What's the deal with palladium??


I've noticed an increasing number of manufacturers claiming the use of palladium in their cables. I know that corrosion and oxidation are virtually nonexistent with palladium, but what are the sonic characteristics? Is it even a good conductor? Always assumed the silver, copper, and gold hierarchy was accurate...
rsachek
Palladium is a poor conductor but... in audio, conductivity is not THE most important thing. The hardness of the metal and the frequencies at which it resonates play a large role in the sonic characteristic of any given cable design.

When building cables, you can twist, pull, braid and weave all you like but the fundemental sonic signature will not change much unless the materials of the conductor change.
Soft metal makes a different sound than hard metal.

Palladium may have an interesting resonant frequency - I don't know.

BMI recently introduced "The Shark" power cord made from Platinum. People claim its great but we would all assume that conductivity is important in power cords wouldn't we??

Okay... the standard for conductivity is based on an annealed copper wire having a density of 8.89 g/cm3, 1 meter long, weighing 1 gram, with a resistance of 0.15328 ohms. This standard IACS is assigned the value 100% at 200 degrees C (680 degrees F).

Given that if copper is 100%, Silver rings in at about 105%, Gold at 70%, Aluminum at 61%, and Platinum at 16%

Now... how could a power cord with 16% conductivity (that's 84% less than copper) sound better? Palladium is a wee-bit better conductor than Platinum, it's IACS is 17%

Mysterious isn't it?
I just got my new palladium power cord and there's so much bass slam, in fact I'd say my system, hang on I'm not feeling so good, I wonder aaaaaaarrrrgghhhhhh ....
Seandtaylor99, Is that the "London Palladium" model that you got? I heard that one was very musical.
Palladium electrodes are used in electrolysis demonstrations to show how electricity splits water into oxygen and hydrogen gases. Strong acid is added to the water to speed up the process. While palladium is only 16% as conductive as copper, palladium will easily survive this currosive demonstration. A copper electrode substituted in this demonstration would last about two seconds. Yes, palladium is used for it's noncorrosive nature. I can see palladium being used in termination plugs and jacks which are exposed to the harsh environment, but wire is protected from corrosion with insulation. Should palladium be used in the entire cable? I don't think so!