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Thread: Silver cables-myth or fact?

  1. #11
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

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    I'm Geoff.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Audio Al View Post
    will I be silenced by the mob
    Could be.

    You can't measure what you hear or how you hear it (yet).
    It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!

  2. #12
    Join Date: Oct 2008

    Location: Aughton, Ormskirk

    Posts: 2,848
    I'm Jerry.

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    Putting aside the cable debate (not wanted by me) Could the problem be a slight impedance mismatch or me spending a couple of years listening to a sound that exaggerated HF? If its the latter I have to say I enjoyed it!
    Jerry
    Hifi: IPL transmission line floorstanding speakers, Squeezebox Touch, Denafrips Ares 11 DAC, DCB1 Pre-amplifier, Croft Series 7 power amp.
    Custom Hifi cables HA10SE headphone amplifier and Hifiman HE-400 headphones.
    AV system: LG 55B7, Denon AVR -x2300w receiver, Quad 12L (front) 11c Centre and 11L rear . Velodyne DD15 subwoofer.

  3. #13
    Hibster_2000 Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bigman80 View Post
    I agree with no one on this subject it seems.

    I have also done masses of experiments with cables. All the lovely types Mark has mentioned and possibly a couple he hasn't.

    Truth is, I never kept a Silver cable of any kind in my system. Every time I went back to copper.

    The copper cables always sounded more real, more expressive and dramatic. Silver, whilst I agree maybe has the edge I. The HFs, never convinced me that I was hearing a wooden bodied instrument, or the cymbals would be overly shiny. Vocals lacked volume or mass to be more precise and generally, just felt lifeless. Not to be confused with lack of dynamism. I mean, nothing ever sounded Alive or human or like organic matter!!!

    I'm being quite general here and throwing a blanket over a huge topic of debate but I'm condensing more cable comparisons than hot dinners.

    There are certain applications where silver works and Jim will tell you that he felt the need to have silver plated cables in his croft amps for a long time, to get them to sing.

    There are systems that possibly need a bit of zing but mine doesn't, IMO.
    Out of interest, why do you use silver solder in the cables you make? Surely, a touch of silver at the connection will make very little difference in an all copper construction? Also, the plugs are silver plated? So does a bit of silver help?

  4. #14
    Join Date: Feb 2008

    Location: Down South

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    I'm Neal.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Covenant View Post
    I have recently changed my preamp from a BTE stepped attenuator silver wired internally to a much more expensive DCB1 wired with copper. I have noticed a slight loss of high frequency, especially cymbals.
    Some say silver cables exaggerate high frequencies. Is the problem caused by the cables or could it be an impedance mismatch? My old preamp was built to suit the amp.
    Or it could be the BTE is simply a better preamp. Sometimes more expensive does not = better
    Listening in a Foo free Zone...

    Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

  5. #15
    Bigman80 Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hibster_2000 View Post
    Out of interest, why do you use silver solder in the cables you make? Surely, a touch of silver at the connection will make very little difference in an all copper construction? Also, the plugs are silver plated? So does a bit of silver help?
    The silver solder was selected at a time when I just wanted to make the best cable I could, out of the best materials I could afford.

    I didn't have any other reason than I had read repeatedly that silver solder was the best. I made the first set using 60/40 and KLE gold plated Bullet plugs. I then found the Silver plated Copper Harmony KLE plugs and decided to try them. As the plug was silver plated, I decided to use silver solder and try and make that joint an extension of the pin, by using a similar solder material. I don't think thats quite possible but I didn't know that at the time.

    The result was a cable that sounded less heavy and delivered more air and space to the performance. Better nuances and micro/macro detail. Again this is a subjective opinion.

    I tried the KLE's with 60/40 solder on another pair and didn't feel they were as good, although I am open to that being psychological.

    I then tried Pure Silver RCA plugs and the air and space improved again.

    Each time I added a bit more silver in that are, I found the improvements were obvious but when I removed the copper cable and replaced it with Silver, I lost the all the things I enjoyed about it an yes, I freely admit that where HF is concerned, Silver is usually the way to go but you can have the best of both if you fid the right plug and cable combo.

    I have now tried my cable with almost every plug on the market, thanks to the special requests of many customers. The cables sounded different with most of them.

    I still prefer the KLE Absolute Harmony and the KLE Copper Harmony and Silver solder combination to any other plug and solder combination I have tried. From a subjective sound perspective.

  6. #16
    Bigman80 Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by Covenant View Post
    Putting aside the cable debate (not wanted by me) Could the problem be a slight impedance mismatch or me spending a couple of years listening to a sound that exaggerated HF? If its the latter I have to say I enjoyed it!
    All I can tell you is that I used a Goldpoint Passive Preamp for a couple of months. It was pimped out with Zfoil resistors, silver wire etc.

    I just couldn't have lived with it on a full time basis. It could be that the combination of Passive Pre and Power is complimenting each other and the DCB1 isn't. As for an impedance Mismatch, only the sound of one amplifier wasn't improved by the DCB1, that was Rextons Sondex.

    I just cant see it being a mismatch with the croft. I have tried a very similar amplifier and had no issues.

    Could just be that you prefer the original combination.

  7. #17
    Join Date: Feb 2008

    Location: Down South

    Posts: 2,413
    I'm Neal.

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    It’s silver LOADED solder. Silver solder is something quite different. At 2~4% silver content it’s very unlikely that it makes any perceived difference to sound quality however it does wet the joint better and flows better making for a better joint especially if you don’t have ninja soldering skills.
    Listening in a Foo free Zone...

    Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

  8. #18
    Bigman80 Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by NRG View Post
    It’s silver LOADED solder. Silver solder is something quite different. At 2~4% silver content it’s very unlikely that it makes any perceived difference to sound quality however it does wet the joint better and flows better making for a better joint especially if you don’t have ninja soldering skills.
    Yes, I know this

    Hence the 9% silver content marking on the label lol

  9. #19
    Hibster_2000 Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bigman80 View Post
    The silver solder was selected at a time when I just wanted to make the best cable I could, out of the best materials I could afford.

    I didn't have any other reason than I had read repeatedly that silver solder was the best. I made the first set using 60/40 and KLE gold plated Bullet plugs. I then found the Silver plated Copper Harmony KLE plugs and decided to try them. As the plug was silver plated, I decided to use silver solder and try and make that joint an extension of the pin, by using a similar solder material. I don't think thats quite possible but I didn't know that at the time.

    The result was a cable that sounded less heavy and delivered more air and space to the performance. Better nuances and micro/macro detail. Again this is a subjective opinion.

    I tried the KLE's with 60/40 solder on another pair and didn't feel they were as good, although I am open to that being psychological.

    I then tried Pure Silver RCA plugs and the air and space improved again.

    Each time I added a bit more silver in that are, I found the improvements were obvious but when I removed the copper cable and replaced it with Silver, I lost the all the things I enjoyed about it an yes, I freely admit that where HF is concerned, Silver is usually the way to go but you can have the best of both if you fid the right plug and cable combo.

    I have now tried my cable with almost every plug on the market, thanks to the special requests of many customers. The cables sounded different with most of them.

    I still prefer the KLE Absolute Harmony and the KLE Copper Harmony and Silver solder combination to any other plug and solder combination I have tried. From a subjective sound perspective.
    So what we need is an OCC silver/copper hybrid cable?

  10. #20
    Bigman80 Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hibster_2000 View Post
    So what we need is an OCC silver/copper hybrid cable?
    If only it were that simple.

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