Hookup wire for tube amplifier?

If anyone has compared OCC copper vs silver wire, please chime in.

There are so many factors that go into wire design, not just conductor material, such as insulator dielectric properties, basic configuration of the conductors, etc., that I would never focus on design aspects, much less one particular design aspect (conductor material).

Cable companies try to distinguish their products and justify prices by touting things like silver conductors, or continuous casting, cryogenic treatment, teflon insulators, static electric charge to polarize the insulator, etc., but, the real value the better makers provide is intellectual--a combination of all factors/material into a good design and critical listening in voicing the product. Yes, it probably does make a difference whether a particular cable is made with silver wire vs. OCC copper, but, that one factor is so small a contributor to the sound as to render choice based on that alone to be meaningless.

I can appreciate that it is pretty hard for some people to actually audition components in their own system so some purchases have to be made as "informed" guesses. For that, you should generally ask around about specific cables (not designs) and find out what people have paired with their tube gear.

I have a local dealer that only sells tube electronics (aside from digital source gear). He likes the sound of NBS cables (but hates dealing with their crazy ownership), Audionote (uk) and Snake River. He said the best cables he has tried in his store is the liquid conductor T.E.O. cables, but he doesn't sell them because of the extreme price of the better stuff.

Of course 7N copper exists. It is even a subject of international conferences like this one:

http://jp4.journaldephysique.org/index.php?option=com_article&access=standard&Itemid=129&url=/articles/jp4/abs/1995/07/jp4199505C747/jp4199505C747.html

In addition to limits of purity Continuous Casting process produces extremely long crystals (many feet long) by very slow cooling of the copper in hot forms (to prevent crystallization). In comparison common oxygen free copper has thousands of crystals per foot. Impurities resides between crystals. Copper Oxide is a semiconductor.

Kijanki, I don't think you will find 7Ns copper in any wires anytime soon. As soon as its extruded you are down to 99.99%. The wires as seen in the article don't seem to be commonly made.

Further, it might be interesting for audiophiles to understand that OFC was not invented for audio reasons. It was invented to improve wire flexibility, for things like brushes in generators and the like.

Dracule1, we have compared silver and copper many times over the last 30 years. So far no-one has been able to come up with a wire that shows a particular advantage for silver or copper- unless you include the break-in time. During the period of break-in silver seems to have an advantage. This is not to say that all wire is created equal though!

If you are soldering silver wire, the most basic form of solder to use is SN62 which is silver bearing. There are more exotic forms of audiophile solders that seem to work fine too. SN96 works too but you need an 800 degree tip which is a real pain, and despite the SN96 being eutectic, it can still crystallize, which isn't supposed to be good from a sonic point of view. The modern lead-free (RoHS) solders seem to work OK in a pinch. If you are working with copper then SN63 is the preferred solder. It has no silver but retains eutectic behaviours.

Atmasphere some great tips thanks.
Most audiophiles would get more benefit from going to solder school than fussing about copper or silver. I have even heard significant improvements in interconnects from well respected manufacturers that have been re-terminated by solderers who learnt their craft in aviation electronics, and the difference can be illuminating. My advice if you want to go and mod gear, start by learning how to solder properly. Do a basic electronics course at least.
My technician has a different outlook, he sees more dry solder joints than audiophile components in most gear, some of the best looking can have the worst soldering.