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the love for the esoteric continues

post #1 of 24
6/14/04 at 6:54pm
Thread Starter 
i've recently made several posts asking why gold? why are some new ultra high end esoteric cables made from gold.

it's not a good conductor at all, but a search on audiogon will reveal that there are many boutique manufacturers releasing not only gold interconnects, but gold power cables.

i'm still waiting for someone to tell me why they use gold other than the fact that it's different and expensive. i surmise that silver is no longer exotic. mass market silver cables are starting to become very available so gold is used to set 'audiophile' apart from massmarket.

then i saw this

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/auc....043&1087248463

is there any reason to use palladium in a cable?
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post #2 of 24
6/14/04 at 8:32pm
Well, gold doesn't oxidize... Sorry for being obvious
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post #3 of 24
6/15/04 at 12:19am
Damned if I know, it's about as conductive as iron, which is a lot less than gold, nevermind silver or copper. However it's also completely stable like gold and it won't tarnish or corrode, a bit cheaper too I believe. Personally I'm waiting for someone to make a cable out of platinum-iridium alloy...because it sounds cool and will likely be hideously expensive.
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post #4 of 24
6/15/04 at 12:29am
Gold is not as bad a conductor as you think, but copper is a better conductor. I think the reason, as others have mentioned, is that it doesn't corode like copper or silver. I am sure that the price of gold does play a part though in getting cable manufacturers to justify their high costs.

We use gold plated copper in electrical applications where I work. It is not audio though, it is lasers.
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post #5 of 24
6/15/04 at 12:34am
he's talking about the use of gold as the wire inside the cable, not as the protective plating on the connnectors. so, corrosion isn't really much of a factor if there's good insulation around the wire.

as for why.... people usually cite tone differences between all the different elements--silver, copper, or even gold and paladium... heh he. it's probably all bullcrap of course.
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post #6 of 24
6/15/04 at 2:05am
I've never heard a silver cable that can match the smoothness of gold and I've never heard a gold cable that can match the neutrality of silver. Obviously these are generalizations, but they hold true in my experience.

Biggie.
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post #7 of 24
6/15/04 at 11:46am
Quote:
he's talking about the use of gold as the wire inside the cable, not as the protective plating on the connnectors. so, corrosion isn't really much of a factor if there's good insulation around the wire.
Oh yeah, this is true. I agree, manufacturers just try to use the most expensive and esoteric materials they can find to make cables.
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post #8 of 24
6/15/04 at 12:08pm
I think I'll be sticking with copper... too much "Weird Science" to get my head around
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post #9 of 24
6/15/04 at 12:23pm
Thread Starter 

the 'sound' of different metals

so....

copper sounds 'warm'
silver sounds 'quick' and 'bright'
gold sounds 'smooth'

how do you guys think palladium will sound?

what about my new lead interconnects. will they sound 'heavy', 'dark'?

what about van den hul carbon interconnects. are they full of life?
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post #10 of 24
6/15/04 at 1:35pm
I think you got it, tomek.
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post #11 of 24
6/15/04 at 4:25pm
The van den hauls sounded like copper to me. I wouldn't say all copper is warm, I would say it is 'flavoured' though. Like a haze over the music...

Biggie.
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post #12 of 24
6/15/04 at 4:39pm
well, you can tell how a metal sounds by looking at it:

copper is an orange color so it sounds "warmer."
silver is bright and shiny, so it sounds like that.
gold is expensive and is a duller yellow color, so it sounds even smoother and warmer than copper, or like copper.
dunno what paladium looks like, but i'm guessing it's not as flashy as silver, so will probably sound somewhere between copper and silver.

what you think?--i hope you understand what i'm trying to say.

i can tell you this: i have a set of pure silver braided interconnects. i have also made silver custom cables for people. and i cannot hear any tonal differences between them and copper cables.
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post #13 of 24
6/15/04 at 4:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Orpheus
i can tell you this: i have a set of pure silver braided interconnects. i have also made silver custom cables for people. and i cannot hear any tonal differences between them and copper cables.
you obviously have tin ears.

i find it amusing that even these metals are poorer conductors, but sound better as they get more expensive anyways.
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post #14 of 24
6/15/04 at 8:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Orpheus
dunno what paladium looks like, but i'm guessing it's not as flashy as silver, so will probably sound somewhere between copper and silver.
It actually looks just like platinum, palladium & platinum are actually in the same family of metals and have very similar properties. My guess - it'll sound expensive...whatever that means...

I have another idea. someone make me a pair of uranium cables, the sound should really glow with those.
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post #15 of 24
6/15/04 at 8:31pm
you know, i actually bought 6 pairs of platinum plated WBT binding posts for my 300b amp from the CES show. pretty cool to brag about... ha ha, bought my amp more jewelry than my gf........... well, not really... heh he.
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