Ok to start this thread off.

Please do NOT post information you read from the internet where the original writer could of pulled out there ass. Just don't do it. Facts only here please. No He said she said bullshit.

To get started, I was reading and come across some info. No need to get into what it was, but it lead me to really find the truth about wiring.

I think there is so much bullshit being passed around as the truth its not funny anymore.

WeLl I finally want to inform people of what's really being advertised, and how to draw a conclusion from that.

Ok so you have 4 major types of wire talked about in the audio world.

OFC

Silver Tinned OFC

Copper Tinned OFC

CCA

Basically I want to explain each one of those, and why one is better than the other. A pro and con of each per say.

Also, the truth about Strand Count would be nice too. I think people get caught up comparing it when they don't understand what it fully means.

I really think this could help inform a lot of people who misinform tons more on even more wrong info. I could take a stab at the answers but I'm not a 100% of my info, so therefore I don't want to state it.

I guess let's give this a try, and hope it works.

Pick one and use it and you will be fine. There is no magic wire, nothing special about anything. You get people who will swear on one versus another. You will not have an issue with any of it. If you do, it's due to misuse or abuse.

Its not that I care, really.

Just tired of people downing one product to push another and giving the wrong reason(s) in why not to use the one their dowing.

Pick one and use it and you will be fine. There is no magic wire, nothing special about anything. You get people who will swear on one versus another. You will not have an issue with any of it. If you do, it's due to misuse or abuse.

Exactly. The differences are minuscule

Use what ever you get your hands on...

Its not that I care, really.

Just tired of people downing one product to push another and giving the wrong reason(s) in why not to use the one their dowing.

Get used to it. Advertisement is designed to sell a product, good or bad and most people are suckered into that. Then the false information is often times passed on.

Pick one and use it and you will be fine. There is no magic wire, nothing special about anything. You get people who will swear on one versus another. You will not have an issue with any of it. If you do, it's due to misuse or abuse.

Exactly. The differences are minuscule

Use what ever you get your hands on...

But that isn't the point I'm making.

I'm referring to the people who swear by one product, yet steer misguided people into buying something doesn't fit their needs.

I'm not trying to debate which wire is best. Nor do I care.

Ok well lets get right down to the grit of this issue...

Tirefryr is right and wrong to some extent mostly right, wire is not just wire, when you are talking about a power supply of 5vdc @ 20ma max the right conductor is CRUCIAL. It may be the difference between having to go back to the R&D stage of a product or using what you have. That's the wrong, he is right about wire in the application of car audio. In the world of car audio we use current in such excessive amounts and use such short runs (relative to the total resistance of the conductor) that when your taking brand A compared to brand B the differences are all the way out to the 3rd and 4th decimal place resistance per foot....and unless they are using an O-scope to measure that you will never know, a typical fluke meter has a 1%+/-!!!!!

Now for the stand count.......

The idea behind the strand count is surface area, nothing more. Electrons flow from positive to negative over the surface of a conductor not though it. so the more strands you have in a conductor the more area you can generate in the same MCL or gauge of wire.

Its not that I care, really.

Just tired of people downing one product to push another and giving the wrong reason(s) in why not to use the one their dowing.

Get used to it. Advertisement is designed to sell a product, good or bad and most people are suckered into that. Then the false information is often times passed on.

Well duh.

And this is why I wanted to make a thread, to weed out all the bullshit and misleading info. Its not that I have a problem with advertising. The problem is people not understand exactly what they are preaching. And return gives out false information to the masses of people.

I just want a thread, stating the pros and cons of each wire type.

And then let people draw there own conclusion on which type of wire is for them. Instead of letting other peoples ignorance decide for them.

Ok well lets get right down to the grit of this issue...

Tirefryr is right and wrong to some extent mostly right, wire is not just wire, when you are talking about a power supply of 5vdc @ 20ma max the right conductor is CRUCIAL. It may be the difference between having to go back to the R&D stage of a product or using what you have. That's the wrong, he is right about wire in the application of car audio. In the world of car audio we use current in such excessive amounts and use such short runs (relative to the total resistance of the conductor) that when your taking brand A compared to brand B the differences are all the way out to the 3rd and 4th decimal place resistance per foot....and unless they are using an O-scope to measure that you will never know, a typical fluke meter has a 1%+/-!!!!!

Now for the stand count.......

The idea behind the strand count is surface area, nothing more. Electrons flow from positive to negative over the surface of a conductor not though it. so the more strands you have in a conductor the more area you can generate in the same MCL or gauge of wire.

That's what we're talking about tool.

If we needed to delve any further, I would bust out my knowledge. Thanks for making me feel like a dumb ass. I am going to call my mommy on you.

Do I have a few questions about different wire types I can't find answers to. I'm sure they are out there, just don't know where to look.

But take tinned OFC vs OFC.

From what I understand tinned OFC is oxygen free copper with a tinning procress to help prevent corrosion, right?

But with standard OFC, corrosion can't accrue because the lack of oxygen, right? Or am I missing something?

I guess I need these answered before I can ask anything else.

Stop the press, confusion is abundant.

Let's make this REALLY easy. Unless someone has measurements showing a different LCR of different wire they should stfu and not recommend jack. If you can't measure it you sure as fuck can't hear it. Measurement gear is WAY, WAY, WAY more sensitive than your ear.

And if you don't know what LCR is you should NEVER recommend a wire to anyone.

Its not that I care, really.

Just tired of people downing one product to push another and giving the wrong reason(s) in why not to use the one their dowing.

Huh? It's wire? Where do you see this?

Do I have a few questions about different wire types I can't find answers to. I'm sure they are out there, just don't know where to look.But take tinned OFC vs OFC.From what I understand tinned OFC is oxygen free copper with a tinning procress to help prevent corrosion, right?But with standard OFC, corrosion can't accrue because the lack of oxygen, right? Or am I missing something?I guess I need these answered before I can ask anything else.

Unless you are using the wire in a vacuum, it will always be exposed to oxygen. The tinning can help, but is not necessary. Non-ferrous metals are particularly prone to corroding especially when in contact with dissimilar metals. Take a piece of copper or aluminum and lay a piece of steel on it overnight. Check it out in the morning and tell me what you find. Now, there are instances where this won't happen, but we don't have the time or space to get into metallurgy here. Just buy some welding wire, or a decent brand name car audio wire and be done with it. If others want to waste their money on special wire, just let them.

And if you don't know what LCR is you should NEVER recommend a wire to anyone.

Left Center Right. DUH!

Seriously though, how many people do we see buying capacitors and have know idea what ESR is?

Do I have a few questions about different wire types I can't find answers to. I'm sure they are out there, just don't know where to look.But take tinned OFC vs OFC.From what I understand tinned OFC is oxygen free copper with a tinning procress to help prevent corrosion, right?But with standard OFC, corrosion can't accrue because the lack of oxygen, right? Or am I missing something?I guess I need these answered before I can ask anything else.

Unless you are using the wire in a vacuum, it will always be exposed to oxygen. The tinning can help, but is not necessary. Non-ferrous metals are particularly prone to corroding especially when in contact with dissimilar metals. Take a piece of copper or aluminum and lay a piece of steel on it overnight. Check it out in the morning and tell me what you find. Now, there are instances where this won't happen, but we don't have the time or space to get into metallurgy here. Just buy some welding wire, or a decent brand name car audio wire and be done with it. If others want to waste their money on special wire, just let them.

And if you don't know what LCR is you should NEVER recommend a wire to anyone.

Left Center Right. DUH!

Seriously though, how many people do we see buying capacitors and have know idea what ESR is?

No. LCR is a pub near my house

Strand count has nothing to do with DC since there is no skin effect and the current travels through the entire conductor. This is a huge, huge missunderstanding in the car audio community.

There is no such thing as copper tinned copper.

Normal copper that is tinned with anything only helps with oxidation in the DC realm. (again, no skin effect in DC so higher conductivity tinning has miniscule effect)

Aluminum wire of the same gauge is a much worse conductor than copper, no matter what the aluminum is plated with.

That is pretty much the end all and can't really be disputed. Period.

Strand count has nothing to do with DC since there is no skin effect and the current travels through the entire conductor. This is a huge, huge missunderstanding in the car audio community.

There is no such thing as copper tinned copper.

Normal copper that is tinned with anything only helps with oxidation in the DC realm. (again, no skin effect in DC so higher conductivity tinning has miniscule effect)

Aluminum wire of the same gauge is a much worse conductor than copper, no matter what the aluminum is plated with.

That is pretty much the end all and can't really be disputed. Period.

Pretty much covers it all.

The only thing I would add is that skin effect is also relative to frequency in AC. Within the audible bandwidth, it can basically be ignored for our purposes. You need to get closer to RF frequencies before it really becomes an issue.

I noticed I read the copper tinned statement wrong.

So to clear things up.

Tinning has no real effect on performance or longevity?

Also, strand count doesn't matter either. I assume if the wire is the same gauge, way less strands will do the same. I would think more thin strands will help with flex, but is that really the only benefit? Besides flexibility and a selling point.

hope this is helpful.

http://caraudiomag.com/articles/copper-wire-vs-copper-clad-aluminum-wire-wire-warnings

wonder how much it would cost to run this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litz_wire

Again, there is no skin effect in DC, so litz wire is useless.

The only place you will see litz wiring in car audio is the transformers in your amp's power supply. Why? Because you are dealing with frequencies that are much higher than the audio band and there is great skin effect.... Most amps switch well over 40 Khz...

I was being a smart ass

also that wire is fckin expensive