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Why Palladium in cables, wiring, etc. . .?

There seems to be a growing aura around Palladium. A perfectly good noble metal, Palladium came to popular fame during the now very dubious episode of cold fusion, proposed by Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Ponse. But the word Palladium itself has a much older and classical origin. A Palladium was originally a statue bearing the likeness of the goddes Pallas, and only much later it referred to buildings inspired by the neo-classical style of Andrea Palladio. Today the word bears both connotations of classical understated elegance as well as hinting at quasi esoteric neo-science and mysteries. Hence it is easy to understand why savvy marketing consultants may warmly recommend that products and brands aspiring to prestige may be named after the metal.

Yet, when it comes to discovering a physical reason why engineers may opt to actually employing this fine metallic element as a conductor in interconnects, chords, wires and electrical contacts, things become rather murky and unclear. For example, SilverSmith Audio now advertises some of its products as containing Palladium. And the newest iteration of the Dodson 218 DAC, by virtue of the company having been purchased by SilverSmith, now sports internal Palladium-alloy wiring.

What is it, besides its resistance to tarnish and corrosion, and the obvious aura in the name, that is causing such engineering choices? Palladium's disconcertingly high index of resistivity does not seem to justify its selection. Per the list below, Palladium is 6.65 times as resistive as
Silver, 6.28 times as resistive as copper, almost 4 times as resistive as Aluminum, and
approximately 10% more resistive than Iron. The good news is that Palladium appears
to be a little bit more conductive than Tin, and almost twice as conductive as Lead.

Resistivity:
Silver: (20 °C) 15.87 nO·m
Copper: (20 °C) 16.78 nO·m
Gold: (20 °C) 22.14 nO·m
Aluminum: (20 °C) 26.50 nO·m
Rhodium: (0 °C) 43.3 nO·m
Zinc: (20 °C) 59.0 nO·m
Nickel: (20 °C) 69.3 nO·m
Iron: (20 °C) 96.1 nO·m
Platinum: (20 °C) 105 nO·m
Palladium: (20 °C) 105.4 nO·m
Tin: (0 °C) 115 nO·m
Lead: (20 °C) 208 nO·m

Any ideas?
guidocorona
55 responses Add your response
rja's avatar
rja
2,370 posts
 
Using your logic, the relative "sound" of any cable should follow your chart, silver sounding "best" and lead "worst". That is; the better the conductivity, the better the sound.

But are there parameters, other than conductivity that need to be considered? For instance, I've heard silver wires I've liked and others not so much. Same conductivity but obviously there were other factors affecting the "sound".
guidocorona OP
4,298 posts
 
Hi RJA, you bring up an interesting point... I conjecture that Silver, with its maximum conductivity, might sound best.... If the electronics of all recording equipment also used silver copiusly, and recording engineers routinely tuned and optimized their work to Silver metallurgy.... But most recording equipment and recording engineering is tuned to copper metallurgy... Hence the playback advantages of Silver remain a hit and miss situation.
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Regarding the conductivity (and its reciprocal, resistivity) of silver vs. copper, a point to keep in mind is that the roughly 6% or so difference between the two metals can be compensated for several times over by simply going one gauge size larger in copper. It can also be compensated for by simply making the copper cable 6% shorter than the silver cable.

Also, the significance of cable resistance depends on the impedance characteristics of what is being connected. In nearly all home audio applications, the resistance of line-level analog interconnects having silver or copper conductors will be an utterly miniscule fraction of the input impedance of the destination component. For that kind of cable, at least, conductivity/resistivity can therefore be expected to not be a factor in whatever sonic effects the cable may have. Although as was alluded to earlier in the thread the resistance of the shield or other return conductor can be a significant factor with respect to ground loop issues, to a greater or lesser extent depending on the susceptibility of the particular components to those issues.

Regards,
-- Al
rja's avatar
rja
2,370 posts
 
How about alloys, silver with a hint of gold and a touch of palladium for instance? Many popular cables are not based on a single metal.
Also, regardless of conductivity, there have been one or two palladium cables that have received positive reviews.
david12
1,454 posts
 
The best cable I have ever had in my system was from a one man and his dog outfit in the UK, Silver Arrow. You often see his cables at shows, being used by other dealers distributors. His top of the line cable was the "Big Daddy". When I bought it, made from palladium, I believe it is a gold allow now.

It was'nt cheap, about $1200, but wow, it was good. All the cliches, veils lifting, micro dynamics, wider soundstage, etc etc. I still have it, but use XLRs these days, not RCA, so it is not in use. The maker complained it was an awful material to work with and it had doubled in price, that is why he stopped using palladium, but it was good.
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