My First DIY Power Cable

@williewonka 

Do you have any experience with Viborg products?

Do you know what Furutech's alpha copper is?

@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:

1. deep cryogenic freeze
2. 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

@twoleftears - yes I used Viborg once - they are about the same quality and level of performance as the Vanguard products -

• there is not much difference between Viborg and Sonar Quest performance wise
• I prefer the Sonar Quest because
  • they have been inserted/removed many times into Hospital grade outlets (which grip lke a vice) and their silver coating is still intact, whreas the Voborg is looking a little worn
  • the screws do not strip as easily on the Sonar Quest plugs

Alpha wire - is is basically the same thiing as UP-OCC wire - it has a very long chrystaline srtucture.

• there appears to be a few ways of achieveing the same result
  • OCC (Ohno Continuous Cast) is the name given to the casting process developed to help defeat annealing issues and virtually eliminate all grain boundaries in copper or silver with a unique patented process.
    • The OCC casting method uses specialized heated moulds in order to draw a single crystal up to 125 meters in length.
  • another wire uses a process of repeated forging to acieve a similar result
  • α (Alpha) OCC is made with high-purity oxygen-free copper using a special casting process.
    • Unlike regular OFC, almost all of the impurities of this high-purity OCC have been removed at the micron level through a special casting process unique to Furutech

They would all have very similar abilities WRT signal conveyance.

I use the solid UP-OCC wire (Hookup wire) or the Neotech UP-OCC (Hookup wire) both from Parts Connexion

But some people pefer the Furutech

At this level of perofrmance I think there is very little between them

Hope that helps.- Steve

rhodium or Platinum are among the worst metals for plating based on conductivity

• any other type of plating will degrade performance

Making a decision on "sound" for rhodium based on conductivity is incorrect.  The "conductivity" of the metal really does not dictate how good it will sound.  You need to experiment within your system to decide if rhodium is good or not.  For those who have tried rhodium and disliked it, I believe it is from one of 3 reasons:

1. They did not take the time to fully burn in (or break in, whatever) the conductor.  Rhodium requires a good 300-350 hours to fully burn in.  There are stages during this process where it is extremely painful to listen to.  Just be patient.  Many have discarded rhodium because they were not patient enough for the full burn-in process.

2. If the rhodium completed burn in, it could be a synergy problem with other components in the system.  When a system is built a certain way, rhodium is the most transparent, revealing and realistic sounding result.  If you get a bright or harsh or sterile result, it is mostly due to synergy with another component.  Gold-plated conductors have a much warmer sound and can mask the "sterile" or "bright" character of some electronics.

3. The person just has a prejudice against rhodium because of the low conductivity.

@jbuhl  Don't stress.  Focus on good conductors, good connectors and secure connections...

Lots of knowledge from Steve and the other folks.   I have used both Viborg and SonarQuest.   Both are very good.  Even though I prefer silver over pure copper, I have no issues using rhodium based connectors.  

Nice Easter sale going on at partsconnexion, so may be a good time to pick up more DIY stuff...