Silver-plated or single metal IC's?

I have generally found that all-copper IC's sound very natural, with a laid back treble, whereas silver coated copper sound faster with a hotter treble. I did not expect that. I kind of figured that you could engineer any kind of sound with any kind of material - it all comes down to the measurable attributes (capacitance, inductance, resistance).

So I don't know if the issue is the material itself or the engineering decisions that tend to accompany certain materials.

I've also noticed that IC's with higher capacitance are more prone to round off the treble at longer lengths. Again, is this cause/effect or association, I don't know.

Of course, it may not matter whether it's cause/effect or not. The point is that you want to know what to buy for what kind of sound.

I do second the recommendation of the Cable Company's loaner program, with the one caveat that I've not worked with them for several years (I've been pretty happy, having settled on a mix of Audience, Nordost, Cardas, Goertz, and Monster).

Art

Silver plated conducts better but adds in many cases a stridency that some people don't like.

ps: I have found myself sometime initially enthralled with silver-plated IC's but over time preferring the (to me) more natural treble of copper. The one exception is Quattrofil where I have settled on using that as a primary IC, either preamp to amp or CDP to preamp. Again, I don't know if the issue is material or engineering that tends to accompany certain materials.

How do silver-plated copper interconnects compare to pure silver interconnects?

gentlemen:

i have reviewed many cable products. some of my reviews included cables wihich use silver coated copper. others were pure copper and one was gold.

there are no generalizations that are meaningful. all copper cables do not have common sonic attributes. read my reviews. one cannot necessarily distinguish a copper cable from a silver coated copper cable to a pure silver cable.

there are many factors beide metals which affect the performance of cables. i have noticed characteristics of silver, i.e., upeer mid/lower treble coloration as well as lower mid dips. but i also have experienced the affect of replacing the connector, e.g., rhodium-plate with a brass connector where conductors were silver coated copper.

the idea is to listen and not generalize.

any statement regarding silver plate vs all silver is purely hypothetical.

by the way, my latest review is on audiophilia.com, namely the MAC products.