Until I heard Analysis Plus cable, I was always of the same opinion as Twl.
My experiences had always shown silver plated copper to be harsh sounding. I became a fan of silver, and felt a big reason many felt silver to be harsh sounding was they were instead speaking of silver plated copper. A lot of companies will market their cables in a manner in which the potential customer may not know. In fact, I believe that Pure Silver Conductor's cables are silver plated copper. Doesn't sound like they picked the correct name.
Low grade silver, or silver cables with substand terminations can sound bad.
Silver, executed correctly, does not exhibit these nasties.
Well, for years, I walked around with a distaste for silver coated copper. As I said, when I heard Analysis Plus, I found the cables to sound very good. As is always the case, I need to tip my hat to Megasam for turning me on to this wire. I have yet to try it in my system, but probably will at some point.
AudioQuest has always marketed copper cables and silver cables, but not silver coated copper. They used to provide some evidence and opinion as to why silver coated copper was a harsh sounding cable. All of which bore out in my experience. Interestingly enough, they now market silver coated copper. I guess what sells is more important than what they believe in.
Ray Kimber has also always sold copper cables, and silver cables. He also sells cables where some of the wire is copper and others are silver. He feels that silver coated copper is subject to a unique, long term degradation. I can see where he is coming from, as silver normally will migrate through other materials, most notably soda lime glass. I can see this migration occurring through the copper's impurities, and having long term consequences which may not be beneficial.
Albert's good experience with Purist Audio Dominus and me with AP show me that a silver coated copper has the potential to sound good, but the category should be viewed with a keen eye. Given the choice, apart from these cables, I would opt for copper or silver over silver plated copper.
To answer the question of this thread, yes silver plated copper cables are a bunch of hype. It is purely a marketing ploy to fool some people into thinking they are getting a better cable. In most cases, it is solely for the purpose of the company charging much more money for what does not cost them much more money. Silver coated copper was developed for the military, to protect copper wires from various forms of environmental degradation. Silver is dirt cheap, ~$4.25/troy ounce. You may remember that an ounce of gold, when hammered out, can easily cover a football field. The amount of silver involved is inconsequential. The process of plating is dirt cheap. It a win - win for the company.
