Speaker cables - Bare copper vs. tinned copper

[Fiftyfifty]

Hi,

Other things remaining equal, and ignoring the oxidation that takes place over time in case of bare copper, which one sounds better to you?

For me, bare copper brings a sweetness that I've never been able to achieve with tinned copper cables of similar construction and guage..

Cheers!

 

[Selvin]

Me too... not happy with tinned cables.

 

[prem]

Tinned cables work very well with high efficiency speakers, especially single drivers. Tinned copper cables is very musical and alive with the right speakers. I especially love the WE 16 awg speaker cable and the Belden 8402 ic. One of my favourite combos, irrespective of price. You can add the WE power cable to it to complete the sound. I like the 18 awg WE and the 10 awg WE power cable here depending on power requirements.

 

[raghupb]

Hi,

Other things remaining equal, and ignoring the oxidation that takes place over time in case of bare copper, which one sounds better to you?

For me, bare copper brings a sweetness that I've never been able to achieve with tinned copper cables of similar construction and guage..

Cheers!

If you want to slow down oxidation of bare copper, just use a bit of solder (tin) on the exposed portion.
Disclaimer: I have not heard commercial speaker cables in my rig; speaker wire is home made
Cheers,
Raghu

 

[Fiftyfifty]

Tinned cables work very well with high efficiency speakers, especially single drivers. Tinned copper cables is very musical and alive with the right speakers. I especially love the WE 16 awg speaker cable and the Belden 8402 ic. One of my favourite combos, irrespective of price. You can add the WE power cable to it to complete the sound. I like the 18 awg WE and the 10 awg WE power cable here depending on power requirements.

I agree speaker sensitivity comes into play. With my 89db speakers, I'm tending to lean towards 16 awg bare copper.

If you want to slow down oxidation of bare copper, just use a bit of solder (tin) on the exposed portion.
Disclaimer: I have not heard commercial speaker cables in my rig; speaker wire is home made
Cheers,
Raghu

Yes, tinning the exposed parts is one option. Using a longer length and choping off an inch every year is another. But my question was: what is your preference on the bare vs. tinned sound?

 

[prem]

Also try 12 awg copper cables. Presently in my system I use basic Radio Shack ic and 12 awg Radio Shack Auvio speaker cable. These are copper cables. It works very well.

 

[spirovious]

For me, bare copper brings a sweetness that I've never been able to achieve with tinned copper cables of similar construction and guage..

This my general observation too.But sometimes it can be opposite.When l compare bare copper monoprice 16 awg cable with falcon same guage, falcon sounds sweet and monoprice sounds little sharp.

 

[prem]

Fiftyfifty, with your speakers, copper is a better option. If you want to improve leading edge, you can try pure silver cables. Silver wire work well with certain speakers. Audio Note is one such speaker. Tinned copper is unlikely to work with your speaker since it already has a very rich sound.

 

[lalit09]

Hi,

Other things remaining equal, and ignoring the oxidation that takes place over time in case of bare copper, which one sounds better to you?

For me, bare copper brings a sweetness that I've never been able to achieve with tinned copper cables of similar construction and guage..

Cheers!

Totally agree i have tried silver plated and tin, but in the end copper was sweetest.

 

[raghupb]

Yes, tinning the exposed parts is one option. Using a longer length and choping off an inch every year is another. But my question was: what is your preference on the bare vs. tinned sound?

Honestly, I don't know. I have not heard anything other than bare copper/OFC in my rig.
Speakers deployed are:
B&W DM303 - Warm/Laid-back presentation, 88 dB
KEF R300 - Slightly in-your-face presentation, 88 dB
MA Radius 45 - bright because of size/type, 87 dB

Edit:
@Fiftyfifty, for reference I use Finolex 2.5 sqmm

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[drkrack]

For me, bare copper brings a sweetness that I've never been able to achieve with tinned copper cables

Yes Multi Stranded Copper brings sweetness and warmth, but loses on PRAT in my experience, music sounded slightly crying... Like Walkman days when Dry cells are just losing their potency.

The tinned didn't appeal me anything extra over my basic bluejeans ten white, so I never used them again.

Silver Mixed Cu Cables corrected the PRAT issues instantly but adding a bit brightness or edginess depending upon the blend and quality. By far the best choice among these.


Uniform Solid Core Copper (1 sqmm x 8) was Far better than regular multi Stranded Copper as far as tonality, imaging and holographic presentation is concerned, but still the correct PRAT I felt missing slightly, like pure copper.

Multiple Solid Core Copper with Silver with Irregular core Thickness was the best I could experience, before I switched to the expensive Transparent Audio speaker cables with Network Box in between. Multiple solid core wire with irregular thickness like Kimber 12Tc had extraordinary control over Prat without adding brightness. The braided geometry has its own advantages. This has been strictly my experience YMMV.

 

[Fiftyfifty]

Yes Multi Stranded Copper brings sweetness and warmth, but loses on PRAT in my experience, music sounded slightly crying... Like Walkman days when Dry cells are just losing their potency.

The tinned didn't appeal me anything extra over my basic bluejeans ten white, so I never used them again.

Silver Mixed Cu Cables corrected the PRAT issues instantly but adding a bit brightness or edginess depending upon the blend and quality. By far the best choice among these.


Uniform Solid Core Copper (1 sqmm x 8) was Far better than regular multi Stranded Copper as far as tonality, imaging and holographic presentation is concerned, but still the correct PRAT I felt missing slightly, like pure copper.

Multiple Solid Core Copper with Silver with Irregular core Thickness was the best I could experience, before I switched to the expensive Transparent Audio speaker cables with Network Box in between. Multiple solid core wire with irregular thickness like Kimber 12Tc had extraordinary control over Prat without adding brightness. The braided geometry has its own advantages. This has been strictly my experience YMMV.

Such a nicely articulated experience. Thank you for sharing

 

[Miany]

Multiple Solid Core Copper with Silver with Irregular core Thickness was the best I could experience, before I switched to the expensive Transparent Audio speaker cables with Network Box in between.

Which model of the Transparent audio cable is this?

 

[Fiftyfifty]

Fiftyfifty, with your speakers, copper is a better option. If you want to improve leading edge, you can try pure silver cables. Silver wire work well with certain speakers. Audio Note is one such speaker. Tinned copper is unlikely to work with your speaker since it already has a very rich sound.

For leading edge, that characteristic is provided by Joshua's IC in my setup

 

[Kannan]

I hav used quite a few speaker cables including Klotz, Audioquest, DiY Litz, Belden 5000 series (OFC), multistranded CAT5, BJC (which essentially is Belden 5000) and some tinned copper cables including the present 8477 which has been there for more than 2 years now.
Tinned copper cables work excellent after 150 to 200 hours burn-in. I find 8477 excellent value for money.
Similarly even with line level cables, tinned copper is quite good.

That said pure copper cables are also excellent, but pure silver of silver tipped cables have never worked for me.

Given to choose, I would take either

 

[Fiftyfifty]

I hav used quite a few speaker cables including Klotz, Audioquest, DiY Litz, Belden 5000 series (OFC), multistranded CAT5, BJC (which essentially is Belden 5000) and some tinned copper cables including the present 8477 which has been there for more than 2 years now.
Tinned copper cables work excellent after 150 to 200 hours burn-in. I find 8477 excellent value for money.
Similarly even with line level cables, tinned copper is quite good.

That said pure copper cables are also excellent, but pure silver of silver tipped cables have never worked for me.

Given to choose, I would take either

+1 to Belden 8477. I'm currently biwiring with Belden 8477 for bass (12awg tinned copper) and Klotz S215 (16awg bare copper, Rs.70/m) for mid /treble.

Also try 12 awg copper cables. Presently in my system I use basic Radio Shack ic and 12 awg Radio Shack Auvio speaker cable. These are copper cables. It works very well.

I'll be happy to try Auvio if there's a source in India or abroad

 

[jls001]

I'll be happy to try Auvio if there's a source in India or abroad

The Auvio 12 gauge is worth trying if one can somehow source it.

 

[prem]

You’ll have to keep trying on eBay. It’s out of production.

 

[drkrack]

Which model of the Transparent audio cable is this?

I am Currently using Transparent Audio transparent plus,
But, the comment Multiple Silver mixed copper Solid cores with irregular thickness, refers to Kimber 12tc and the likes. The irregular thickness solid core has better overall control than the uniform thickness ones. I saw Rethm & Lyrita audio using single core wires in their Demo Rooms, more specifically high guage magnet wires covered with only desktop cable organizer as a insulation. They sounded pretty good, but at home I definitely preferred the irregular solid core Silver mixed copper cable over uniform core ones. The difference with my current speaker cables was hardly < 5%.

 

[prem]

Rethm AFAIK, till a couple of years back used flat ribbon cables. They were made in-house and looked like Goertz cables. Initially he used copper ribbons. Later he moved to silver ribbons and then for a long time he used copper ribbon for signal and silver ribbon for return. He uses these same cables for internal wiring to the single driver. If he’s changed his cabling now, I wouldn’t know.