Not a fan of rhodium here either. I am generally ok with gold over copper and also like unplated copper. Interesting thing with Furutech is that the FI-11M(CU) plugs I recommended were shown to be made from Alpha - pure copper conductor on their website but Alpha phosphor bronze conductor on the cut sheet I downloaded from Partsconnexion.
I was always of the impression those plugs were constructed from pure copper. Phosphor bronze basically sucks as a conductive alloy, sort of like brass. OTOH, Tellurium copper, which is sometimes used where strength/durability is necessary, is generally rated at about 90 percent or higher IACS.
Pure copper would be my go to, with gold plated pure copper as a second choice, like these spades from Furutech or these from Vampire which, IMO punch way above their weight - here too.
It seems there should be some pure copper ac plugs/IECs that don't break the bank. Maybe something at Ali Express like these from Viborg (VM501 or VM511)?
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Not sure what would be the appeal of Beryllium Copper as an audio connector/conductor. That copper alloy is usually spec’ed when hardness, strength, and corrosion resistance is needed. I had a set of Beryllium Copper golf clubs (irons) once. However, wrt conductivity, Beryllium Copper is less than 50 percent IACS.
I find it interesting that some claim to hear differences between oxygen free copper wire at about 100 percent IACS and OCC copper wire at about 101percent IACS, and yet have no issues using connectors that have nowhere near the conductivity of any type of copper - I chalk it up to either weird audiophile lore or, maybe an indicator that this stuff doesn’t make as big a difference as we would like to believe.
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You didn’t say which component you are planning to power with your cable. IME, high current power amps and even preamps like large wires while digital front end components can get by with less copper but do better with good shielding.
Also IME, the Furutech stuff works quite well for simple DIY, and Eric made a good observation about the current 20% off ac products sale at Partsconnexion. I like the Furutech unplated copper plugs and IECs. As for the power cable, Furutech has a variety and I am not familiar with all of them. I have used the FP-3TS20 (14awg) and found it to be a good basic cable for front end components and preamps. For power cables I like having more copper so you might check out this 10awg Oyaide Oyaide Tunami V2 cable that is available from VH Audio. I made two of them and IME, they sound great but the wire is really stiff. I suspect this Neotech NEP-3200 OCC Copper Power Cable from VH Audio would also be great for amplifiers.
If you are more adventurous, you could consider making cables using NOS Western Electric wire like this 10awg twisted pair. I have not purchased from this seller but the pictured wire looks authentic. Put a tinned braided shield (or, Interference-Shielding Expandable Sleeving) over the pair and counter-spiral a 10awg ground wire, connect the shield at the plug end only, connect the other wires at both ends, cover with techflex and you have a nice PC for your amplifier at a very low cost. BTW, that is the same Western Electric wire used by TWL in their well-regarded American series power and speaker cables. I use doubled up runs (7awg) for the two PCs powering my amplifiers, but they are difficult to terminate when doubled. You might also look at this website for some interesting DIY cable configurations that seem to be popular.
Good luck.
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I found the Oyaide Tunami v2 power cable to sound good on my power amplifiters. It uses the high polymer polyolefin insulation discussed in the information linked a couple of posts previously for their VONDITA Xe cord. It also uses PCOCC-A wire, copper foil shielding, and a Carbon PE layer. At 5.5 mm squared, it is a bit larger than 10 awg per run so should be sufficient for just about any power amplifier, which is what I used them for.
What I don’t understand, is the polarity between their attention to detail related to the wire conductivity in the power cable but then their use of plug connector blades made from deoxidized Phosphorus Bronze, which has relatively low conductivity in the range of about 11-20 IACS. I made cords from their P-079/C-079 plugs/IECs and Furutech FP-Alpha-3 cable to power my monoblocks and the sound was good but not as dynamic and rich as I hear from my 7awg WE wire cords that use Furutech FI-11 plugs, and also not as good on my amps as the Oyaide Tunami v2 cords that I now use on my preamp. The 7awg WE cords are very similar to the well-regarded 7-Plus American Series from TWL.
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@piaudiol
I like the looks of those Iego plugs and I also like how most of their verbiage seems focused on materials, manufacturing processes, and performance instead of the pseudo-technological jargon I see from some other manufacturers of audio products.
I had a hard time figuring out where/how to purchase those plugs based on the website information. There doesn’t seem to be much information out there on Iego. Through a Google search, I finally found them on Amazon and it seems Alex Sound Technology has a new Amazon Store site. Alex Sound Technology is apparently located in Windermere, Florida, near Orlando, but I couldn’t find much information about them. Are they newer? Have you purchased from them? I would definitely try the Iego plugs and will probably go ahead and order some from the Amazon site.
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@twoleftears
Viborg seems to make some pretty good stuff that they sell at relatively low prices. Here is an example of their pure copper blade ac plugs. They also make other types of wire connectors and other stuff.
Furutech's Alpha is a two-step process that they apply to a variety of metals. The process (described here) involves:
- deep cryogenic freeze
- Ring Demagnetization treatment
The various metals/conductors used by Furutech that may undergo Alpha treatment, include:
- PCOCC: α (Alpha)-OCC conductor
- PC-Triple C: α (Alpha)-triple C conductor
- Nano liquid infused OFC: α (Alpha) Nano-OFC conductor
- Silver and OCC copper alloy conductor: α (Alpha) silver OCC hybrid conductor
- μ-OFC: α (Alpha) μ-OFC conductor
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@williewonka
This link sorts it out with a bit more information. Viborg uses the 6 black and 6 red wires as positive/neutral wires, and the 4 yellow wires as ground. I would be interested to hear it but there are a couple design choices that I would not have made, plus the math is wrong on the linked website:
- A safe practice is to use a ground wire that is at least as large as the positive/neutral wires
- My experience for noise reduction in a power cable or balanced IC is to have the ground outside of the shield and preferably spaced a bit away from the main conductors, instead of inside of the main conductors
- The math below from the website is wrong because an area of 3.49mm² is just over 12 awg not 19.5 awg, and an area of 2.32mm² is between about 13-14 awg and also not 19.5 awg
From the website:
Conductor material: 4N OFC
Conductor structure: 16 spiral super-Litz structure
Main conductors : 6x 0.5813mm² (19.5AWG) = 3.49mm²
Negative : 6x 0.5813mm² (19.5AWG) = 3.49mm²
Ground : 4x 0.5813mm² (19.5AWG) = 2.32mm²
Shield: 100% copper shield
Insulation: DuPont TEFLON (red, black, yellow)
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@mbolek
Take a look at the link I posted earlier. The math doesn’t work on the cable gauge and, if each wire is the same gauge then the ground with only 4 wires is smaller than the hot and neutral which each have 6 wires. If the posted wire size area is in fact 0.5813mm² then the following sizes would be accurate:
- hot and neutral - 6x 0.5813mm² = 3.49mm² = 12 awg
- ground - 4x 0.5813mm² (19.5AWG) = 2.32mm² = 13.5 awg
The good news is that 12 awg would be a better size for most power cords compared to 19 awg.
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@chocaholic
Why not just make a cord out of the same Romex?
Your comment reminded me of reading posts about Romex and power cords that were written years ago by Steve Nugent, the owner/designer at Empirical Audio, who said:
Good power cords, (primaily for power amps), are low inductance. The idea is to have a cord that is at least as low inducance as the ROMEX in the walls and yet flexible and durable. The reason I believe that low-inductance power cords can make a positive difference, particualrly in power amplifiers is that they eliminate inductance in the path from the power grid to the amplifier power supply. This inductance, I believe, can cause the voltage to sag at the output power transistors druing high-current transients in the music when the capacitor bank discharges and power line must recharge it quickly (during the time that the recitifier diodes are conducting), in order that a sage in voltage does not occur at the power transistor DC supply.
A typical 14 gauge rubber power cord has an inductance of .4 uH/foot, whereas the 14/2 ROMEX in the walls has an inductance of around .26 uH/foot. Lower inductance is always better, even lower than the ROMEX, with improvements depending on the length of your in-wall ROMEX run.
If you search Audio Asylum for the word Romex and posts authored by audioengr, which is Steve's moniker at AA, you will find some interesting power distribution topics covered such as:
- how to improve in-wall wiring, i.e., large gauge, solid core, twisted pair with a counter-spiraled ground wire (that must be shielded in a conduit),
- why shielding is not necessary in power cords,
- the importance of inductance and why stranded power cords can have higher inductance per foot than Romex,
- potential effect of a high impedance power "system" consisting of the power supply, power cord and Romex to the panel
- what might cause a voltage drop in equipment power supplies
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