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Pure silver wire: solid, stranded or Litz wire?

I have quite a long experience in using pure solid silver wires in my DIY cables. Overall I am very happy with the results but I always enjoy trying out different things. After having tried a few types of solid silver I ended up with OCC. Not so much because of the claims about 6N-7N purity and mono crystal nature but because it simply sounds at least as good (but probably much better) than the standard 99.99% silver, it is much easier to work with and it is immune to corrosion. These are my observations and not claims by the various suppliers.
However, I am interested in trying out a stranded or Litz version of this silver (or any other type of silver that may be available at reasonable prices? Anyone with experience on it? Positives & negatives?

Regarding the stranded pure silver I do not see many benefits other than flexibility. I am also not impressed by the idea that many bare silver wires are in constant contact with each other. On the other hand Litz silver wires (individually insulated cores braided/twisted together forming a sigle conductors with an outer insulation)seem to be the ideal situation. However, they do not seem to be widely available?
I have come accross Litz type silver only in the case of internal tonearm wires (i.e. Audionote)but at very small sizes and very high prices.
Other than this some online research only came up with very limited sources about larger sizes (HGC and audionote). I have collected a few relevant direct links from different suppliers if anyone is interested but I am not sure if I am allowed to post them in the forums.

Anyway, in terms of Litz style wire, it appears that there is the usual Litz of very fine coated/enamelled cores or a simpler form with larger cores (but less in number)threaded in tiny teflon tubes of the same size before they are tightly twisted together. The second seemed quite an attractive option. It is much cheaper than the first Litz option, more flexible than solid wires, and the little Teflon tubes offer better insulation than a few coatings can do. It also offer improvements in terms of skin effect, ringing, while adds to the overall surcace area of the conductor without the need to use larger sizes.

Any ideas about known suppliers of such wires? Anyone has personal experience?
aber23
phusis's avatar
phusis
1,219 posts
 
Aber23 -

I'd recommend trying out Mundorf's 1.5mm solid-core Silver/gold(99% silver/1% gold) wires, or the 0.5mm variant for interconnects. To my ears they contribute to a wonderfully coherent, highly resoluted, dynamic(micro as macro), well-balanced, and naturally varm sound.
ozzy's avatar
ozzy
7,499 posts
 
The Key to using silver wire is to use only soft annealed wire.
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jazzerdave
163 posts
 
I've found success using bare OCC silver that I thread into oversized teflon tubing. I use multiple runs for the conductor and for the return. The last cable I made was in this same configuration but with UPOCC copper and the copper Eichmann bullets. It sounds great. I usually prefer working with silver, but the system was getting a little too bright. I know there's an eBay seller (hifi-deals) who sells gold-plated OCC copper that coated in enamel. They're based out of Ohio; they might be able to get you individually coated OCC silver. The also sell OCC copper that's silver plated, but it's not the same. I haven't been able to find anyone selling enamel or litz OCC silver.
aber23 OP
16 posts
 
Well, I recently came across an ebay seller (back-promo) who sells handmade silver cables with Litz OCC silver conductors he makes himself. Although he does not supply these wires in bulk he was kind enough to send me a sample and give me its specs. I can say that I was impressed with the wire. The sample was only a few cm but long enough to identify a perfect structure throughout its length. I decided to try and replicated this wire.

It was made of 4 solid OCC silver strands threaded in Teflon tubes of the same internal diameter as the individual wires. The tubes have a 0.12mm wall which is very thin, but still much thicker than any coating found in Litz wires. The insulated wires are helically twisted together to form a 24AWG conductor which is then encased in Teflon. The conductor is extremely tough (actually it is impossible to break) and a lot more flexible than a solid 24AWG wire).

Although I managed to copy the entire design and achieved quite a nice result (not as perfect as the sample I received but still quite symmetrical), I only managed to reach a length of 40-50cm after ending up with lots and lots of broken wires. It is extremelly difficult to thread such thin wires in tubes of the same diameter and I cannot imagine how one can do so for lengths beyond 50-60cm.

Anyway, such a structure is claimed to have all the benefits of a solid core without any of it negatives. I think that both the cost of the materials and the work that such a cable requires is a high price for DIY. But since I have one conductor ready I think I will make a second one so that at least I can form a twin cable and try it out.

When It is all finished I will compare it with my solid silver interconnects and I really hope to be pleasantly surprised.
metralla
945 posts
 
I tried to search eBay for a seller called "back-promo" but it said that the eBay ID was not found. Is that the correct spelling?

Regards,
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