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I am not an antique freak but I notice vintage plugs (MK 13A Hospital property) have brass leads with a higher density, new MK plugs leads look rough and grainy. They sound differently too!
I also aware that "pure" copper from China attracts magnet! A system is always haunted by a kind of weird salty sound if it contains China copper in its electrical pathways.:steam:
Dear fellow audiophiles, does anyone know where I can get wires/cables/accessories made with genuine European copper? Which country in Europe still harvests/refines copper and is still manufacturing cables? As far as I know, many famous cables source copper from China, this is not problematic for the refrigerators or toasters but disastrous for audiophiles.
snuffbox
01-05-2012, 08:08
Sound off my iPad has a certain Wan Tun soy sauce type of flavour to it;)
Hi Allan,
I am not an antique freak but I notice vintage plugs (MK 13A Hospital property) have brass leads with a higher density, new MK plugs leads look rough and grainy. They sound differently too!
By "leads" I presume that you mean contact pins (the bits which plug into the sockets)?
Dear fellow audiophiles, does anyone know where I can get wires/cables/accessories made with genuine European copper?
Furutech is your friend: http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/mains-plugs/360-furutech-fi-1363-cu-copper-mains-plug.html
:cool:
I use the rhodium plated versions of those, and they're fab! For high-quality pure copper wires and cables, look at stuff from Belden.
But... As you live in China, what use are 13A plugs? :scratch:
Marco.
sq225917
01-05-2012, 08:31
Hong Kong, not China.
Hong Kong is an ex British colony and uses traditional UK 13 amp square pin plugs.
As far as I know, its the only place outside the UK that does!
Val
Mark Grant
01-05-2012, 08:45
But... As you live in China, what use are 13A plugs? :scratch:
Marco.
Hong Kong is different to China :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong
Plugs:
http://www.powercords.co.uk/standard.htm#BRITISH
-
Sorry, yes, but do they use 13A plugs out there? :scratch:
{Edit: just seen Mark's post... Well, that's something new I've learned!}
Marco.
Mark Grant
01-05-2012, 08:47
yes, we all posted at the same time :)
Hong Kong is different to China :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong
Plugs:
http://www.powercords.co.uk/standard.htm#BRITISH
-
Noted! :)
Btw, I couldn't find the Furutech plug I linked to earlier listed on your website... I know that you sell it.
Marco.
Hong Kong is indeed quite different to rest of China...but it is in China.
The copper/brass thing is interesting. For sure it seems "watered down" nowadays, not surprising given the cost of metals and ludicrous amount of metal in UK plugs, you could almost connect up a power station with them!
Such issues with copper & brass remind me of the complaints about brass musical instruments post-Hiroshima not sounding so sonorous. Maybe the same contamination theory could be used for our plugs....
Hong Kong is an ex British colony and uses traditional UK 13 amp square pin plugs.
As far as I know, its the only place outside the UK that does!
Val
No, not quite -
The BS 1363 design (i.e. the UK 13amp plug and socket) is used in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Yemen, Oman, Cyprus, Malta, Gibraltar, Botswana, Ghana, Hong Kong, Jordan, Macau, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Iraq, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
BS 1363 is also standard in several of the former British Caribbean colonies such as Belize, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Grenada. It is also used in Saudi Arabia in 230 V installations.
I've never come across the word 'salty' to describe sound - I haven't a clue what it means in this context either.
'Salty' - lurve it. I thought it was great! Next: 'tangy'...
Marco.
I took salty to be grainy or coarse but it's only a guess.
Mark Grant
01-05-2012, 16:28
I read salty as 'grainy' or 'coarse', like salt :)
Next: Tangy treble :)
Mark, I think that you and I must be sharing the same brain cell! :D
Marco.
Slightly off topic, but the following might be of interest:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/power-supplies/207848-preventing-oxidation-brass-mains-plug-pins.html
The Grand Wazoo
01-05-2012, 18:43
'Salty' - lurve it. I thought it was great! Next: 'tangy'...
I go for cheese myself. Here's my new platter mat..........
http://blog.pennlive.com/italian-kitchen/2009/04/large_Margherita%20Pizza%20Finished.jpg
Ah, a real pizza!!
Thin crispy base, cooked in a wood oven, sensible type of topping (no bloody pineapple near it), not too much of it either, and not a bloody 'stuffed crust' in sight! Justa likea mamma useta makea... :eyebrows:
Marco.
anthonyTD
01-05-2012, 19:16
What ?
no peparoni :eyebrows::eek:.
A...
I go for cheese myself. Here's my new platter mat..........
http://blog.pennlive.com/italian-kitchen/2009/04/large_Margherita%20Pizza%20Finished.jpg
What a coincidence - I have just had a pepperoni and mozzarella cheese pizza for tonight's meal. :)
Washed down with?
Marco.
A 2008 Saserello, Sicilia IGP
25% Sangiovese, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 25% Syrah.
Damson and black cherry aromas with a hint of black pepper. 13.5% ABV.
~ £8 a bottle.
Somehow I knew that it wouldn't have been Fanta! :eyebrows:
Marco.
aha! Excuse me for my neologism, salty sound I am not referring to the morphology of salt, but the taste of it. It is a kind of sound coloration which alters the character of the mid range, it is not simply "rough" or "grainy", perhaps it is the opposite of "sweet" sound, I can always identify the presence of Chinese copper in a system since its coloration is too dominating.
On the other hand, my best friend met a fair lady on the street, he told me "She looks like the sound of a Jensen capacitor!":D
Any idea where I can get cables not made with China copper?
Cheers!
It's not just the cables. What about all the component leadouts and pcb tracks?
On the other hand, my best friend met a fair lady on the street, he told me "She looks like the sound of a Jensen capacitor!"
What, round and phat? :D
Any idea where I can get cables not made with China copper?
What type of cables are you talking about - interconnects, speaker cables, or ordinary cable for wiring a mains loom?
Marco.
aha! Excuse me for my neologism, salty sound I am not referring to the morphology of salt, but the taste of it. It is a kind of sound coloration which alters the character of the mid range, it is not simply "rough" or "grainy", perhaps it is the opposite of "sweet" sound, I can always identify the presence of Chinese copper in a system since its coloration is too dominating.
On the other hand, my best friend met a fair lady on the street, he told me "She looks like the sound of a Jensen capacitor!":D
Any idea where I can get cables not made with China copper?
Cheers!
Sounds like there is a prevalence of synesthesia amongst the inhabitants of Hong Kong! :scratch:
On a more practical note - cables made for Neumann use very pure copper and I would have thought cables made by US companies such as Amphenol and Times Wire, or the Swiss company Huber & Suhner, could be relied upon to use good quality copper.
Thanks pals, I will take a look at neumann and Huber & Suhner.
@Marco, I have no intention to re-wire the mains loom, though I want to try European cables for all connections within my system.
Besides Chinese copper, I am also tired of cables made in Japan or Taiwan. People say, all PCOCC cables worldwide are Neotech.
As for the Jensen, I immediately think about moon-face:eyebrows:
Cheers!
As for the Jensen, I immediately think about moon-face:eyebrows:
Stay low, just focus on the hips...
and the donkeys.....behave!
Stay low, just focus on the hips...
And how wide her mouth opens ;)
Marco,
"She looks like the sound of a Jensen capacitor!":D
Argh! Coffee everywhere.
You owe me a new keyboard, Allan.
:lol:
Thanks pals, I will take a look at Neumann and Huber & Suhner.
@Marco, I have no intention to re-wire the mains loom, though I want to try European cables for all connections within my system.
Besides Chinese copper, I am also tired of cables made in Japan or Taiwan. People say, all PCOCC cables worldwide are Neotech.
As for the Jensen, I immediately think about moon-face:eyebrows:
Cheers!
You might also consider the US manufacturer Belden for coaxial cables.
This is not to be confused with Belkin, which whilst very good, are of Chinese manufacture and could well be not to your liking.
Mark, I think that you and I must be sharing the same brain cell! :D
Marco.
Well, yes.... some only have the one brain cell. :hmm:
Argh! Coffee everywhere.
You owe me a new keyboard, Allan.
:lol:
and a cup of coffee too :cool:
You might also consider the US manufacturer Belden for coaxial cables.
This is not to be confused with Belkin, which whilst very good, are of Chinese manufacture and could well be not to your liking.
Dear Barry, thanks for your suggestion, but my Belden 10A power cord's copper turned black along the whole length after 10 years, in a smoke-free, air conditioned environment. Its insulator has a kind of pungent smell (smells like volatile organic compound) which I think could have caused the blackening of its copper.
Maybe Belden use a different insulator now? And maybe Chinese copper doesn't suffer this!
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