What Are OFC Speaker Wires Used For?
- This type of OFC wiring is found most commonly in four-conductor certified wire designed for in-wall use. Surround speakers are often wall-mounted or sunk into the wall, necessitating the use of OFC wire surrounded in a specialized, flame-retardant jacket. This wire also incorporates a slippery outer coating, designed to make pulling through studs that much easier. Each internal stranded copper wire bundle is 16- or 14-gauge, individually insulated in its own color-coded jacket.
- Audiophiles love their audio jewelry. Often the oxygen-free copper wires used in two-channel applications are 12- to 10-gauge, thicker than what is electrically required for short distances. In addition, the inner conductors are often solid, stranded, or some combination of the two, optimized for the type of signals the conductors carry. Interesting and unique internal topologies, such as the use of maintaining a small electrical current on the wires, and long-crystal copper are not uncommon. These cables are often surrounded in a thick outer jacket and braided sleeve, designed for protection as well as cosmetic effect.
- Important in making your own cabling decisions is the minimum gauge required given a certain wiring run. It's tempting to use a smaller-gauge wire for longer runs to save money. However, If the gauge is too small for a certain distance, bass and midrange authority suffers. Simple wire resistance dictates the gauge. For runs 50 feet and over, 14-gauge and higher is recommended. Generally, there is no penalty for using a gauge that is larger than needed, other than an unnecessary increase in cost.
- Oxygen-free copper speaker wires use a variety of terminations at the end of the wires, designed to ease cable insertion and prevent premature oxidation of the copper. Stranded OFC accessories include banana plugs and spade lugs, crimped over the stranded copper. Solid-core OFC speaker wires have these same terminations soldered or twisted in place, since solid-core wires can fail if placed under the stresses induced from crimping. Banana plugs insert into the hole at the end of a binding post on an amplifier or speaker. Spade lugs slide under a binding post, clamped in place by the pressure applied by the threaded post.
- Passive subwoofers differ from active ones due to the lack of an integrated amplifier mounted to the subwoofer's enclosure. Passive subs use an external amplifier that connects to the "SUB" or "LFE" RCA output from the receiver or preamplifier. From there, OFC speaker wire connects from the binding posts on the amp to the speaker binding posts on the subwoofer. Thick wiring is normally used, given the higher wattage requirements that low-frequency drivers and signals demand.