Two cable questions

One thing to remember regarding the silver versus copper conductivity debate. Silver oxide is conductive, copper oxide is not. Thus, as these conductors age, the disparity between them becomes greater. Silver is best(AC or DC), followed closely by copper, then a fair sized dropoff to gold.

This is to quantify the conductivity differences of silver and copper. Silver: 62.9, Copper: 60.7, Gold, 48.8. So, silver is actually 3.62% more conductive. Source is MIT's website.

These are all excellent responses, but as Carl says, you cannot judge a cable by the specifications, whether you are discussing the metals, the insulation or the shield. Even micro changes in any one of these affect the final product. I have even tested soldering the connectors with three different types of solder, and gotten a substantial change in sound. Again, as stated over and over by MANY of the Audiogon posters, you need to try the cable in your own system, and not worry about who else likes it, or why it should or should not work.

Albert: could you share your findings on solder? Regards

I have tried the DIY CAT 5 recipe on http://users.nac.net/markowitzgd/ with great results. Cat 5 network cable is 24 gauge Teflon coated solid core copper (99.99% OFC). Anyone else tried this?