The wild fluctuations of non-ferrous and precious metals.

[jayapple]

Not long ago, gold and silver prices went absolutely wild—skyrocketing one minute, crashing the next! It’s been nuts. My silver wire—the go-to choice for audiophiles—jumped in price way up, and gold wire?

Forget it, it’s basically turned into a luxury item. Then, just as suddenly, prices plunged… also totally wild!

Even copper—the most basic, everyday wire material for us audiophiles—got caught up in the frenzy and spiked too, which is really squeezing our gear-buying budget. Lately, it feels like the market’s flooded with speculators. What’s your take on all this?

 

[DVDdoug]

Silver and gold wire is for audiophools.

I have no idea what's affecting the price. Of course it's "supply and demand", but speculators and government regulations or tariffs can affect supply and demand. For normal commodities, speculators can only affect the market short-term but with precious metals (or crypto currencies) there are long-term investors and long term "speculators".

The resistance in line level connections (where the input impedance is 10K-100K) is insignificant.

With speakers and long wire-runs, it can be a consideration. 1000 feet (a 500-foot round-trip run) of 16-AWG copper wire is about 4-Ohms (Wire Resistance Chart). That would be an issue for 4 or 8-Ohm speakers!

Silver has about 6% less resistance, but going to 15AWG copper wire is about 20% less resistance so that would be a better choice (if you need to lower resistance).

Gold has about 50% less resistance, but it still makes more economic sense to go with heavier gauge copper.

Silver or gold plating are also insignificant. Resistance depends on the length and cross-sectional area and the cross sectional area of the plating is "nothing".

...It is a good idea to avoid CCA (copper clad aluminum) speaker cables which has slightly higher resistance than pure copper, but that can be overcome with heavier gauge wire too.

Are Dirt Cheap RCA Cables Any Good?
Do Fancy Audio Cables Make A Difference?

 

[jayapple]

Silver and gold wire is for audiophools.

I have no idea what's affecting the price. Of course it's "supply and demand", but speculators and government regulations or tariffs can affect supply and demand. For normal commodities, speculators can only affect the market short-term but with precious metals (or crypto currencies) there are long-term investors and long term "speculators".

The resistance in line level connections (where the input impedance is 10K-100K) is insignificant.

With speakers and long wire-runs, it can be a consideration. 1000 feet (a 500-foot round-trip run) of 16-AWG copper wire is about 4-Ohms (Wire Resistance Chart). That would be an issue for 4 or 8-Ohm speakers!

Silver has about 6% less resistance, but going to 15AWG copper wire is about 20% less resistance so that would be a better choice (if you need to lower resistance).

Gold has about 50% less resistance, but it still makes more economic sense to go with heavier gauge copper.

Silver or gold plating are also insignificant. Resistance depends on the length and cross-sectional area and the cross sectional area of the plating is "nothing".

...It is a good idea to avoid CCA (copper clad aluminum) speaker cables which has slightly higher resistance than pure copper, but that can be overcome with heavier gauge wire too.

Are Dirt Cheap RCA Cables Any Good?
Do Fancy Audio Cables Make A Difference?

Yes, it's been quite crazy recently. I have a lot of audio cables that are copper-silver hybrid, and their prices have fluctuated a bit. More importantly, we are promoting the use of aluminum to replace copper, as it seems that copper has become somewhat precious.

 

[DWPress]

I've got 900 pounds of clean yellow brass Linotype matrices waiting for prices to edge up a bit more. I engrave copper plates for printing - those have gone through the roof! My horde of 19th century 24k gold leaf has skyrocketed but I use that so no liquid asset there. Also have close to 13 tons of lead in the shop but it's more valuable in type form.

But as DVDdoug says, anything fancier than proper gauge copper for cabling is a waste of money better spent elsewhere.

 

[Devnull]

Yes, it's been quite crazy recently. I have a lot of audio cables that are copper-silver hybrid, and their prices have fluctuated a bit. More importantly, we are promoting the use of aluminum to replace copper, as it seems that copper has become somewhat precious.

Who's been promoting the use of aluminum to replace copper? No reputable engineers or companies that I know of.

If you can't afford a few meters of copper speaker wire you probably should be more concerned about putting food on your table and a roof over your head than what kind of wire to buy.

 

[sam_adams]

Not long ago, gold and silver prices went absolutely wild—skyrocketing one minute, crashing the next! It’s been nuts.

Tell your clients that Mr. Valentine has set the price.

 

[jayapple]

Who's been promoting the use of aluminum to replace copper? No reputable engineers or companies that I know of.

If you can't afford a few meters of copper speaker wire you probably should be more concerned about putting food on your table and a roof over your head than what kind of wire to buy.

The audio industry definitely hasn't replaced copper with aluminum yet, because it's a highly profitable industry. The existing profits can surely sustain the historical highest price of copper, and the usage in this industry is also very small.

However, in the industrial sector, as far as I know, many companies have done this.

 

[jayapple]

I've got 900 pounds of clean yellow brass Linotype matrices waiting for prices to edge up a bit more. I engrave copper plates for printing - those have gone through the roof! My horde of 19th century 24k gold leaf has skyrocketed but I use that so no liquid asset there. Also have close to 13 tons of lead in the shop but it's more valuable in type form.

But as DVDdoug says, anything fancier than proper gauge copper for cabling is a waste of money better spent elsewhere.

Then you've really made a fortune. Here, even the merchants have started selling investment copper blocks.
Ha ha, not gold or silver blocks, but copper blocks. All of this is just too crazy!

 

[Oddball]

Gold and silver wires . No thanks. Spend fortune on speakers, though.

Gold is fundamentally different than other precious metals as represents long term investment that is a hedge in volatility of various currencies. Initially price was driven up in recent years by Central banks hoarding gold into their reserve assets, but then went nuts when speculators and retail investors jumped in.

Silver is very speculative and volatile as has industrial use and is in short physical supply. That changes by day, but outstanding silver positions in the market are in multiples of the available physical supply.

Copper? Not really following that, but can imagine that it is a similar story as silver. Industrial use is on the rise and supply not following.

It is widely expected that this volatility mess will continue throughout the year.

 

[Chrispy]

Silver is the go-to for audiophiles? What sort of nonsense is that?

 

[Oddball]

Silver is the go-to for audiophiles? What sort of nonsense is that?

That's just for the poor ones. Real audiophiles with deep pockets have always used gold.