silver is a better conductor than copper but there are two different ways silver is employed by cable manufacturers and they do effect sound quality. silver coated wire is basically copper with just enough silver around it to cover the copper. the same idea as gold platet terminals. the silver is there to ensure there is no degradation in the copper. there is also an extremely expensive and high quality silver wiring that i know Audioquest uses in their RCAs and speaker wire; it's what they call PSS pure solid silver. it's basically a long strand of silver and about $1500 a foot. i don't know much about video cables but i spent about $100 for a decent set of components and they are fabulous. even though i don't have a bigscreen the picture is still wonderfully clear. always remember your home theater experience is only as good as your weakest link which for most of us is our cables and wiring.
chris
