Serious Question About Silver vs Copper Conductivity for Power


Yes, I realize that this topic is going to bring out the sharks, but if I get at least one serious response, it will all be worth it.

I understand that silver conducts 7% faster than copper.  I also understand that using a dielectric insulation like Teflon is best at keeping the wire from overheating, stopping signals entering and stopping signals from leaving the conductor. I understand that a certain amount of math is involved in selected gauge of wire depending largely on how much power the component is going to take, and how much the amperage is (20 or 15).

My question is regarding certain features applied to either silver or copper conductors that may or may not have an advantage over one or the other.

I have the Kimber Kable P14 Palladian.  This uses 14awg copper conductors insulated in Teflon.  Then it adds a massive filter that attempts to mitigate the standing wave ratio to as close to 1:1 as possible. I had Kimber’s Ascent power cable prior.  It’s identical to the Palladian, except the filter. I have heard the difference between using those two cables.  Apparently, mitigating the standing wave ratio lowers the noise floor significantly. However, any filter that chokes the signal and will slow the electrical current.

As I understand it, the amplifier works by opening the rectifier to allow the capacitors to fill with energy that the system will draw from.  Being able to keep the rectifier open and fill the capacitors as fast as possible, reducing lag time, has the effect of creating more realistic and detailed sound.

With that said, changing to a power cable that uses pure silver insulated in Teflon, will ensure that power is delivered potentially faster.  Although, the silver power cable will NOT have a filter.  Therefore the standing wave ratio will not be mitigated and the electrical signal will not be choked either.

So, would the amplifier benefit from faster electrical current or slower, but cleaner electric current?  Since this signal isn’t directly applied to sound, the concepts of “colder” or “warmer” sound should not apply.

Can someone help me out without poking fun at the question?  Additionally, I am not interested in having a cable-theory debate.  If you don’t believe cables make any difference, I will not debate or have discourse on that topic.


 

128x128guakus

@jea48 Thank you sir!  Finally, a reasonable response. If there was an award, you win it. :)

To answer some of your questions.  The power cable's geometry will be a total of 20 strands of 28awg solid silver, each 20 separately insulated in Teflon.  All braided into a hyper-litz geometry. 7 will go to hot, 7 to neutral and 6 to ground.  The braid and insulation is meant to be its "shield." It doesn't have an external mesh like other cables.

This power cable will be coming off a Shunyata Research Venom V16 distributor which uses their Alpha HC cable from the wall.  The wall socket is an Audioquest NRG Edison that is housed within Furutech's internal and external socket shield.

This is connecting to a Powered Speaker.  The speaker has two single-ended, linear, mono amps. One for left and one for right. The power board and cross over for the right channel is built into the right speaker and its drivers jump directly off that board. The Powered Speaker connects to its Passive brother via a similar cable as the power cable will be. 20 solid silver 28awg each insulated in Teflon and braided in a hyper-litz.  The difference will be 10 for the positive (right) and 10 for the negative (left) and using banana plugs instead of an IEC C7 and NEMA 15 Amp plug.

Obviously, the cables jumping off the crossover will be copper. Maybe one day, out of boredom, I will consider buying a few short runs of this same silver wire and change out the internal cables. I have already rolled the OEM fuse for Synergistic Research's Purple fuse.

@guakus You've answered wrong question. I wasn't contesting whether there's or there is no difference when you upgrade the power. I was mentioning that non-conducting materials in power cords are far more important while silver or copper absolutely make no difference.

@czarivey

I will find out in a few weeks whether or not that is true (for me and *this* particular system at this particular location.)

Based on your suggestion, you’re saying that a filtered copper cable will be superior to a braided silver cable? Both these cables use Teflon as the insulating dielectric. The gauges are similar. The copper cable uses three 14awg stranded conductors insulted in Teflon. the geometry is a simple twist, but has a massive filter attached. The silver cable uses twenty 28awg solid silver conductors, each strand is individually insulated in Teflon and braided together in a hyper-litz. It splits out as 7 braided strands for hot, 7 braided strands to neutral and 6 braided strands for ground.

@guakus

 

I would not build your power cable with these 28 gauge, solid silver conductors. The combined gauge per leg is only 20. Not enough! Also, using solid core this thin will be prone to break over time and handling. Not safe. I would also place in a proper outer jacket for safety in the event of a break or Teflon breach for safety.

Lastly, the sound will lack weight, body and bass. It just will. Not a good idea for all of these reasons in my estimation. Food for thought. 

@grannyring

Ok, fair enough. The company that makes it surely would have received many complaints by now if it was that bad. Just consider that a copper conductor will have multiple 28awg strands twisted together before it is insulated in Teflon. In this case, each strand is individually encased in Teflon before being braided. There is no strand interaction. I get the concept that it could be brittle, but I don’t plan on moving it around after I plug it in. It will be stationary for many years.

I gave the company my system's specifications before the cable was built.  The cable is rated for 100w at 15 amps.

I will be able to tell very quickly if there is a lack of bass as these speakers are overly bassy.