Help me out, does anyone have a link to a non-marketing technical article that has measured data of physical parameters for OCC copper. Things like thermal capacity and conductivity, fatigue and Youngs modulus, chemical stability, and electrical parameters. I did a quick search and found nothing. I am trying to keep an open mind.
https://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?start=10&q=Ohno+Continuous+Cast&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5&as_vis=1
15.900 articles should give you something e.g.
Microstructural and Property Evolution of Continuous Columnar-Grained Polycrystalline Copper during Extreme Plastic Deformation at Room Temperature
An extreme extensibility with a true strain of 11.12 has been obtained for continuous columnar-grained (CCG) polycrystalline copper at room temperature, which was cold-drawn from a 10-mm-diameter as-cast rod into a 38.5-μm-diameter ultra-fine wire without any intermediate softening heat treatment. During the extreme plastic deformation, the ultimate tensile stress increased from 140 MPa for as-cast CCG copper to 525 MPa for the deformed sample at a true stain of 11.12, while the relative electrical conductivity maintained a high value of 97.6% IACS. On this basis, CCG copper is an excellent raw material for the fabrication of ultra-fine wires with both high strength and high electrical conductivity. The original columnar grains experienced grain subdivision and formed fibrous grains along the drawing direction with a fibrous longitudinal morphology and curly transverse microstructure at medium to high strain. The subdivision of the fibrous grains then went on as the extreme plastic deformation continued. Large amounts of strain-induced boundaries and microstructural refinement facilitated the storage of abundant glide dislocations created by extreme plastic deformation. Thus, extreme plastic extensibility can be achieved through continuous work hardening of CCG copper.
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Oh well...
Cooper used in electric wires, from high power to low power wiring is electrolytic copper.
It already has very high purity.
Google search for "Purity of electrolytic copper". You'll find 3 grades and their different properties. The purpose of the Oxygen Free kind has nothing to do with audio.
Cooper used in electric wires, from high power to low power wiring is electrolytic copper.
It already has very high purity.
Google search for "Purity of electrolytic copper". You'll find 3 grades and their different properties. The purpose of the Oxygen Free kind has nothing to do with audio.
First thanks for the link.
Regarding applicability to audio. I may have to dodge bullets, but from a sound quality I say no. On the other hand such wire may like my provide higher reliability and mechanical robustness.
Regarding applicability to audio. I may have to dodge bullets, but from a sound quality I say no. On the other hand such wire may like my provide higher reliability and mechanical robustness.
Not really. All his wires were the genuine thing, did plenty of comparisons at the time. It would be highly unusual for a manufacturer to support grey distribution channels. Albert was selling his stuff at 30-50% below list.
Plus they fit under the rugs really well! That’s a great idea to make flat speaker cables On the cheap!
My 2 cents: I stick with belden for speaker wires (5t00up) and belden coax (1694a =rg6 or 1505a = rg59) for interconnects. I've also used some Mogami speaker cable and headphone cable (2543 maybe?)
Why? They are reasonably priced from well respected manufacturers and from what I hear well respected in lots of industries. Belden give the specs QUANTITATIVELY.
Why? They are reasonably priced from well respected manufacturers and from what I hear well respected in lots of industries. Belden give the specs QUANTITATIVELY.
Speaking of on the cheap, I found Dayton cheap $0.70 RCA plugs sound really good, better than Dayton's more expensive plugs. The lighter the better. Avoid all binding posts. They sound bad. I just use brass screws and washers from Homedepot to hold wires together both at amplifier and speaker ends. Cheap and sound good. A bit of hassle when you have to change amps or speakers but that's OK.
A couple of cable salesmen showed up at a the home studio of a well known artist to demonstrate their speaker cables. It was to be an AB session with new cables swapped in after listening to the system first. The time came for the cable swap and the engineer disappeared for the rewire. When the engineer reappeared and playback started, the salesmen proclaimed everything sounded better, mids, highs and lows.
After the salesmen had departed the artist asked the engineer 'what do you think?'. The engineer replied 'I never plugged in the new cables'.
After the salesmen had departed the artist asked the engineer 'what do you think?'. The engineer replied 'I never plugged in the new cables'.
Here are a couple I have been digging into recently:
Copper More Conductive than Silver
Thesis on Fine Grain Copper
There is some very good scientific research showing how reducing grain boundaries can improve signal transmission.
It is intended for audio or a lab experiment?
Study what happens to single grain copper after creep.
For audio use, a slightly heavier gauge cable than adequate is enough, which means multi strand cable of the next higher standard size.
And also think what will happen to the cable over time, will it oxidize after the insulation is exposed at the ends?
Will you buy new cables then?
Also see AC impedance curves for 99% and 99.999 % copper cables, in the audio frequency band.
You may be surprised.
You remember saccharin?
It was vilified, then it turned out that you had to be taking 30 servings of tea or coffee daily for 15 years for it to make you sick.
It seems saccharin was vilified to help the sales of alternates like aspartame and stevia, which are much more expensive.
And another poster was after 1875 series amps and distortion plots, until I pointed out that it was at 250 kHz, well beyond hearing range.
So go through the material, and remember that a lot of content on the web may be manipulated for commercial reasons.
And do read about Monster Cable, good for a smile...
Study what happens to single grain copper after creep.
For audio use, a slightly heavier gauge cable than adequate is enough, which means multi strand cable of the next higher standard size.
And also think what will happen to the cable over time, will it oxidize after the insulation is exposed at the ends?
Will you buy new cables then?
Also see AC impedance curves for 99% and 99.999 % copper cables, in the audio frequency band.
You may be surprised.
You remember saccharin?
It was vilified, then it turned out that you had to be taking 30 servings of tea or coffee daily for 15 years for it to make you sick.
It seems saccharin was vilified to help the sales of alternates like aspartame and stevia, which are much more expensive.
And another poster was after 1875 series amps and distortion plots, until I pointed out that it was at 250 kHz, well beyond hearing range.
So go through the material, and remember that a lot of content on the web may be manipulated for commercial reasons.
And do read about Monster Cable, good for a smile...
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I have purchased from Michael, he's great! His ordering process is very "old school," where you start with a .pdf file and send him an email with what you want, and he invoices you. It's quaint and old fashioned, but he seems like a stand-up kind of guy.
Hey Dusty,
Have you actually looked at the sites of the recommended vendors?
Michael Percy's catalog is 4 years old and he used to regularly update his offerings every few months. He lists Cardas enameled wire, not OCCC wire.
Take 5 sells lots of cryo treated wire including Neotech OCCC single wire and cables.
Soniccraft and Parts Connection sell somewhat the same stuff.
VHAudio sells different OCCC wire.
That's about it.
Were you looking for something else?
Have you actually looked at the sites of the recommended vendors?
Michael Percy's catalog is 4 years old and he used to regularly update his offerings every few months. He lists Cardas enameled wire, not OCCC wire.
Take 5 sells lots of cryo treated wire including Neotech OCCC single wire and cables.
Soniccraft and Parts Connection sell somewhat the same stuff.
VHAudio sells different OCCC wire.
That's about it.
Were you looking for something else?