on a returning note, how do you guys feel about cotton insulated bare copper wire for enclosure hookup vs regular ol' ofc stranded? From what I read solid core has desirable traits but I wonder if the impurity of the material is worth trading stranded ofc for. Because ofc solid core is just downright unaffordable to me, and the ones listed on ebay never say anything about their material purity as they mostly seem to be for crafting uses.
The purity of the metal is irrelevant. At least for any electrical grade copper wire.
Regular ol' ETP copper has the same conductivity as OFHC copper.
ETP copper is made using very precisely controlled amounts of oxygen to scavenge impurities and take them out of solution. This increases the conductivity of the copper. Oxygen free copper, since it can't have any oxygen in it, can't take advantage of oxygen scavenging and so it needs to have a higher inherent purity in order to have the same conductivity as ETP copper.
As far as audio goes, OFHC is nothing more than a marketing buzzword. There are certain situations where you don't want to have any oxygen in your copper. Such as when it's being heated in a reducing atmosphere like hydrogen. The hydrogen reacts with the oxygen and causes the copper to become embrittled.
This is wholly irrelevant to anything having to do with audio. The marketeers just latched onto the acronym so they could offer something "different."
se
Regular ol' ETP copper has the same conductivity as OFHC copper.
ETP copper is made using very precisely controlled amounts of oxygen to scavenge impurities and take them out of solution. This increases the conductivity of the copper. Oxygen free copper, since it can't have any oxygen in it, can't take advantage of oxygen scavenging and so it needs to have a higher inherent purity in order to have the same conductivity as ETP copper.
As far as audio goes, OFHC is nothing more than a marketing buzzword. There are certain situations where you don't want to have any oxygen in your copper. Such as when it's being heated in a reducing atmosphere like hydrogen. The hydrogen reacts with the oxygen and causes the copper to become embrittled.
This is wholly irrelevant to anything having to do with audio. The marketeers just latched onto the acronym so they could offer something "different."
se
thanks, steve. your kind of answer is just the reason why i have so much respect for this site. i guess i can buy them craft wires from ebay and get a pat on the back from my wallet.
I used the silver plated copper wire that is used for making jewelry... I gotta say it works a treat and sounds perfect.
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