Public Service Announcement: AVOID "bobsbid1"

[Allison]

>
>Subject: Re: Public Service Announcement: AVOID "bobsbid1"
>   From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com>
>   Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 10:08:59 -0700
>     To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
>
>
>4 feet of 10 AWG oxygen free copper wire connecting to 14 AWG house wiring
>back to the distrubution panel.  Why not some 1/2" gold-plated copper
>tubing in a fused quartz box filled with argon for the absolutely best AC
>sound?  Wonder if folks know how noisy the average AC mains supply is?

Anyone care to hazard what Oxygen Free Copper Wire is?

"It's copper free of the cupric oxide dipole pairs that can cause 
unwanted rectification and attended mixing of signals resulting 
in added intermodulation distortion."

 B#))$^!t  (a form of bovine excrement).

We did this as a result of the above quote from "The Audio Expert".  
I did not doubt that said expert was just repeating what he's heard
with zero understanding. I actually managed to get a piece of the 
stuff from the resident audiophile.  My boss heard that and as 
a result of his engineering expertize in materials and my major 
eye roll and grimace we sent it off with some similar copper wire 
of the same guage from a local source to a materials lab for analysis.
Since the company was in the business or using wire of all types
as part of the product there was significant expertize available
to analyse the result.

Findings were the generic #6 and the OFCW got mixed up that the assay of 
both looked the same. Not similar, the same as nothing to distinguaish
any difference.  One came from local hardware store. Owing to the
price difference we laughed very hard at the so called audiophilic 
inane beliefs. 

Quality copper wire is nominally oxygen free or it would show a distinct 
resistance variation from standard.  Another easy test is to take a 
known length, measure the resistance at a easily calibrated standard 
temperature (ice water).  Then raise the temperature (boiling water)
to a new known point and remeasure with accurate milliohmmeter.
Calculate the alpha (rate of change in resistance over temperature)
pure copper has a known alpha and they will be the same to meaurement
limits. If they differ it's due to impurity in the copper, plating if 
any (silver is commonly used for TFE coated wires, Nickel is common too)
or it's not plain copper (copper clad steel).  It's not rocket science.


Allison