Copper v. Silver IC sound

I know I will take some heat for this, but every time I introduced a silver cable or a set of silver cables in my system, I hear what I would characterize as distortion. I have a very wide bandwidth system and do not feel silver is more extended. It tends to show more as a harshness and I prefer copper. As far as transparency, I have to disagree again. I find most copper cables that I have heard to be more natural, transparent, holographic and truly more extended. I would not necessarily include the "extension" with copper cables that utilize network boxes.

Silver cables benefit SET's that generally do not have extension by adding something that is not there, the appearance of highs.

On another note, I think mixing and matching cables may be a mistake. If one uses a cable as a "tuning" device, the problem in the system is never solved, only covered up. I have attempted to mix and match and it never seems as good as a complete system wide use of a manufacturers product. I have introduced one cable for example, between a DAC and preamp and it hurt the system terribly until I replaced the cables between the preamp and amplifier. Only then did I hear the true comparisons.

Someone who has done extensive testing on the subject of copper vs. silver is Jennifer Crock of Jena Labs. You can contact her through her website, www.jenalabs.com. You can also call her and you should be able to find her number on the website.

Good Luck.

I am not going to verbally flame anyone, but I also have what some would consider to be a highly resolving system and have found the opposite of Jtinn with good silver wire.

If one uses silver wire of inappropriate quality, I would generally prefer the copper. The other disclaimer is that I am into tubed gear, which may make a difference over cable choices used with solid state.

When you get to the cost - no - object cables, I do not think the conductor composition really matters -- they all sound great, just different. I have tried a few of these cables, but in most instances have choosen to spend the majority of my money on components..

I agree with JK on this. I think that most sound differences between copper and silver ICs has to do more with the construction of the IC than the metal conductor itself. The only physical "edge" that silver has over copper is conductiveness. I'd say that even material cost is a wash when you start getting anywhere above 99.9% purity. Gold brings up the rear as far as electrical conduction goes, however it does not oxidize, so it is useful as a connector. If everyone knows this, well then sorry for stating the obvious. :-)

Jk: Thank you for avoiding flames. :)

OK, now back to the show...

Silver produces a higher quantity of quantum noise known as "Phononic Energy". In layman's terms, silver generally will produce a high frequency coloration ranging from a shimmer to outright hashiness depending on the quality of the silver. Lower purity, more hash. Higher purity, less hash, but still shimmery.

Some people just like shimmery and for some systems in need, silver may add to the quality of the acoustic illusion.

Phononic Energy?! Just means LOUDNESS, right? Correlated to sones, etc....
Yet indeed I find a shimmeriness (good word) for the silver IC I used from CDP to pre. A great all copper cable seems fuller in the mids, but I believe only because the silver cable's mids are laid back. What's the absolute reference here? I dunno...either the copper has a bump at 1-3k and/or rolls off up top AND/OR the silver has a dip and/or peak, respectively.
If this is all it's about, then sure you can mix and match, without respect to additive/subtractive order, right?
My Pass amps LOVE the silver in Red Dawn, but only after the copper Discovery Essence perfected (filled and flattened?) the source (EC EMC-1 MkII); the Pro-Silways are lean and WAY laid back by comparison, with a wispy shimmer up top.
So for me, great copper and then good silver works fine....
Keeping to one manufacturer for all cabling needs is a notion I still can't give much credence to, as the components (especially the transducers: source and speakers) and room are far more responsible for spectral and timing phenomena.
In the end, you'll just have to trust your ears, and perhaps avoid the extreme mismatches, like lean silver with cheap ss or extra-warm copper with high-output impedence SETs, etc.