Silver v Copper wire phono cable

@frogman

Dont forget that the 3 cables you compared AN, Cardas & Discovery are vastly different constructions - AN is a 3 wires litz per conductor, Cardas is a multistrand variable size litz, Discovery multistrand uniform size ( not sure if true litz ).And of course the insulation is different on all three cables.

@pindac

FYI - a few years ago I put some Furutech La Source 101 headshell leads onto my FR64S. This was one of the biggest surprises I’ve had in many years. I have been in top end audio for 30 years sold multitudes of top arms and rewired plenty.

I note that their cartridge pins are rhodium on phosphor bronze - they are exceedingly tight and I would check out if you can source some of those pins. I agree if you are using the AN wire the AN pins look very good. I like the crimped construction.

@terry9

The coils of the Rosewood Signature Platinum are made of 6N copper wire, painstakingly clad with a silver jacket.

So what - I have a Dynavector Karat Nova 13D and Ikeda Kiwame both of which have copper coils and piss all over the Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum for transparency and speed.

@mijostyn

I have not analyzed that from a mechanical perspective. Both metals are very ductile and malleable. Wires of similar gauge will be just as flexible.

Nonsense - copper is far less maleable and harder than silver given the same size etc.

@dover 

Well, that's one opinion. So elegantly put. And with such certainty. Convince many people, Dover?

@dover, what I said is exactly true. I did not say which one was more or less ductile and malleable and in the context of wire the distinction is close to being meaningless. It is extremely easy to draw both metals into wire. In actuality either metal can be more or less ductile depending on the alloy. As pure metals silver is more ductile than copper but if you look at a chart of metals both are near the top. The only one better than silver is gold. I think copper is fourth on the list. Try making wire out of titanium. 

@terry9 , I think maybe dover has a prostate problem:)

Great point, Dover and I don’t forget it at all. As with many other things in this hobby, given so many variables sometimes the most one can hope is to extrapolate and connect some dots so as to, as I said before, get a better understanding of what is going on. For instance, in my system the Cardas and the Discovery sound, overall, very different in specific ways; proving your point. Most obvious is the larger and opulent soundstage of the Discovery compared to the more compact and dense Cardas. However, is it a coincidence that both the Cardas and the Discovery, both copper, share some properties in overall tonal qualities? Qualities not heard with the AN. And, that compared to the AN both exhibit some grain? Or, that I hear a similar sense of clarity and lucidity when I switched from copper speaker cables to the Siltech (pure silver) that I use? One starts to see (hear) a pattern.

Silver is, verifiably, a better conductor than copper. Wires conduct. With all the concern over other minutia of differences in many other areas of system building and insistence that those minutia make audible differences (many do, IMO), is it not to be expected that the better conductor, WHEN PROPERLY IMPLEMENTED would offer superior sound, everything else being equal?