Thursday, November 29, 2012

Learn What Silver Speaker Wire Is

By Kari Ratliff


There has been a raging debate throughout the suppliers of audio amplifiers and sound systems. The debate is the quality between copper cording in comparison to silver speaker wire. Both materials are effective conductors but the precious metal is much more expensive than copper cording. Many manufacturers and marketers argue that as this precious metal it has a lower resistance and higher conductivity, therefore the quality of sound is much better than just using the standard copper wiring.

The level of conductivity is measured in substances relative to copper which is known to conduct electricity at 100%. This measurement is called IACS which is the acronym for International Annealed Copper Standard. The percentage that electricity is conducted in various materials normally precedes the acronym.

Conductivity measures the capability of the precious metal or copper to conduct electricity. The conductivity will be high if the resistance is low. As copper is best known for its electrical conductivity, it is the standard which other substances are measured against. These ratings are normally called "28 IACS". IACS stands for the International Annealed Copper Standard and the number that comes before the word is the percentage of conductivity that material has relative to copper which is 100% conductive.

Aluminum has a 61% conductivity rate and so the rates go. The precious metal has a higher conductivity level than copper at 105%. Therefore, the resistance of this metal is lower. The precious metal in question is extremely costly and manufacturers that use this substance will sell their wares at very high prices to cover the cost.

This precious metal is very expensive and it is now used in many top of the range home theatre and sound systems. The disadvantage of using this material besides the high cost is that it tarnishes. In other words, builds up a substance called silver-sulfide which can eventually damage the cords inside the amplifiers.

Other merchants and manufactures state that the cording cannot make a difference in the quality of sound. They say that the use of the precious metal is unnecessary because there is very little difference between this metal and copper. They argue that the quality of the sound comes from all the components in the amplifier and the quality therein.

In order to justify their claims of improved audio quality, many marketers of these expensive cables state that the precious metal has properties such as better impedance, the skin effect or lower resonance. There are one or two universal truths though, it is agreed that the overall resistance of the cording should not be too high. It is also agreed that the cord impedance should not be more than 5% of the entire circuit.

There is no question that the precious metal is a good quality conductor of electricity and it is as effective in sound systems as normal electrical conductors such as copper. The sound system's components in their entirety are what make the sound of better quality. There is little material difference between silver speaker wire and copper cording and what quality of sound these produce. Both of the materials discussed are of excellent quality, the only real difference being the price. It's is up to the consumer to choose what price he is willing to pay for his sound system. He might want to invest in the higher priced sound system if he believes that it does in fact give a better sound.




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