Oxidized Speaker Cable

[imported_itr]

i've finally replaced my very old speaker cable. i noticed that the old cables have a really dark toned copper, almost black. have these cables been oxidized? after replacing with the new golden copper toned cables, with the subwoofer off, i noticed more bass with the front speakers.

old speaker cable pic

 

[Goi]

If it's just the ends(and it usually is) then you can just cut off the ends to reveal fresh copper. Even if it's not, I doubt it'll make much of a audible difference.

 

[zephyrprime]

It is indeed oxidation. Just cut off the ends like Goi says. If you're anal, you can also buy a little electrical grease from the hardware store that is meant to prevent stuff like this from happening.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I talked to itr in some PMs about this. The whole wire is like that, not just the ends.

 

[imported_itr]

does the oxidized copper reduce the transferring efficiency?

 

[Mday]

Originally posted by: itr
does the oxidized copper reduce the transferring efficiency?

yes. it also increases the impedance of the wires. I say impedance as opposed to resistance because oxidation on stranded wires will cause some capacitance issues.

when speaker cables oxidize, its not the ends you expose. Cuz the air travels between the strands, and oxidizes along the entire length of the cable.

 

[imported_itr]

in that case, when i attach the speaker cable to the binding post, do i clamp the cable jacket as well to prevent the copper being exposed?

 

[Tiamat]

i dont think that would work very well. Its better to clamp down only on the copper as to be sure of a good contact. Generally copper cables are good for a couple years depending on your environment. Usually they are luckily very cheap as well - home depot, etc. carry 12 ga for pretty inexpensive prices.

In an extreme generality, bass frequencies require more power and since the cable had higher impedence, less power was reaching the speakers (Im not an EE, so I dont know if that is the proper way to describe it) equating to less bass.