Are silver coated cables a bunch of hype?

I don't want to prejudice anyone against my favorite cables, but Purist Dominus is ultra high purity copper with silver coating.

Purist Audio never mentions this fact in advertising or specification sheets, nor do they make any claim as to the technological or performance benefits.

I only discovered this when a roll of Dominus conductor was shipped to me to use in various components that I was modifying.

Soundlab wired my U-1 with this conductor and the comments were that the insulation (Teflon) was the most uniform and predictable to strip they ever worked with. The exposed silver plated copper was free of any adhesives or synthetics and easy to solder. The final results set solidly, ultra clean without any debris or puddling in the matrix of metals.

As already mentioned here by others, implementation is more important than subjective discussions of the impact of the materials selected.

Performance wise, Purist Dominus typically is described as liquid, dynamic and seductive. I have never heard a criticism of phase or brightness problems. Again, implementation is everything.

Twl, do you really belive that frequencies no where to travel. What a bunch of crap. Like people who belive that in a biwire set up the highs go in one end the highs in the other. Man you must think Audiophiles are a bunch of fools with balanket statements like that.

Some of the best sounding cables I have tried are Silver Coated Copper. I am currently using the QED Silver Anniversery speaker cables. My system is all tube based.
These are the best I have tried. They replaced much more expensive cables and are staying in my system. There is a reason they were voted product of the year twice according to HIFI magazine.

Brucejel, It is my understanding that the Pro Silway II uses both copper and silver conductors instead of the silver over copper stuff. I use them myself and really enjoy their sound.
Also, has anyone ever looked up how much better silver conducts over copper? I think it is extremely small. I do know the resistance of copper vs. silver wire is extrememly small. I think i read somewhere the capacitance is the big thing.
To me, silver over copper has always sounded harsh. Of course, I have certainly not listened to all of these cables.

Topheavy, apparently you are unaware of the phenomenon of "skin effect" and therefore think that everyone else is ignorant about it. Perhaps if you studied it, as I have, you would be aware of it, and wouldn't make statements like you just have here. Not only do the frequencies "know where to travel", there is published data in engineering manuals that specifically quantify the depth of the "skin effect" in different conductive materials. In copper, it is approximately .4mm. So, yes, the frequencies do "know where to travel" and it is measureable and documented. Cable makers are aware of this and generally make their cables to minimize this effect. It is also well known that silver is a better conductor than copper(documented) and a silver coating on wire will enhance travel on the skin of the wire. Draw your own conclusion. I have done listening tests on my own equipment and others', and my listening results are in accordance with the scientific data.

You must think that audiophiles are a bunch of fools to make blanket statements like you do. Of course, you are a newbie here, so we expect you will learn something after a while. I don't take too kindly to attacks from newbies, who are ignorant and agressive. If you want to get a less pointed response from me, then engage me in a civil manner.

Albert, I didn't know that Dominus was silver plated. I have never heard Dominus, and I would expect it to be a great sounding wire. What they are doing with the plating and other possible design characteristics to "balance" the sonic signature, I don't know. I do know that if the individual conductors' cross sections are sufficiently small(below the nominal skin-effect depth), the wire behaves as all skin-effect, so the coherence phenomenon is mitigated with that type of construction.