Karsoncookie Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 So I started shopping tonight for #12 or 14 zip cord wire to feed speakers. I've never before seen CU clad AL zip cord. And, ya gotta look at the fine print. Monoprice, Amazon, everywhere like. So, just a heads up such an animal exists. Lars 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No.4 Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 I ran into this same issue when I made interconnects using rg6. The center conductor in nearly all rg6 is copper clad steel.there is only a hand full of rg6 that has a solid copper conductor. As for wiring speakers I use cat5, it is also a high quality solid copper conductor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No.4 Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 (edited) Weird double post Edited February 26, 2016 by No.4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 So I started shopping tonight for #12 or 14 zip cord wire to feed speakers. These three names seem to come up anytime cables are mentioned. http://www.monoprice.com/category/cables/speaker-wires?mode=list&category_2=Home%20Theater/Speaker%20Wires http://www.knukonceptz.com/home-theater/speaker-wire/kord-speaker-wire/ http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsoncookie Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 I'm just sayin is zipcord was always CU in the olden days. Example- read the "Features" paragraph at bottom for the punch line- http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=14918 Lars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 (edited) I'm just sayin is zipcord was always CU in the olden days. Example- read the "Features" paragraph at bottom for the punch line- Ah, I see. I misread what the point of your post was. Part of the problem, is I did not know that was a problem. Copper clad aluminum has been around for a long time and some people like it because it is cheap. I'm cheap, but like you I prefer copper wire. Edited February 26, 2016 by wvu80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babadono Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Is this a problem? I know back in the day aluminum wire was used in houses and over time caused fires in homes because the dis similar metals at CONNECTIONS would tarnish and build up resistance, heat up until a fire started. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efzauner Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 (edited) I don't see any fundamental issue with copper clad aluminium wire (but that aluminum whatchamacallit stiff is just wrong!) as long as we can determine the resistance per length. We are used to looking up AWG wire charts based on copper to get resistance and base the gauge required on this. The problem I see is that I have never seen a resistance spec for alu copper clad.. nor any info on how thick it is! What if we take a educated guess? Resistivity of copper is 1.7 Alu is 50% higher at 2.6, from WIKI I get a copper by volume of 10-15 %. Assuming the worst, if we use 10%, then the majority of the conductivity will be that of aluminum. So use an aluminum wire 2 gauges bigger to get the same resistance as copper. Fine is you can save lots of money. The bigger issue is having to use thicker aluminium wire. Try threading 10 gauge into a binding post! Just for pricing at mono price Copper Clad alum 14 gauge is $12 /100ft http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=14918 Pure copper 16 gauge is $20/100ft http://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023903&p_id=2793&seq=1&format=2 So pick what you want...maybe compare 12 gauge CCA to 14 gauge pure OFC As for rg6 with center conductor of awg18 being 50mil, and skin depth at 100MHz of under 0.3 mil, the fact that it is copper clad steel is moot at RF frequencies. Edited February 26, 2016 by efzauner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efzauner Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Is this a problem? I know back in the day aluminum wire was used in houses and over time caused fires in homes because the dis similar metals at CONNECTIONS would tarnish and build up resistance, heat up until a fire started. I don't see this as a problem for speaker wire. The main problem (from wiki if you want to read the details) was dissimilar coefficient of expansion in aluminum to steel connections as in junction boxes that caused creep and loosenes, arching and other issues. Copper to alu wire connections caused corrosion. For speakers, the copper cladding should fix this. If your speaker wires are heating up at the binding posts.. that is an entirely different issue! But not unheard of. I have seen poor quality plastic banana plugs and jacks melt in car audio subwoofers because of lousy electrical connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube fanatic Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 So I started shopping tonight for #12 or 14 zip cord wire to feed speakers. I've never before seen CU clad AL zip cord. And, ya gotta look at the fine print. Monoprice, Amazon, everywhere like. So, just a heads up such an animal exists. Lars It seems that all the zip cord sold by Home Depot and Lowes is copper. The prices are decent as well. Maynard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Karsoncookie, on 26 Feb 2016 - 08:02 AM, said: I'm just sayin is zipcord was always CU in the olden days. Example- read the "Features" paragraph at bottom for the punch line- Ah, I see. I misread what the point of your post was. Part of the problem, is I did not know that was a problem. Copper clad aluminum has been around for a long time and some people like it because it is cheap. I'm cheap, but like you I prefer copper wire. So, has anyone done a comparison between these various kinds and brands of wire? It's not popular to concede such things here on the forum, but differences, usually but not always small, can reveal themselves on extended critical listening. AL wire is regarded as dangerous in household power applications, and has to be cinched up periodically because of oxidation. Doesn't sound what I'd like in my stereo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsoncookie Posted February 27, 2016 Author Share Posted February 27, 2016 AL, assuming the end connections are good, should be just fine for by far most applications. I guess my main point is the difference in ohms/ foot, so to just be aware of that, as a few posts above mention. Lars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason str Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Lots of fires from Aluminum wire around the area, lost lives as well. Personally i avoid the stuff but to each their own. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzannucci Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 Lots of fires from Aluminum wire around the area, lost lives as well. Personally i avoid the stuff but to each their own. Wasn't a lot of the corrosion because of the use of Aluminum and Copper components being tied together? I would think in a plating process, it wouldn't matter. Also most connectors for speakers are coated with brass or gold where no corrosion occurs (even if you scraped down through the copper). The key is does it sound good. All cabling will sound different (slightly but different). I much prefer the Silver ETP copper I use over regular copper. Less muddy and cleaner highs. I don't think you speaker wires should start a fire unless you are pumping megawatts into them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 (edited) Monoprice Choice is what you want. It's oxygen free copper. If you just shop for speaker wire and put in 14 gauge it will not even show the Choice stuff. I just ordered a 300' roll yesterday of the 14 gauge Choice. http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=2792 If you get the clad aluminum, you need to know the conductivity is about 2/3rds of pure copper plus there's that nasty chance of galvinization of dissimilar metals depending on environment variables like water. Edited February 28, 2016 by mustang guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.