Ja, that's a good question, although there is copper- and silver-leaf foil as well. But, I don't know because I don't have any hard info on how gold wire is made - if it is usually cast like OCC or drawn like regular wire. Then again, I've never heard of "OCC gold" wire. But, it may actually be easy enough to cast with its lower melting point and the fact that since it need not be made, because of price, in large quantities like copper that perhaps it could conceivably be made by more local foundries worldwide (AFAIK, there's only the one OCC foundry in existence located in Japan). My best guess at this point is that gold's crystal boundaries are likely of no real issue.
How Does Gold Wire Handle?
Thinking of building a pair of XLR interconnects using 26-28 gauge, 99.99% pure gold wire, 2-3 strands per conductor. As soft and malleable as gold is, I'm trying to imagine how it behaves--if you hold a 3-foot length by the ends and bring your hands together to bend it in a wide arc, I am imagining it just stays there, without any return. It would have to be carefully straightened out again, is this correct? It seems you wouldn't want to be bending these interconnects back and forth once made. How about silver and copper strands in these gauges? I hear the OCC in silver and copper handle/move better than non-OCC. I would be running any wire loosely in cotton and then teflon, much like the more successful designs out there. Thanks!
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- 28 posts total
- 28 posts total