ster It`s not the difference in conductivity that matters, it`s the sound signature. Simple electric rules do not apply, you need to treat it as an musical instrument where different materials and finish make or brake the sound.
@Rik ster Are you talking to me. If so, thanks i like your opinion. Even if it sounds like a broken down record. Maybe you should go Audio science review, many persons of your liking there. Btw i came to this channel to be rid of preachings like this that ad nothing of value.
@brugj03, you are correct ... you get it ... No Effing way an Engineer will even admit if it smacks him in the face but does not show up on the Gay scope. @Rik ster... Weve done the comparison in the mastering studio where we can save the waveform of the music... not a test tone, then change cables and lay the second exact SMPTE coded waveform on top and its different... LOL> Sorry Bruh...
Hi ! Electrical engineer here :) Lemme just say that the conductivity of Silver @ 20Celcius is -+ 6.29 x10^7 /Ohms meter. On the other hand Copper is -+ 5.95. Difference of 0.34. Remember guys that a really nice thing about conductivity is that there is a direct correlation between conductor size and its ability to transmit whatever. So basically, get 12 AWG copper instead of 14 AWG silver and you will have the same results as far as conductivity. But anyway it's your money so do as you please ! Who am I to tell you that "hearing" a difference is total bul...t. Since you already bought Silver wire, one could say that you are perhaps already hearing a Nobel price knock at your door ?
With all due respect, brother, you think you are the only guy that went to Engineering school ? At the very least you must admit the cable companies are far smarter at making money than you are, aren't they ? Yes they are. It's a mass delusion, and everyone is imagining ghosts are real. You are the only guy that "gets it" lol....
@@OCDHIFiGuy There is indeed a certain type of customer that will buy product based on statements and beleifs. Kind of weird to rely on "Crisp" " Mellow" or any other kind of subterfuge to dictate a products quantitative qualities. Of course if I spent north of 10k for cables I'd feel a difference. It's called cognitive bias. Let me enlight someone with the mindset of one of the greatest companies that mastered the art of creating need for it's customers. “Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.” ― Steve Jobs.
I hear graphene has 10 X the conductivity of copper. I know from various discussion forums, someone described it as organic tangy sound. If you ever get hold of one, it would be interesting hear from you your findings :)@@OCDHIFiGuy
Copper sounded right. Silver shifted everything upwards, sounded irritating and brighter. Not as natural. Piano sounded fake compared to copper, I have a pretty transparent system. Easy to hear the difference. I can't afford silver, so this is good. Besides, many have been listening to digital MOFI and thinking it was all analog for how many decades now? I have always heard a difference with good cables. But when you get to a certain point, you just need to listen to music and stop spending money. Thanks for the great vid.
Listening on Sennheiser 650, I couldn't tell any notable difference between them. They're slightly different but definitely not worth the difference in price. Both sound amazing, people are losing their heads. listen to the song, not your equipment. I would love to blind test some of the people in the comments section
Being OCD too, over all attributes the silver takes it, and you know it - with your system and in general. People talk about the higher end of the spectrum, I personally enjoy the unfiltered very low end of the spectrum one gets with silver also. I've thought about fatigue with silver when first making these changes, but with time, that fades and isn't a consideration. I think there is a misconception or confusion between warmth and full spectrum delivery, I'm a silver convert myself.
For me the best is the Monocrystal silver cables . I have 2 Siltech 35 th anniversary edition ( power & rca ).The other cables I have 1 Siltech classic legend 380 speakers , 1 Siltech classic anniversary SPX-800 power cable & Siltech Berlin power cable . The sound is more natural ,3 d & more real than copper ❤
Interesting differences Silver more upper registers rather more sizzle and zing, that throws off the balance across the spectrum. Begins to sound mp3’ish. Room or recording diffs must be at play… Differences are as you say but somehow sounds artificial rather than smooth as was the copper. Hard comp on YT…
Nice, glad I caught this vid. There really isn’t much of a contest for me. I like the silver more. The silver let’s the music really come alive, especially in overall detail, cleaner low end, more punch, more natural mids and nice airy highs. I honestly wish I couldn’t hear any difference whatsoever for obvious reasons. Thanks, Mikey.
Only difference I could hear, maybe, was in the bass. Maybe!!! So not enough where I would go for the extra cost. Of course that’s just me. I am a believer that a good grade of copper, a good gage like 12, and good connectors and that’s all you need. I always wonder about the people out there that sell silver cables but the gage is so much smaller than decent copper cables that you loose any small advantage you might have from the higher conductivity of silver. Pretty much cable agnostic.
That and the size of the sound stage are dead giveaways when it comes to audio quality, because they can't be easily faked with tuning. Bass volume, yes, but not perceived depth.
the silver sounded a little thin and did not have the emotional presentation that the copper had the silver just seemed a little faster...i prefered the copper with the emotion and warmth.
Not true to me .. you're speaking of analytical sound and all silver is not created equal... The important part is connecting to the music however you do.. Silver helps me connect better... but its different for everyone..
I disagree. While not all silver is lifeless and analytical, it is always leaner than a well made copper cable. It doesn’t do brass instruments that well either. Also depends if you’re using tubes. The drawbacks of silver is curtailed by tubes imo.
I am one of the extremely lucky ones. I do not hear ANY difference whatoever That qualifies me to buy inexpensive cables., thank you very much Sir, You just saved me a lot of money. Have a nice day
@@brugj03 That must be it! I had not noticed before that I am completely deaf (neither has my wife ) Thank you so much for pointing this out to me. Guess I have to throw out my stereo and records.I am going to enjoy the sound of silence Have a nice day !
Lets be fair about this. When you put a pair of cables in your system, you never know what's going to happen. The difference can big, small or nothing. If there is a difference, its not always better. And that's just the way it goes. There's nothing wrong with you if you can't hear a difference and you're being honest about it. If you don't hear a difference that's worth paying for, you should never buy the cables. As I'm typing this, I'm looking at a pair of speaker cables in my system that cost about $4000 for an 8 ft pair. Single run, not biwire. I'm by no means a cable denier. But I'm not a fool either. (I really am, but not in this case.). Before I bought the cables, I did a thorough evaluation by using them in my system. I made sure I knew what I was getting before I made the purchase. I get the fact that most of us can easily hear the difference between silver and copper. But putting someone down because they don't hear the same thing is very damaging. "You must be deaf then. No other conclusion is possible. Enjoy the silence." That's a jackass thing to say. Maybe he doesn't have the listening experience most of us have. Maybe listening to a youtube video at about 128kbps isn't enough to bring out the differences. Maybe he's listening on his cell phone. The point is there are plenty of legitimate reasons besides him being deaf. Here's what happens. Statements like this can either turn a person off altogether, or it can push them into making a purchase before they're ready. And when that happens, you have yet another person yelling snake oil. No one starts out at a high level. It takes all of us time to build up our knowledge and listening experience. It doesn't happen overnight, and anyone who says otherwise, is lying.
Silver sounded like they were in the room. Drums sounded insane
The copper sounds more muted, like a recording. The silver sounds more live. Had to go back and verify it wasn’t just a different take after a 2nd listen. Definitely a difference. I Ike both.
To me personally, the silver sounds better. If I was to describe it, I would say the copper sounds two dimensional, and the silver sounds 3 dimensional. I'm currently using Audioquest K2 speaker cables (Which are silver), and handmade pure silver XLR between my pre and power, but I've heard silver foil for speaker cables at least, are next level, and not having heard any til now, was somewhat unsure, and after hearing this, will definitely consider upgrading to foil in the future. Thanks for the vid !!!
What speakers Sto arrivando! Playing?
I heard it, what are these copper and silver foil wires gauges be comparable to?
The silver has more clarity, resolution and extension especially in the high notes. The biggest difference which some may prefer is the weight of the hammer on the key feels more full body which extends through the musical instrument for example here in the body of the piano that is on the copper however it’s a trade off. You get it in the silver but not with the same level of weight and resonance through the piano. You do however get it in a tighter package with the silver. Technically audibly I’d pick the Silver on a system like this it shows more of the capability of the entire system over the copper. Comes through very clearly on UA-cam excellent job with the video thanks for sharing.
Did you change speaker cables or power cords (or both)?
Remember- not all copper is the same, not all silver is the same. Metallurgical properties vary.... its hard to navigate through this in our current supply chain situation.
That's true, but I think the purpose of the test is just to show someone that there is an audible difference between the 2 metals. When I do copper/silver comparisons, I make sure both cables are made by the same company, and the construction is identical. The only difference is the type of metal, but everything else is exactly the same so that any differences can't be due to some other factor.
Hey Mike. Sometimes I also switch with speaker cables. Both, copper, silver, carbon, gold, or combined. I can hear the difference between dynamica or height, mid-low etc..... I think they all have something special. Greetings from the Netherlands Limburg Maastricht and of course continue. And as you know, coffee beans coffee hhmm. SSEEYYAAA Brother.....
✌🏾🌍😘💯%☕️👈🏿😎
to me the bass was clearer and the overall presentation was less bright with the silver cables ( which could be described as more natural i suppose).
this was a nice comparison I liked the silver for all the reasons you mentioned
You should do more of these vids really good
I set up a blind test with a few of my friends to listen for audible differences between copper and silver. I'll share how I set the equipment up so that any differences heard has to be from the cables, and nothing else.
The first thing I did was pick the cables. I chose a 1 meter pair of Audioquest Cheetah and Panther. I picked these 2 cables specifically because if you look at the design, they're absolutely identical in construction. The only difference between the 2 is the metal used for the conductors. I plugged both pairs of cables into an old Arcam 33 cd player I had laying around. I used this specific player because it has 2 identical sets of single ended outputs. Each pair of cables got their own channel on a preamp. When a CD is playing, all you have to do is switch channels using the remote. And yes, I swapped positions to make sure there was no variance in the CD player or preamp.
I'm sharing this because in most cable A/B tests I've seen, they never quite isolate everything completely. So the difference heard is probably the cables, but not 100%. I can't find fault with this setup, but if anyone can, let me know so I can make changes for my testing in the future.
Wow, and smoother.
Imho there is no clear winner here. Of course i appreciate what silver make - better clarity, more extendet higs, more dynamic bas - more beeing there feeling. But for my ears my undertansing of sound cooper have more weight, intruments have more weight, more mass. And thats why i prefer cooper. Peace 🙏
I prefer the copper ...a lot , even if we hear more resolving sound or resolution, but a bit crispy and we loose weight on the notes . I m hearing with the Abyss TC headphone and a linear amplifier as it is in live , thanks for the comparison and your work !
Same, I only had cheap silver coated interconnects in the past, but this gave me the same impression of long term unbearable sheen from the mid-highs on... perhaps in person in the right room at the right distance it would be different. I had a similar experience with gold lion 6922 tubes, a wow sense of realism from the exagerated detail that took them out of the system in very short time.
Yup... not even a comparison... hands down, copper
A suggestion would be , instead of saying which cable is which maybe you could say cable 1 and 2 ? i am enjoying my afternoon coffee now and couldn't hear a difference, amazing system as usual though.
When are we getting an update on the new subs you're building, i got bit by the diy bug when the pandemic started so it is an extremely interesting topic to me.
Keep the great content coming!
You make a reasonable point, but it really doesn't matter because if you can't hear the difference in a sighted listening test, you won't hear anything in a blind test. You use a blind test to make sure what you're hearing isn't biased in some way.
@@AT-wl9yq Oh i know, i am just making that suggestion because some people will say it is the only way to compare stuff like this and all that, good way to avoid attacks like those before they even happen if you ask me.
@@andr192 Those people are going to attack no matter what you say. If those guys (I call them audio junk science review people. I don't know why, but the term just pops into my head for some reason.) wanted the truth, its easy enough to be had. To prove there's an audible difference between cables is not hard to do. We've all done it many times over. For the type of people you're referring to, this has nothing to do with cables, or anything audio related. Its about the argument, not the facts.
Consider this. I've been listening to these people screaming blind testing and measurements for decades. And not different people, the same people. In all these years, I've asked every one of them the same 2 questions. 1. Can you refer me to any well done blind test on any type of audio gear for any reason? Not one time have I ever been given an answer, so that means they're lying every time they claim there's been test done. 2. What would you like to see measured, and why? Again, so response. So, when the measurement freaks can't tell you what they would like to see measured after they claim measurements are everything, isn't a good sign. How could they not have a response?
For some reason, the concept of high end audio offends some people to the core. They literally hate it, and devote time out of their lives to pursue their hate. Whatever the underlying cause for this hatred is, it has nothing to do with audio equipment.
Very happy after changing my tops to silver wire. Now I think I have to have them on my woofer section as well!
Good choice!
Are you selling the silver speaker cables? Any info on the internet?
It will cost too much
Hi Mike y, have you investigated the Mel o m100 streamer? I’m thinking of seeing if it can get rips from my Naim 2Tb system.
I have not my friend, I'm sorry !!
I prefer the copper much realistic , silver does some V eq to the sound imo
Mike, IMO your system is richer and more pleasant with copper. The copper provides (your system again) a fuller sound; the silver to me sounds too thin. My system (SET tubes w/Aventgarde horns) sounds best with a combination cable (Synergistic Research SRX). It seems this choice is system dependent; possibly room dependent too. BTW, love your channel. Peace.
Thanks for the feedback DC. 😀
yes, by a mile... silver sucks
@@nomad7734 No Jim, silver plated copper sucks.
Same here. To me it sounded fuller with the copper wire. I wanted to say the silver but it just sounded too thin to me. It could be the due to UA-cam compression at this end. Take it with a grain of salt. Loved this comparison, keep it up.
I use 99% pure copper 2.5mm solid copper for speakers (tightness , definition, etc / certified industrial grade) and 0.5mm pure silver solid (bought industrial and certified purity) for balanced interconnects and love the combination. YOu should try the comparison of cables with feminine voices to see if there is apronounced sibilance or the typical "shh" effect on the "S" letter.
The Pure Silver Cables sounded absolutely amazing it is audibly brighter and silver tends to sound livelier while offering more clarity and harmonic richness.
Yes, the key is high purity for the silver
Great to see that there are more people responding positively to Pure Silver Wired Cables. Pure Silver is superior to Pure Copper every time.
Rather than tell us that the difference is in "upper mids", it would be easier on us to tell us to focus on the effect on specific instruments, like separateness and punch of the percussion instruments Once I focused on that, it became more apparent. Well done.
Yes Mikey I've just changed my whole loom over to silver in regards to interconnects. I can hear quite a big difference in the way the cable performs. The midrange and Upper frequency extension is definitely something that has improved in the presentation I'm hearing in my rig. The speed has improved I could hear that in your presentation as well. In my set up I noticed when using silver I could really hear right into the music more clearly then what I could with copper.
There ya go Shane !
Btw I’ve heard from future friends that Gold Pressed Latinum serves as the best possible conductor at audio frequencies.
Sweet.... Do it !
Difference = Different...I'm happy & satisfied with my "any old cables".
I did the same test with silver and cooper interconnects. Silver is going to be brighter and sharper than cooper not just for speaker wires. My ear was bleeding with silver so it depends on the overall equipments used to achieve what you want. I can be ear fatiguing.
Depends on the silver quality. The more pure, the smoother it is. My silver designs are smoother than my copper designs
Nice!
So 4 awg twisted silver from Amazon at $2.49/LF would make a difference over my 12 awg OF copper?
LOL, Dork, there is no such thing...
Just like the difference between Jantzen Silver-Z and Jantzen Alumen caps. Silver is bright and wimpy. Copper is more full-bodied, darker and warmer. Goes to show why regular copper cables usually sounds just fine.
No way to categorize all silver as wimpy. Ill beat your ass into submission with my silver cables versus whatever Copper you have ... OHNO included
I have a pair of old Realistic two way speakers hooked up to a old Pioneer integrated amp that is awesome but I cannot hear any difference from these low fi speakers ..
Hello , what about the difference between copper and silver interconects - the same result ?
Yes.
yes sir and even more pronounced
Your panels look almost like bass traps. Huge!
On the Silver the Piano notes sounded like they were dancing.
Totally. ;-)
Silver pairs good with this type of speaker, because the highs nether get sharp or harsh.
Can't believe no one mentioned: Silver is PURER sounding than copper. Silver is the best conductor of electricity, and is the Fillet Mignon of metals. Some like gold plated silver, but both are better than copper. But lumping all silver cables together under the same blanket, and doing the same with copper cables and then making absolutistic statements about each versus each other. Wait a minute! That's crazy. Each silver cable is different and so is each copper cable. There is particularly relevant things involved in their manufacture and how each company does things is different. The way the metal is drawn, the way it is cooled. How many strands of wire, how thick the strands are, how well isolated the strands are from each other, how they are wound, what material the cable sheathing is made of. There are papers on skin effect, which is influenced by what material the cable are wrapped in, and then there are the connectors at the ends of the cable. What are they made of and how are they made, and what care was taken? Making blanket statements about all these variables is ridiculous. Each cable is different and sounds different. Sometimes so different it is hard to believe. You wouldn't put all speakers under the same blanket and pretend they are all the same The best copper cables are worlds better than the worst silver cables. The best silver cables would outperform the best copper cables if everything is done just right. But often it isn't. You really have to know what you're doing working with silver.
Someone mentioned about the possibility of combining silver and copper in a cable. It's been done. One example is Kimber Silver Streak interconnect. The positive wires are silver and the negative wires are copper. It must be a popular cable. It's been in the Kimber line since around 1990. It is forward sounding and does not emphasize depth. It makes many copper cables sound grainy, distorted and harsh, especially in the highs. There are better cables at higher prices including Kimber Select and cables from some other companies.
Ahh, I am comparing two EXACT build cables... One is copper one is silver.. listen to the difference if you like... or not... ;-)
@@OCDHIFiGuy Silver and copper require many different steps from melting the metal to stranding. At least a dozen different steps in between. At best you are comparing 1 silver cable using what processes and care whoever manufactured it used, vs. 1 copper cable made with what processes they used from melting the metal to finished product, even if it was the same company. Just so your readers understand your are not pitting "silver" and "copper" against each other. You are pitting 1 particular silver cable in the world against 1 particular copper cable in the world, no matter who made it or how similar it was constructed.
I have a mid fi system using silver flat cable from a chinese company Xangsane and it def sounds better than my previous Van Den Hul round copper cables that costs 4X more. My system is around 9k total.
But who wants to support the imperialist China ? They are about to steal Taiwan..
Do you use single or bi wiring?
Depends on the speaker
I’m a copper guy. Using the 64 audio TIA FOURTE
My favorite sound clip of yours yet, Mike. How many feet is the mic away from the speakers?
I‘d say „matter of taste“ in this comparison. Silver a bit more lively (listened via iPad).
Which silver foil do you used?
99.997% purity, made for my company
They should make cables with copper and silver mix. There's an idea. Connect both copper and silver cables to the binding posts at the same time. Best of both worlds
That can cause phase issues as the different metals have different transfer rates,however small.
they already do. Belden is one of them
@@dloh007 Thanks for the info, David
Furutech uses a silver/copper alloy in their cables.
The dynamics sounded better with the copper. The silver cable sounded smoother.
Take your pick.
Thank you, your comparison perfectly hits my buttons: By random just last week I moved from copper to silver in some relevant areas of my system with absolutely identical results. I was not prepared for it and I also feel sad that I did not do it years before.
Where the difference to copper is most prominent is before the phono stage, where the low MC signal is very fragile. But of course everywhere else as well. I am not using these ribbon cables but regular solid core in cotton/silk.
Big thumb up!
What's the price differential between them?
Silver cables are double the cost of copper... the desparity is FAR more between them if buying the metal itself.
Can't say I manage (in attempt) to hear the difference. My mind wanted to select silver as " better clarity and air" cable, but playback in copper to the same seconds of music (yep, I divide into section of 10 seconds listening), my ear could not tell the difference, and certainly not able to in blind test. Having said, I'm listening thru iem, maybe I will catch the difference thru sr1a, which I use 5N silver digital cable between DDC to DAC, the rest of interconnect in 6N copper
it's human nature that the more one tries to concentrate of hearing something specific, the more illusive it becomes. it's just how the mind processes sound , accuracy over illusion was not an evolutionary advantage, whereas direction , distance and movement, the things that avoid predation, are very accurate.
double blind tests can be utilized to avoid the mind's expectation bias during listening . No wire has ever passed such a test, despite the obvious sales advantage of demonstrable proof .
unfortunately your hearing isn't so good lol. It was so easy to tell the difference for me and i lost a lot of hearing from too many concerts
I’ve just done 6 comparisons ... have to take your word that #1 is Copper and #2 is Silver ... that said I think there was maybe 15% difference (improvement) in clarity with the Copper over Silver. It’s hard to understand why the sound should be different just because Silver is about 5% more electrically conductive, I’d have to defer to an audio engineer what that could be so. In all 6 comparisons I did, the music sounded more pleasurable with the Copper, particularly with clarity and depth. So there you go.
Glad you enjoyed it !
What are the amps ?
good question !!
Copper for me, full thicker sound
Silver for clarity..but a bit thin
Both Verrastar speaker cables sound great. The difference with the Silver foil was exactly as you described.
Copper ❤️👍
WITHOUT any doubt the silver is more focused, controlled and sweeter sounding. What mike did you use, because your system was right here in my place? Tuanis.
copper won for me thanx for sharing
Thanks Smoky !
Is the Cu/copper 6N ? The Cu is warmer (meaning masking. I don't like it) & 2 D sound. I prefer Ag/ silver one. It's more transparent, soundstage, better tone & more revealing. It's as if listening to live music (I mean they playing in front of you). I've ever bought some meters of pure Ag cables in some diameters from an Ag company. It's cheap (of course the value is higher than Cu). The problem is when it's in finish product, eg. cables, the mark up price is way too much because people think, "Wow ! Silver !).
I've never heard gold plated cable. A friend who owns it (2 m headphone cable) said the it's warmer. I told him I don't like it. It's masking & manipulating.
I myself is a DIY electronic assembler. Some audiophile gears (amps, pre-amps, DAC) using Ag fir internal wiring. For a short distance, in my opinion, we can't hear the difference. They use it for fancy only. However, if it's longer distance, say more than 1 meter, yes it has sound different. Google "What's the best electrical conductor". Result: 1. Ag, 2. Cu then 3. Au (gold).
Did you do this because of my comment? I only wonder because on your dancing video about having fun with your Hi-Fi I made a comment jokingly of course about how I don't have fun with my Hi-Fi I spend all my time obsessing over how much silver is in my XLR cables.
Anyway if you did I think it's kind of funny. What I noticed more than anything regarding your experiment here is I better sense of rhythmic drive with the silver. Like with the copper I couldn't really care less about what was playing but as soon as the video came up with silver I started really focusing on it and actually enjoying it better. You see I'm big into tone and prat so I'm kind of like art Dudley in that way, I could care less about sound staging because if you really look at it sounds staging is just an aural illusion. Whereas tone is real and rhythm and timing is real.
I’m shocked, but I was able to hear the difference through my phone’s speakers. I’m sure in person it’s much more noticeable. It was similar to the first time I heard an isolated bookshelf speaker vs no isolation.
I would believe better this if you did blind comparisons.
You rock bro its tribesmen Pete cheers
Rock on Pete !
No difference. I would suspect the voltage between the 2 cables is negligible.
It should be a blind test -10 times greater than 80% accuracy .
Video the procedure to get authenticity
No difference here either. A better description of the wires (gauge etc.) would help in determining what wires we are actually listening to. In that we are all listening over different devices makes this whole exercise pointless.
maybe its just the remote listening or me but the top end always sounds more pronounced than it should be, the cymbals, they are just as loud or louder than the piano. To me the cymbals should be about 10-20% more reserved.
Next time dont tell us which is which. lol
Todays song suggestion-
Artist- Soundgarden
Song- 4th of July
My wife could hear the difference from the kitchen, unfortunately she prefers Gold
Lol. $1M speaker cables
@@OCDHIFiGuy Nice work and apologies for being a smart ass, I'm into making cables myself, a couple of whisky's down, I just couldn't resist, stay cool bro.
I had to laugh because the difference between the two is so plain and so clear in this video (so much more in real life). You are correct, if a person can’t hear a difference then they should thank their lucky stars, move on and enjoy music through whatever system they have.
According to many shitty youtube channels you are mistaken because you cant possibly hear a difference.
Imagine the arrogance and backwardness of that.
I can tell a difference in your presentation..... I hear better extension on the mids and also feel a bit cooler feel on the silver, this brings out the detail of strings and also the copper gives a thicker bass response, but at a loss of how the instrument really sounds. The best cable reproduces the music to how it was originally intended to sound ! .......I am a true believer in cables and can tell the difference between every single Iem I own and the sound of every cable I own.....
My problem with these 'youtube' demonstrations of sound differences is how much the differences are totally lost starting at the microphone picking up the sound in the hifi room all the way to my best headphones. It's sort of futile and really ends up just being someone (no offense to Mikey at all) telling what I should be hearing, and then even going so far perhaps unwittingly insulting me telling me that I don't have sophisticated hearing ability. I never respect any salesman and there are lots of them who use insults to push someone into buying their products.
On my end of it the king has no clothes, but if I were i the room it might be a whole different story. That said I've never purchased one product in my life due to a salesman pulling the bullying tactic out of his or her (sorry folks there are only two genders) tool box and I've seen it a lot (I know what's in the toolbox) I don't care what they're selling, they all try it if being the 'nice guy' isn't closing a sale. I'm not about to begin now.
One last thing. I don't want to detract from the possibility of the 'placebo effect'. It's very real in medicine and in other areas of perception. If a person believes they hear a difference then they will. Of course it won't hold up in a double blind test at all because it works on belief. So all the fancy cables, and other paraphernalia that the industry thrives on works on the people who actually believe it. I say to those people, enjoy, and stay away from the graphs and the scientific study , measurements etc which will only detract from your faith.
One last point. If I were doing the test and I wanted to get the most honest results from my youtube listeners, I would tell them what kinds of cables are being compared but I would NOT tell them which cables are being used during each sampling of music, only that I changed them. I won't bring up the problem that has happened in the past regarding some hifi salesmen bringing people to their hifi studios and running a comparison between some subtle component differences and doing something 'else' to the system to alter the quality of the sound to achieve the desired response from the listeners. It's been proposed that Danny at GR research does this (for example).
There's not a lot of integrity in the world of sales, it's the nature of the beast. When money is at stake, integrity will often lose out. Nothing to be done about that.
@Fred Flintstone.... yep you're toast. The industry has lost you completely where you don't even RESPECT sellers. That's effed up. Well I stand to change that and my numbers show that the people who do trust others find me. You're right however. Only 2 genders and Integrity has shit the bed. But eff that nonsense, it's unacceptable to me and I refuse to participate in lack of integrity.k
The rebuild starts with each one of us.
@@OCDHIFiGuy I can respect a seller but that's up to them, not me. I do have a brain and can tell if they're trying to bamboozle me or not. If they try to bamboozle me which is really a lack of respect for me in order to manipulate me, then they get no RESPECT. If they don't, they have my respect.
Another tactic that people try to use to shift the focus away from themselves is to gaslight the other person.
That doesn't work around me either. I grew up with narcissists and had relationships with narcissists later in life as well, and I know those tactics.
Sellers of pretty much any kinds of wares doing it for a living have a box of tools as I mentioned and they are ready to use whichever one works. Insulting is one of the tools.. I've had salespersons end up telling me that I'm not worthy of their product when all else failed for them. Yes, they were working on my ego. This is what sales people will do.
So again I cannot be gaslighted. I know who I am, what I'm saying, and who the manipulator in a dialog is. 😉😉
@@fredflintstone8048 dang. That sounds pretty heavy. I don't usually give a hoot about buying anything enough to simply just walk away from a manipulator. Or ignore them. This goes beyond selling products to the Media, Doctors, Lawyers, Corporations... we are even getting manipulated by our cel phones these days.. it's rampant. The key is to think for oneself and be firm in our convictions. For instance, if you don't like the cable proposition, don't buy them. Walk away. ;-) No big deal... ;-)
@@OCDHIFiGuy Yes, I agree. My point is that this happens with most people in the world when how they make their living is involved. The salesman is the most obvious about it, but it applies to everyone as you stated when the money is connected to the task. Tell me what you do for a living and I can predict your politics, your agenda, etc.
The motivation for making money is behind the narrative they promote and it's rarely honest. We live in a world full of lies. However that doesn't make it OK or a good thing and yes, I always do my own homework and decide what I'm going to buy. I don't let the seller decide for me although most would like to.
I do have to snicker a little bit about foil type speaker cables. If they are flat wide runs of foils separated by layers of insulation, but in close proximity which appears to be how they're made, what you have there is a capacitor. Granted, not a large enough amount of capacitance (I would have to measure it), for the Capacitive reactance (XC) to present much impedance to frequencies in the audio range to notice, but an impedance never the less. If they did anything at all to the circuit they would shunt higher frequencies, but they would only really be inclined to do this in the radio frequency spectrum.
But I won't debate cables with you. I've done my own homework. I don't care about making youtube videos but there are some very good hifi engineers who do that get into the topic of cables. KissAnalog is a good channel for it, and there are some others. You know I already addressed the placebo effect and that I do have respect for the effect but it's based on belief and beliefs do impact a person's perception so I can't discount that and I also suggested that people in hifi who actually hold those beliefs to stay away from taking a double blind test. Not only will it make them look silly, it will collapse their faith and I can't say it's a good thing for their psyche. Some people need bubbles to live in to survive this crazy world and I don't mean to pop them even if they are illusions.
In fact if you don't like honest feedback I can join the group of sycophants you have if you like. 😉
@@fredflintstone8048 well I'm about our Civil Rights in this country, so I won't censor you if I don't like what you are saying. I understand your tack, and it's fine. I believe nothing until it's proven to me. Regardless of science or double blind party killers. To me double blind is for strict realists that are honestly not fun people.. I love the dream and I create my own every day. Without fantasy and dreams life is no storybook. It's suffering. Saying you can tell all about a person from thier career choice would be a magic trick in itself. Plus it's a way to stereotype others. Doing this is a way of "story making" and is very much rooted in fantasy and personal bias. I appreciate your attendance and would be happy to converse at some time. I highly doubt you've got me "pegged". Lol. ;-) love to you my brother. Keep on expanding your mind.
The silver has a slight higher pitch that I don't like as much. I didn't notice with the copper. It's very subtle but I prefer the copper. I'm here because I was looking at computers and I was looking for an example of gold plating for audio jacks but I can't find a sound comparison. This was very interesting though.
Skin effect via surface area & conductivity of the metal used for the conductor.
Using silver instead of copper yields an advantage in conductivity.
Using a ribbon style conductor could have significantly more surface area than the outer “skin” surface of a stranded cable and therefore due to the skin effect, those electrons can skate along more happily, less impeded by the confines of a stranded cable.
This being said, there are points of diminishing returns. Surely silver conductors can become cost prohibitive especially in the context of diminishing returns.
@Rik ster It`s not the difference in conductivity that matters, it`s the sound signature.
Simple electric rules do not apply, you need to treat it as an musical instrument where different materials and finish make or brake the sound.
@Rik ster Are you talking to me.
If so, thanks i like your opinion.
Even if it sounds like a broken down record.
Maybe you should go Audio science review, many persons of your liking there.
Btw i came to this channel to be rid of preachings like this that ad nothing of value.
@brugj03, you are correct ... you get it ... No Effing way an Engineer will even admit if it smacks him in the face but does not show up on the Gay scope. @Rik ster... Weve done the comparison in the mastering studio where we can save the waveform of the music... not a test tone, then change cables and lay the second exact SMPTE coded waveform on top and its different... LOL> Sorry Bruh...
Somebody done derned stirred the pot and got those audiophiles as mad as a mule chewing on bumblebees! More analog than analog is our saying!
@@OCDHIFiGuy Thx man. You and i speak the same language.
Have to say that you channel is a rare find, and i`m absolutely delighted with your aproach.
Hi ! Electrical engineer here :)
Lemme just say that the conductivity of Silver @ 20Celcius is -+ 6.29 x10^7 /Ohms meter. On the other hand Copper is -+ 5.95.
Difference of 0.34.
Remember guys that a really nice thing about conductivity is that there is a direct correlation between conductor size and its ability to transmit whatever.
So basically, get 12 AWG copper instead of 14 AWG silver and you will have the same results as far as conductivity.
But anyway it's your money so do as you please !
Who am I to tell you that "hearing" a difference is total bul...t.
Since you already bought Silver wire, one could say that you are perhaps already hearing a Nobel price knock at your door ?
With all due respect, brother, you think you are the only guy that went to Engineering school ? At the very least you must admit the cable companies are far smarter at making money than you are, aren't they ? Yes they are. It's a mass delusion, and everyone is imagining ghosts are real. You are the only guy that "gets it" lol....
@@OCDHIFiGuy There is indeed a certain type of customer that will buy product based on statements and beleifs. Kind of weird to rely on "Crisp" " Mellow" or any other kind of subterfuge to dictate a products quantitative qualities. Of course if I spent north of 10k for cables I'd feel a difference. It's called cognitive bias.
Let me enlight someone with the mindset of one of the greatest companies that mastered the art of creating need for it's customers.
“Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.” ― Steve Jobs.
Which is best Graphene or Silver?
It depends... (the most common answer in hifi that means I don't know)
I hear graphene has 10 X the conductivity of copper. I know from various discussion forums, someone described it as organic tangy sound. If you ever get hold of one, it would be interesting hear from you your findings :)@@OCDHIFiGuy
you guys understand that you listening recording from speaker, after compressed by youtube on your difference audio devices?
Bingo. This video is stupid.
I hooked up silver wire to my Bose cubes
but then the caught on fire 🔥
Copper sounded right. Silver shifted everything upwards, sounded irritating and brighter. Not as natural. Piano sounded fake compared to copper, I have a pretty transparent system. Easy to hear the difference. I can't afford silver, so this is good. Besides, many have been listening to digital MOFI and thinking it was all analog for how many decades now? I have always heard a difference with good cables. But when you get to a certain point, you just need to listen to music and stop spending money. Thanks for the great vid.
For sure. It's also relative to income... ;-)
Yup
Listening on Sennheiser 650, I couldn't tell any notable difference between them. They're slightly different but definitely not worth the difference in price. Both sound amazing, people are losing their heads. listen to the song, not your equipment. I would love to blind test some of the people in the comments section
My ears suck. I work in comstruction around alot of loud machines and tools. I like your setup. Sounds alot better than Michael Fremer's system! Haha
Pneumatic Riveter is the loudest noise on the spectrum. Use ear protection !!
Hey mike….are you changing speaker cables and interconnects or is this just speaker cables .
To me the copper sounded a bit fuller in the lower bass, the silver sounded punchier in the bass & better highs.
Yup... way better
Being OCD too, over all attributes the silver takes it, and you know it - with your system and in general. People talk about the higher end of the spectrum, I personally enjoy the unfiltered very low end of the spectrum one gets with silver also. I've thought about fatigue with silver when first making these changes, but with time, that fades and isn't a consideration. I think there is a misconception or confusion between warmth and full spectrum delivery, I'm a silver convert myself.
For me the best is the Monocrystal silver cables . I have 2 Siltech 35 th anniversary edition ( power & rca ).The other cables I have 1 Siltech classic legend 380 speakers , 1 Siltech classic anniversary SPX-800 power cable & Siltech Berlin power cable . The sound is more natural ,3 d & more real than copper ❤
Great ! How much is retail price on those cables ?
Around 14,000 Euros
Interesting differences Silver more upper registers rather more sizzle and zing, that throws off the balance across the spectrum. Begins to sound mp3’ish. Room or recording diffs must be at play… Differences are as you say but somehow sounds artificial rather than smooth as was the copper. Hard comp on YT…
Silver sounds best to me in this video. Differences are slight but noticeable.
Nice, glad I caught this vid. There really isn’t much of a contest for me. I like the silver more. The silver let’s the music really come alive, especially in overall detail, cleaner low end, more punch, more natural mids and nice airy highs. I honestly wish I couldn’t hear any difference whatsoever for obvious reasons. Thanks, Mikey.
You bet Nick !
Silver sounds lighter and tighter. Like art, what one prefers depends on taste and the system it's in.
True that...
Only difference I could hear, maybe, was in the bass. Maybe!!! So not enough where I would go for the extra cost. Of course that’s just me. I am a believer that a good grade of copper, a good gage like 12, and good connectors and that’s all you need. I always wonder about the people out there that sell silver cables but the gage is so much smaller than decent copper cables that you loose any small advantage you might have from the higher conductivity of silver. Pretty much cable agnostic.
I agree with Mike, the silver sounds better to me too.
I actually heard the difference in bass taughtness more than the top end extension you described. Silver sounds better to me. DT 990 Pro
That and the size of the sound stage are dead giveaways when it comes to audio quality, because they can't be easily faked with tuning. Bass volume, yes, but not perceived depth.
I like the silver it has more openness and transparency and tighter and detail
the silver sounded a little thin and did not have the emotional presentation that the copper had the silver just seemed a little faster...i prefered the copper with the emotion and warmth.
There you go !
My choice - audioquest solid silver wire (PSS wire) superb sound forever!
High quality solid silver is best IMHO
Grazie per il video , preferisco argento
My 1" laptop speakers are so revealing I can tell silver is the way to go.
No difference in sound, perfect
Be glad you can't hear it...
I hear less smearing but not sure if tonally the synergy is there for silver...
For me it's quite simple, silver is about letting your head rule your heart whereas copper really pulls your heart strings!
Not true to me .. you're speaking of analytical sound and all silver is not created equal... The important part is connecting to the music however you do.. Silver helps me connect better... but its different for everyone..
I disagree. While not all silver is lifeless and analytical, it is always leaner than a well made copper cable. It doesn’t do brass instruments that well either. Also depends if you’re using tubes. The drawbacks of silver is curtailed by tubes imo.
Wow silver didn't know it can be like that
I am one of the extremely lucky ones. I do not hear ANY difference whatoever That qualifies me to buy inexpensive cables., thank you very much Sir, You just saved me a lot of money.
Have a nice day
You must be deaf then. No other conclusion is possible.
Enjoy the silence.
@@brugj03 That must be it! I had not noticed before that I am completely deaf
(neither has my wife ) Thank you so much for pointing this out to me. Guess I have to throw out my stereo and records.I am going to enjoy the sound of silence Have a nice day !
@@alexandervaneijken7741 Thx. Glad to be of service.
Lets be fair about this. When you put a pair of cables in your system, you never know what's going to happen. The difference can big, small or nothing. If there is a difference, its not always better. And that's just the way it goes. There's nothing wrong with you if you can't hear a difference and you're being honest about it. If you don't hear a difference that's worth paying for, you should never buy the cables. As I'm typing this, I'm looking at a pair of speaker cables in my system that cost about $4000 for an 8 ft pair. Single run, not biwire. I'm by no means a cable denier. But I'm not a fool either. (I really am, but not in this case.). Before I bought the cables, I did a thorough evaluation by using them in my system. I made sure I knew what I was getting before I made the purchase.
I get the fact that most of us can easily hear the difference between silver and copper. But putting someone down because they don't hear the same thing is very damaging.
"You must be deaf then. No other conclusion is possible.
Enjoy the silence."
That's a jackass thing to say. Maybe he doesn't have the listening experience most of us have. Maybe listening to a youtube video at about 128kbps isn't enough to bring out the differences. Maybe he's listening on his cell phone. The point is there are plenty of legitimate reasons besides him being deaf.
Here's what happens. Statements like this can either turn a person off altogether, or it can push them into making a purchase before they're ready. And when that happens, you have yet another person yelling snake oil.
No one starts out at a high level. It takes all of us time to build up our knowledge and listening experience. It doesn't happen overnight, and anyone who says otherwise, is lying.
@@brugj03 which corks do you prefer with your wine?
No audible difference. What a surprise.
You are a very lucky person... stay where you are and Audio will cost you little to nothing...
audioquest silver speaker cables are huge different!!!not the flat designed nordost.
Wow im stunned i can actually hear the difference … gonna need to rethink some things…
Rock on Tyler !