Is there any noticeable difference between copper and silver solid core wire?

[Saffire]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I'm still a newbie when it comes to repairing stereo equipment.

I'm tackling my first stereo repair job, and I accidentally unwrapped the wire-wrapped posts leading from the A & B speaker selector to the speaker output terminals. I heard that this is a big no-no, because replacement silver wire is hard to find, and I can see why. I can't find any 22 AWG solid core silver wire for a cheap price, so my only option is to redo the wiring and use 22 AWG solid core copper. Since silver has better conductivity than copper, should I expect this to affect the sound?

 

[whoaru99]

I doubt it is silver wire. Most likely tinned copper.

Stop worrying so much. Bad for your health.

 

[DaaDaa]

I don't know of any vintage manufacturer that ever used silver wire in a commercial product.

 

[Saffire]

I doubt it is silver wire. Most likely tinned copper.

Stop worrying so much. Bad for your health.

Ahh, yeah, I really should stop worrying. I'm just paranoid that I might mess things up. But I guess that if it works, then it just works.

 

[62vauxhall]

Kimber used silver at least in some interconnects. Cant remember what they called them but there were siver stranded versions of PBJ's in the early 1980's that cost $1500 for a 1M pair. Copper 1M PBJ's were $100. Canadian pricing.

Comparing the two over an evening, there was a barely detectible difference between the two. Neither mself or my listenig buddy (who was an audio buyer for a large chain) could say at the time which was better. If it happened to be the silver pair, it was certainly not worth fifteen times the price of a copper pair.

 

[JoeESP9]

For those who may be interested, 8Audio has IC's and speaker cables made of Silver plated OF Copper. The prices are very reasonable

 

[Blue Shadow]

I'm just paranoid that I might mess things up.

Then leave the work to professionals.

There are so many oops events here with folks that see so many others diving inside the 'no user serviceable parts inside' ropes and coming out with some work done on their unit that it seems that label is on the wrong unit. Whatever, there are hundreds of threads with folks that did go beyond the ropes and come back seeking help for their errant step. Whether that be a slipped meter probe, zap, or a part put in wrong or other issue, one needs to think about the project a couple time before cracking open the unit. Fortunately, there are a large handful of folks here that will walk us through a problem we caused by diving in where we didn't know what we were doing. These guys know what the devices inside the unit actually do and why they are there.

You didn't accidently unwrap, you did it on purpose, as we all do, before we learned to just unsolder the pin since the wrap connection is a great connection. You did get the answer, there is no silver in those wires. They are tinned and using any adequate wire to repair the error should be just fine. Silver wire would be too soft to be an effective replacement.

No worries, the guys that know are here to help. Glad too, as I have had more than one oops moment.

 

[gadget73]

OP is working on a 70s Pioneer I think. It would have been tinned copper, definitely not silver or silver-plated wire.

 

[Saffire]

Then leave the work to professionals.

There are so many oops events here with folks that see so many others diving inside the 'no user serviceable parts inside' ropes and coming out with some work done on their unit that it seems that label is on the wrong unit. Whatever, there hundreds of threads with folks that did go beyond the ropes and come back seeking help for their errant step. Whether that be a slipped meter probe, zap, or a part put in wrong or other issue, one needs to think about the project a couple time before cracking open the unit. Fortunately, there are a large handful of folks here that will walk us through a problem we caused by diving in where we didn't know what we were doing. These guys know what the devices inside the unit actually do and why they are there.

You didn't accidently unwrap, you did it on purpose, as we all do, before we learned to just unsolder the pin since the wrap connection is a great connection. You did get the answer, there is no silver in those wires. They are tinned and using any adequate wire to repair the error should be just fine. Silver wire would be too soft to be an effective replacement.

No worries, the guys that know are here to help. Glad too, as I have had more than one oops moment.

By screwing something up, I meant that I didn't want to affect the sound signature in any way. Definitely sounds stupid now that I'm aware that the silver in this SX-50 is actually tinned copper. But yeah, I've made plenty of oops moments, it's a learning experience for sure.

 

[Blue Shadow]

When you go try some silver tinned wires (external to the amp) you will see they have a slightly different sound to them. Can't really screw up using any proper conductor of the right size or larger in the amp since the short chunk will not have much effect on the sound. Any proper conductor would be solid or stranded, copper or tinned copper, nothing aluminum or some odd metals that aren't used for wiring in gear.

 

[Saffire]

When you go try some silver tinned wires (external to the amp) you will see they have a slightly different sound to them. Can't really screw up using any proper conductor of the right size or larger in the amp since the short chunk will not have much effect on the sound. Any proper conductor would be solid or stranded, copper or tinned copper, nothing aluminum or some odd metals that aren't used for wiring in gear.

That's good to know. Wires are just wires, huh? I've been believing audiophile snake oil for too long.

 

[Blue Shadow]

Wires are just wires, huh?

Until you move to the esoteric forums where there are no arguments about the price of cables and folks telling you how much or your money you should spend, decent wire is decent wire.

 

[sKiZo]

Any comments on "oxygen free" copper? Feel free to snark, but I tend to get better results using that, especially on longer runs - theory is the longer molecules provide less loss and improved quality. I used the Belden round oxy-free in wall cabling years ago for the entire house with excellent results.

 

[Doug G.]

Remove the wire wrap pins and solder the wires where they were. I've done it many times.

Doug

 

[El Rubio]

Any comments on "oxygen free" copper? Feel free to snark, but I tend to get better results using that, especially on longer runs - theory is the longer molecules provide less loss and improved quality. I used the Belden round oxy-free in wall cabling years ago for the entire house with excellent results.

What do you consider a “longer run”?

 

[gslikker]

How much oxygen is in non-oxygen-free copper?

How many atoms are in a "long copper molecule" and what is the chemical formula of this "copper molecule" ( )

 

[sKiZo]

What do you consider a “longer run”?

50 feet maybe? That's about it for my longest run ...

PS - speaking of snake oil though. I've been chastised a few times here for using standard hobby hookup wire on tube amps. You can get the stuff in a handy dandy color assortments. I have both 20 and 22 gauge tinned ...

Oh, nooOOOOOOOoooo! It's gotta be 600v rated!!

(Truth be told, haven't had one explode or melt down yet ... at least not due to the wire ... ;-}

 

[sKiZo]

That sort of thing having an effect by itself on sound quality fits into the category of ever decreasing return on investment though. I'll spend the big bux on solder though ... quality can pay big dividends there.

 

[audiocrzy]

Yes. One is copper and one is silver core.

 

[arts]

Is there any noticeable difference between copper and silver solid core wire?

Just the price