What makes a better phono cable ?


Silver or copper? My understanding would be silver but finding a low capacitance silver cable has been a challenge.Currently using a Synergistic Tricon Analog.Nice cable but seems to be my weakest link.Any experienced input would be greatly appreciated.
128x128franklapdog
"03-12-15: Franklapdog
Jmcgrogan2
Your comment is so true but somewhere in my past travels,I heard that solid core silver with low capacitance makes for a better phono cable because of the very low signal transfer.Is this not correct?"

Not necessarily. Ultimately, I believe Jmcgrogan2 is correct. You have to take everything on a case by case basis. The solid core silver was my recommendation based on my own personal experience. While I think there's a pretty good chance a silver AQ cable would make you happy, there's no guarantee. That same cable, in other applications in my system, doesn't always sound as good as the copper version of the same cable.

The safest way to do this would be to get a good deal on a used pair. That shouldn't be too difficult because its no longer in production. If you don't like it, you can probably sell it for very close to what you pay for it, so the risk is low. Also, up to this point, I've been able to find one spot in any given system I put together, where the silver cable sounds good. Again, that's no guarantee, but something to just keep in mind.
Al, (Almarg), I recognize bs that's why I called him (Syntax) on it and of
course he doesn't have a reply. I know about measuring impedance,
conductivity, resistance, etc. but never heard of a way to measure transfer
of information in this way specially when it comes down to our topic, the
quality of the audio signal. I was just curious why would anyone make such
an irrelevant statement specially if as you pointed out he's been called on it
before.
david
03-12-15: Almarg
IMO, John's (Jmcgrogan2's) comment, which I know to be based on a great deal of relevant experience, is the bottom line.

Regards,
-- Al

Thank you kindly Al. I always value your comments. Though many might say too much experience, and I could not argue.
No simple Chocolate or Vanilla choice here. Do you know how hard it is to pick a favorite flavor when you've tried 48 different flavors?? Sometimes less is more. ;^)

Cheers,
John
Well, the question was, "What makes a better phono cable" and not "what is my flavor of the month". When everything is equal (high quality RCA plugs on BOTH sides - Preamp-, high quality solder and so on, then silver can carry more information than any other material on this planet. That's the way it is. What a listener likes or not is a total different chapter :-)