# Oxygen free rca cables sound better than cables with oxygen?



## Ultimateherts (Nov 13, 2006)

I always see manufacturers make it a point to advertise "oxygen free" rca cables. Is there any difference? 
Do they make any that have oxygen in them?

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk


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## Bloodyjames (Dec 7, 2013)

Their is a difference which has to do with "impurities" in the copper such as silver. The conductivity is said to be better but the % is so low that you can shouldn't consider it better than a normal pair of RCA's with copper.


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

Ultimateherts said:


> I always see manufacturers make it a point to advertise "oxygen free" rca cables. Is there any difference?
> Do they make any that have oxygen in them?
> 
> Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk


when they are new it doesnt make much difference at all. over time,though, oxygen will corrode copper. You ever see copper with that greenish patina on it? that is corrosion. It causes resistance and resistance will impeed the performance of any cable, audio or otherwise.


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## syc0path (Jan 23, 2013)

A couple decades ago, OFC was expensive becuz it was so difficult to manufacture. Whether or not it made any audible difference is another story... but true SQ nuts had to have it.

Now there are better manufacturing techniques, and OFC is standard. Only really cheap cables would use anything less.


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## CK1991 (Jul 13, 2013)

Yup...and the ones with oxygen cost more because it makes your highs airy sounding.


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## juliajensen (Oct 3, 2014)

yes, as far as i know people used to prefer oxygen free cables.. basically because of less price...


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## graceparker (Oct 2, 2014)

Oxygen free cables are with less price but with no quality.


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## xxx_busa (May 4, 2009)

Oxygen free is BS gimick, think of molten copper at 1880 degrees being drawn thru a vacuum to make wire, not much room left for oxygen.

OCC Copper on the other hand makes a difference, Single Crystal Copper. Dr Ohno these are all good search items for the right materials to build the best cable you can.


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## WestCo (Aug 19, 2012)

minbari said:


> when they are new it doesnt make much difference at all. over time,though, oxygen will corrode copper. You ever see copper with that greenish patina on it? that is corrosion. It causes resistance and resistance will impeed the performance of any cable, audio or otherwise.


It is interesting to experiment with different conductors for signal transfer!

The relative difference between cables is equipment/environment dependent.

For car audio the big thing is shielding. I am seeing a lot of manufacturers used braided shielding but neglecting to ground the shield... that makes the shield almost useless.

The orientation of the copper for the signal carrier also plays a role; solid copper rod (coax) will sound different from fine copper wires. Also a large mass of small wires is not desirable. 

I encourage people to do their own tests on cables.


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

xxx_busa said:


> Oxygen free is BS gimick, think of molten copper at 1880 degrees being drawn thru a vacuum to make wire, not much room left for oxygen.
> 
> OCC Copper on the other hand makes a difference, Single Crystal Copper. Dr Ohno these are all good search items for the right materials to build the best cable you can.


In your head that is


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## gumbeelee (Jan 3, 2011)

WestCo said:


> It is interesting to experiment with different conductors for signal transfer!
> 
> The relative difference between cables is equipment/environment dependent.
> 
> ...


I completely agree with Westco on this subject. He hits the nail on the head in my opionion. I have tried alot of different cables, I always tell people to use what sounds best to u.


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## gstokes (Apr 20, 2014)

OFC is a marketing gimmick, just use plain ole copper cable..

There is ZERO benefit to running "OFC", think about where the end of the cable is and the wires are exposed, do you think oxygen seeps back in the cable ?

Air consists of 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen and 1% Argon..
Let's take out the Oxygen and we're still left with Nitrogen and Argon..
It won't corrode nearly as fast as "oxygen contaminated" copper but there is no electrical benefit..


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## DDfusion (Apr 23, 2015)

gstokes said:


> OFC is a marketing gimmick, just use plain ole copper cable..
> 
> There is ZERO benefit to running "OFC", think about where the end of the cable is and the wires are exposed, do you think oxygen seeps back in the cable ?
> 
> ...


OFC cables won't corrode.


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## gstokes (Apr 20, 2014)

DDfusion said:


> OFC cables won't corrode.


.. as fast as plain copper.

Seriously, you'll be pushing up daisies long before you need to worry about that beautiful Patina color..


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## seafish (Aug 1, 2012)

gstokes said:


> .. as fast as plain copper.
> 
> Seriously, you'll be pushing up daisies long before you need to worry about that beautiful Patina color..


Maybe, maybe. NOT...I have some original monster cable speaker wire that I bought 30 years ago to run some Infinity reference. Speakers and it is entirely green, corroded just underneath the insulation. And hopefully i won't be pushing daisies up for another thirty years. I'd say based on my visusl e perience, OFC copper is NOT a gimmick. Now whether the corrosion makes an audible difference remains to be heard, but given thst corrosion defi.itely effects the ability of wire to conduct current, I'd say that it does affect SQ on some level.


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## gstokes (Apr 20, 2014)

seafish said:


> Maybe, maybe. NOT...I have some original monster cable speaker wire that I bought 30 years ago to run some Infinity reference. Speakers and it is entirely green, corroded just underneath the insulation. And hopefully i won't be pushing daisies up for another thirty years. I'd say based on my visusl e perience, OFC copper is NOT a gimmick. Now whether the corrosion makes an audible difference remains to be heard, but given thst corrosion defi.itely effects the ability of wire to conduct current, I'd say that it does affect SQ on some level.


I can live with that, we'll just say it's not everything it's cracked up to be


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

i use regular copper welding cable. only draw back is needing to use dielectric grease on the ends due to them corroding. within a couple months there was just a ton of that green crap all over the end. connection was still fine, just nasty green stuff. dielectric grease fixed the problem


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## cajunner (Apr 13, 2007)

not sure OFC means reduction in corrosion, I believe it's a further refinement to pure copper that makes a difference in the uniformity of the metal. Like, if you're going to draw it the strands that make up OFC wire can be made finer without compromising the integrity of the wire.

There's a very slight electrical conductivity increase, nothing that would cause anyone to pay more for OFC wire, but the technical superiority of the wire with basically one extra refining, or finishing step means the copper producer can charge higher, and the audio product retailer can tout something in the advertising that isn't hocus pocus.

whether or not it turns green less fast or not, I haven't seen used as a sales pitch.

I maintain that the insulation used by some wire makers is much higher grade than others, and to that end I have some XP-HP from Monster Cable, it's nice and deep pink/red 10 years later under the skin. I had original Monster, and RS Mega cable go brown then green on me, but this oval clear jacket on the XP-HP is the bomb.

Anyways, a lot of the time if it sounds good it must be true, but just because oxidation is a way to rust iron, that doesn't mean copper is affected in the same scale or process of corrosion as other metals.

protecting all copper exposed to humidity should be a given and when dissimilar metal contacts make up a large percentage of your terminals you can expect to see galvanizing effects along with the oxidative, and other corrosive indications on your power/speaker/vibrator terminals.


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## gstokes (Apr 20, 2014)

There may be "some" validity to the OFC argument but you must read the article and draw your own conclusion..

Oxygen Free Copper Wire Worthy of the hype? Article By A. Colin Flood


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## Jepalan (Jun 27, 2013)

gstokes said:


> There may be "some" validity to the OFC argument but you must read the article and draw your own conclusion..
> 
> Oxygen Free Copper Wire Worthy of the hype? Article By A. Colin Flood


Good article. I enjoyed reading it. Thanks for sharing. 
My own conclusion is that OFC doesn't matter - *to me*. 
(but you already knew that)

I use the lowest cost lamp cord, Walmart speaker wire, or DC landscape lighting cable (has really tough insulation/jacket).

I certainly have seen surface corrosion on the ends of my cables after long periods in use, but I can't hear the difference between a new cable and one that is covered in surface corrosion, so I don't worry about it and spend my money elsewhere.


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## gstokes (Apr 20, 2014)

Jepalan said:


> .. My own conclusion is that OFC doesn't matter - *to me*.
> (but you already knew that)


Kinda like a 4K UHDTV, they sound cool but you really don't need one


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## gstokes (Apr 20, 2014)

SkizeR said:


> i use regular copper welding cable.


I forgot that manufacturer, post that link for the welding cable..


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## gstokes (Apr 20, 2014)

xxx_busa said:


> .. OCC Copper


I didn't know about it until now, thank you !!

http://www.doublehelixcables.com/store/index.php?main_page=page_3


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## Jepalan (Jun 27, 2013)

gstokes said:


> Kinda like a 4K UHDTV, they sound cool but you really don't need one


Exactly! I would be perfectly happy if all channels available from my cable provider were lightly compressed 1080P/60 "True HD", if audio levels were consistent across channels and commercials and if I never saw another lip-sync problem.

The industry should solve those problems first before throwing bits at 4K. Besides, I would much rather have HDR, HFR and WCG than 4K.


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## MANUTD (Jan 12, 2016)

Can't hurt to buy OFC for perceived "peace of mind".


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## oddfuturemang (May 15, 2016)

this reminds me of the golden plated hdmi cables


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