# 6N vs 4N copper, can you hear a difference?



## Sarchi

Let's say the application is homebrew speaker wire, and I have a reasonably high-rez system, and my choice is:

 26awg 6N cryo-treated at 1.40/ft
 18awg 4N at 1.35/ft


 These are solid core copper marketed as hookup wire from Jupiter. About 9 ft per side. I'd be inclined to go with the thicker guage, what do others think?
 (ideally I'd rather combine a few strands of the 26awg....but that gets pricey real fast)


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## LawnGnome

Forget 6N marketing and all that.

 When you start looking around more and more, you will see companies often just use the same components, but add fancy marketing terms.

 Go for the larger gauge, 26awg is way to small for most amp/speaker combo's.


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## barqy

this is head-fi

 it's 9n or nothing







 edit: what happened to the eggo smilie


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## Sarchi

Semi on-topic....Has anyone tried the Goertz MI 1 or MI 2 speaker cable?


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## Akathriel

Ultra high-purity is just marketing ********. My experience has been that soft annealed copper or silver sounds the most natural.


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## Sarchi

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *Akathriel* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Ultra high-purity is just marketing ********. My experience has been that soft annealed copper or silver sounds the most natural._

 

I tend to agree with both of your points, though I'm not an EE nor do I have a physics/chemistry background, or understand metals and electron flow very well. Of all the marketing hype, Eichmann's web site seems to be the most credible one I've seen. For example:

  Quote:


 [size=xx-small]conventional banana plugs are often overly large, place mechanical strain on connectors and risk short circuit with ineffective or even no insulation. Most of the above banana plugs are made from gold plated Brass or Beryllium Copper with a conductivity rating of 28% IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard). As a comparison, the high purity copper used in most speaker cables has a conductivity rating of at least 100% IACS.[/size] 
 

[size=xx-small]

Eichmann - New Bayonet Plug
 [/size]


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## Sarchi

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *Akathriel* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Ultra high-purity is just marketing ********. My experience has been that soft annealed copper or silver sounds the most natural._

 

Hey, Jude hasn't turned the Net Nanny back on yet....cool.

 I tend to agree with both of your points, though I'm not an EE nor do I have a physics/chemistry background, or understand metals and electron flow very well. Of all the marketing hype, Eichmann's web site seems to be the most credible one I've seen. For example:

  Quote:


 [size=xx-small]conventional banana plugs are often overly large, place mechanical strain on connectors and risk short circuit with ineffective or even no insulation. Most of the above banana plugs are made from gold plated Brass or Beryllium Copper with a conductivity rating of 28% IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard). As a comparison, the high purity copper used in most speaker cables has a conductivity rating of at least 100% IACS.[/size] 
 

[size=xx-small]

Eichmann - New Bayonet Plug
 [/size]


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## wric01 (Dec 22, 2021)

Cat 5 is cheap and abundant, go cat 6 to 7 if you want higher quality. Problem with all the stuff coming from the internet is 99% comes from Asia and their low standards/copies on all things audio. At least with the cat 5 , it's up to a certain standard and solid core thus lower resistance and most important not recycled junk metals mixed with a sparkly coating / plating to sell.


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## bfreedma

wric01 said:


> Cat 5 is cheap and abundant, go cat 6 to 7 if you want higher quality. Problem with all the stuff coming from the internet is 99% comes from Asia and their low standards/copies on all things audio. At least with the cat 5 , it's up to a certain standard and solid core thus lower resistance and most important not recycled junk metals mixed with a sparkly coating / plating to sell.



Necroing a 14 year old thread?  That may be a head-fi record...


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