Oxygen free wire?

Question

what does this matter.Or is this some NEW thing they are doing to wire for speakers??

Answer 1

It really is a way to JUSTIFY the cost of the cables....the difference in resistance is so miniscule it wouldn't affect the signal quality on a 6 or 12 foot run of cable....

Answer 2

I saw an article a while ago about a big exhibit for a major electronics manufacturer in, I think it was, London (UK) where someone had forgotten to bring the hook up wire. the sound engineer needed some wire to connect up the multi-thousand dollar equipment, so he bought it locally in the form of a flexible outdoor electrical extension cord (you know, the yellow cables you use to connect up an electric garden mower or whatever). He simply cut off the ends and used the cable to hook up the speakers. Apparently visitors were very impressed with the sound and a few even remarked on the snazzy yellow cables ... thinking they were some form of expensive high end speaker cable.

The point is, here was a major manufacturer hooking up equipment where results would be judged critically ,,, using common electrical wire for the speaker leads.

Don't worry about "oxygen free", or other esoteric features of speaker wire (It's not the oxygen removal per se that makes the difference .. it's the iron that gets removed during removal of the oxygen that results in slight (and insignificant) reduction in resistance). The main consideration is gauge of the wire ... and even that isn't as critical as many would tell you (See link for down to earth advice by an expert).

Answer 3

I've never heard that OFC made any difference in sound.

Copper oxidizes and turns a dull-brown (like an old penny).  Over a few years, it 'eats' into the thin copper strands and you have to cut & trim the wires every few years.

For OFC - when they melt the copper to make the initial wire, they spray a neutral gas around it while it cools.  This treatment slows later oxidization something like 5-10 times compared to wire that is exposed to oxygen.

OFC is not exotic, expensive or a scam.  The good "Carol" stuff, "Sound King" and other sub $0.50/ft wire are all OFC.

I found a un-opened spool of Radio Shack speaker wire where the copper had oxidized all along the wire even under the clear plastic insulation.

I'll be the first to scream when I read c**p like:

- Special windings of the copper strands temporially align the sound to restore the timing.

- Special network elements in the wire fix ...

But OFC is ... is not junk science.  It's just makes the exposed copper last longer between trims.

If you are running wire on the surface and it's easy to replace 2 years from now - dont worry about it.  But if you are going in-wall, get OFC.  Chances are it's not more than pennies per foot vs the other stuff.

Answer 4

pure less impurities but in time they lose resistance due to oxidation i like gold (24k) coated or silver

Answer 5

Oxygen free copper is not new. It's been around for quite some time now, it's just a purer form of copper, oxygen and other trace compounds are refined out. The end result is copper that is closer to 100% pure which is a better conductor.

Answer 6

Its pure garbage.   If you hook up sensitive test equipment then yes there is a SLIGHT difference. In terms of sound no person no matter what they say can hear the difference between a decent quality low price cable and a ridiculously priced "high end" cable. Its a way for them to squeeze more money out of people who dont know better.  They use fancy words and numbers to make you confused then they sell you c**p you dont need!!