What do you like and dislike about vintage Western Electric cables?

WESTERN ELECTRIC SPECIFICATION

Conductors
Stranded or solid tin-coated copper conforming to ASTM B-33 and B174 or B-173.

Insulation
85°C rated Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) conforming to Underwriters’ Laboratories AWM Style 1491 and CSA C22.2 No.210.2 requirements.

Optional Cabling/Shielding

2, 3, or 4 conductors may be twisted together when requested. A braided shield may be applied over 1, 2, 3, or 4 conductors with an overall lacquered cotton braid.

Covering
All sizes: lacquered cotton braid conforming to UL requirements is applied over the insulation. The colors shall be as specified on the order.

Type
UL Listed AwM Style 1491 90°C, 600 volts VW-1. CSA listed AWM I A/B 90°C, 300 volts FT-1. RoHS Compliant and Lead-Free.

Jenving Technology’s SUPRA Cables from Sweden have long used tinned copper conductors and are known for the body and naturalness of their sound, while being a relative bargain in price for performance. Here is their take on why the tin-coated copper sounds better:

In addition to the corrosion resistance, the tin plating contributes also to a much wanted skin-effect reduction and prevents the electrons (i.e. the current) from disruptive ”jumps” between the strand surfaces, hence adding unwanted timing errors to the music signal. The insulation of a select grade chemically stable PVC further improving the sonically benign tin surface over time.

If you compare specifications, you find similar attributes between the SUPRA cables and the WE KS13385 hookup wire, including tin-coated, stranded, annealed copper, and a PVC insulation. The SUPRA line probably offers a slightly higher purity copper.

The popularity in the WE wire promoted by Mr. Day resulted in a couple of different manufacturers making their own versions. Both Duelund Coherent Audio and Jupiter Condenser Co. manufacture hook-up wire made from tinned copper conductors with cotton insulation, but no PVC, and both offer twisted pairs of their wire for ready made speaker cables or interconnects. Some believe they prefer the sound of these wires due to the absence of PVC. I have made speaker and interconnect cables using the Duelund wire and I actually slightly prefer the sound of cables made from the NOS WE wire.

One nice thing about the PVC insulated WE wire is that it is rated for a higher voltage that should allow it to be safely used to construct power cables. I am pretty sure the WE wire is the same wire used by Triode Wire Labs (TWL) in their American Series power and speaker cables, and also by Benjamin Zwickel of Mojo Audio in power cables he used to construct and sell. The only difference in construction of the different gauges of WE KS13385 hookup wire is the number of 30 awg strands in each. I have constructed several power cables using the WE 10 awg wire and I am using a pair of doubled up (i.e., six, 10 awg conductors for 7 awg per pole, plus ground) power cords on my monoblock amplifiers. IMO they sound great, even compared to Furutech, Neotech, and Isoclean power cables I have here.

I have a bunch of the NOS WE wire here in 16, 14 and 10 awg that I purchased from tajacobs on ebay, and I have made multiple speaker, power, and interconnect cables in various gauges. To me, they all sound good and they all exhibit a midrange focused, smooth, full-bodied sound that will probably not satisfy those looking for pristine detail, but may be just the thing for those seeking musicality, IMO.