Here is some solid core wire i just picked up in the USA. This is the type of wire you guys need to look for, New old stock on a wooden bobbin Double silk wrapped 20 GAUGE solid core 1910-40s. The best dielectric you can use. The copper sounds better, this has been sitting around unused for 80 years and has matured. I use this old type of wire in the killerDacs and amps i make. Newer wire with its Teflon or some kind of plastic is rubbish. This was a great score, its hard to find like this, and will find its way into the killerdacs. Keep on the lookout for this stuff and put the links here
The observations here seem to be very curious. Can you explain in technical terms how copper matures for better sound? How is silk the best dielectric material, and in what applications? Why is teflon or any other plastic rubbish, for insulation? Please provide technical reasons for all of this. No voodoo please!
You need to think out of the box. (How is silk the best dielectric material). Silk and or cotton is porous The field travels around the outside of a wire, Teflon or plastic inhibits this flow, but the best material of cause is no dielectric. (Can you explain in technical terms how copper matures for better sound) Relaxing of the wire over time seems to have its merit, Does the crystal or quantum mechanical structure of the wire change over time. Do other changes accur to the copper at idle over 80+ years. Does a new unused set of interconnects sound different after running on a system for a long time. Of interest just look at cryogenic freezing of wire, That process changes the sound of the wire and valves. I know it does because i use some cryo wire in my amps, but only a little, ( its a balance of colouration's). You need to fully understand the underlying principals of making great sounding music systems, And that will include many things that defi reason, but your ears tell you it is right. That experience will come with age and plenty of lateral, out of the box thinking, and many blind hit and miss attempts. (No voodoo please) I am full on into science, but because there are some things that i can not scientifically figure out, does not mean it does not happen. I know the fabric of the universe, at the blanck scale is a wave, and it becomes real (solid) upon observation. A matrix if you will. How do i prove it to your satisfaction.
I generally do think outside the box when dealing with issues not involving the laws of physics and well established principles of electrical engineering. So, I guess that you would also believe that things like Shakti Stones, Brilliant Little Pebbles, the Harmonizer, painting cd edges green and Hallographs alter sound. I guess that if someone claimed that putting coprolites near electrical devices or transducers somehow improved the sound, you would credit that these things actually affect the sound, even though there is no scientific evidence that would support these claims. The simple answer is that it is probably psychoacoustics at work. I do not believe that these wonder products have any merit, except for making money for their sellers.
As a dielectric, silk is not a good choice for high voltages. I am aware of the claims that the best dielectric for interconnects and speaker cables is air. I have made interconnects with both copper and silver wire sheathed in unbleached cotton weave. I heard no difference in teflon insulation tight to copper and silver. Admittedly, after only 40 years of mucking about with audio stuff I have a lot to learn, but there is simply no scientific repeatable evidence that a dielectric with the same withstand as air is better. This is especially true in shot runs, such as hookup wire and interconnects. While on this topic, I cannot imagine how buying cable lifters for speaker wires to keep them off the floor does anything but empty the pockets of the gullible and line the pockets of the marketeers. If you really believe this dielectric phenomena, then better to loosely sheath naked wire in a flexible teflon tube. At least it will be electircally well insulated and have plenty of air.
As to wire maturing, there is no scientific proof of this effect. It could be a lot of things, including the old enemy psychoacoustics. When you suggest that while the wire is lazily relaxing, maybe on the beach in the Riviera, its structure is changing. I guess it is entropy at the subatomic level? Is wire like wine, where it reaches its fullest maturation and then becomes increasingly more unpleasant? How long does this maturing process take to have the best effect on sound? One day, year, decade, millenia, eon after the wire is drawn or cast? I guess you are suggesting the principle of entropy at play here with accelerated effect. I would suggest that in 80 or 800 years, that wire would not change significantly, especially in the short runs we are talking about here, so as to have any effect on sound quality. One can suspend disbelief, but not suspend the laws of physics. As you can see, I do not believe in burning in wires. There is no proof that running small currents through wire does anything to change its structure or electrical properties. Cryogenics is different in that there are changes at the molecular level. Whether these changes have any impact on the sound quality of wire and tubes is deabatable, at best. So I guess you posit that anything that is older is better, as it has aged. Accordingly, one should use old transformers, wire, solder, lugs and spades, tube sockets, tubes, RCA connectors and speaker terminals. Is this maturation effect only for copper wire, or is it applicable to all metals?
How something sounds does involve a degree of subjectivism. However, there are certain immutable laws of physics that bound things. To me, the claims of mature wire and air dielectric in short runs of wire making a sonic difference, discernable to the best of listeners, are outside the bounds of reality. So far, there is nothiing presented here that would convince me there is reason to believe otherwise.