Let's talk about Silver...

I’m described as a “detail-freak”. My system is sounded to be quick on transients. Vinyl is are my principal medium.

For the minority of open reel to reel users, I switched from pure copper to custom- made pure silver interconnects into the tube preamplifier. Startling improvement in detail and realism from a Studer semipro machine. No downside other than the increased costs of silver. I was sufficiently impressed that I changes all my interconnects to Darwin silvers. They’ve different grades of silver and treatment. The audible difference convinced me that unsurprisingly all “silver” isn’t audibly the same.

@kennymacc

You mention high quality silver XLR but preferred the Thunderbird. Did you audition the Firebird XLR by chance? Curious about your thoughts if so. 

I currently have Analysis Plus Big Silver Oval 9 bi-wire and VH Audio Silver Pulsars in my system. Nothing in your face at all. No etch, no perceived brightness.

I've used silver cladded copper phono cable for years. Bob's Devices mid line cable. I regard it highly for value/performance. 

Have an ET 2.5 wired with Audio Note silver in an earlier system, no complaints.

I owned the AQ Thunderbirds, but I was able to find a used pair of 2M Firebirds. The Firebird does add more dimension, so I sold the Thunderbirds.

Wish I could get the Dragons, but...

ozzy.

Such a humorous topic. By nature and in general, audiophiles are prone to mix and match with very little empirical data to go by. Brand A preamp may sound ok to your ears with Brand B amp and Brand C speakers. Then, there is a guy making speaker cables and interconnects in his garage in Spokane and we are absolutely convinced that they should work wonders in our systems. Let’s ignore the fact that the guy has a midfi setup in said garage and it sounds good to him.

Lets contrast that with a company like Shindo who had their own silver IC’s and speaker cables which sound glorious in a Shindo system while sounding equally marginal in another setup. How could that be? That’s why I chuckle when someone gives an absolute endorsement without ever experiencing the system in question.

Shindo spent alot of time experimenting and arrived at an optimal match. Kondo did. Audio UK did. I have all silver litz speaker cables and interconnects in one system and all copper litz in another system and both sound natural and right. I swear by these cables and interconnects in my system and yet, they would probably sound wrong in another setup. Bright and tipped up? Not even close…in my system.