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Coppercord is an entirely handcrafted starquad cable with solid, pure OCC copper conductors in cotton filled Teflon insulation. It is very flexible and it has an overall diameter of 5.5mm, finished with a translucent silicone rubber jacket (or a white PVC jacket upon request). Since January 2023 Coppercord is produced with a double layer of braided popper shields to fully protect it from EMI/RFI. This dense, finely stranded protective layer (400 x 0.11mm) ensures a 100% coverage over a high depth and at the same time it remains extremely flexible. The signal copper conductors of the cable are not plated or enamel coated. The idea behind the conductor design iss to create a wire insulation with very low dielectric involvement but at the same time ensure that the insulating material will be mechanically secure and sealed from the environmental impact. Cotton on its own is a very popular insulating material for audiophile cables due its very low dielectric constant and its “cushioning” effect. However, Cotton is also an organic material which is highly moisture absorbent. Even a small percentage of moisture will drive the dielectric constant of cotton to very high levels (making it even worse than PVC), while it will eventually lead to the oxidization of the copper conductor and speed up the ageing process of the cotton itself. Further more, cotton is a very soft material which lacks the necessary dimensional stability required when a cable is moved or bent. The dimensional stability of an insulating material is very important on audio cables since it determines a fixed spacing among all the electrically conductive parts of a cable and ensures consistent electrical properties at all times. In order to overcome the above issues (but still maintain the advantages of using cotton as primary dielectric), we formed an outer layer of dielectric using solid, thin wall Teflon. This material seals the conductor in its entirety from the environmental impact while it protects mechanically the soft cotton interior.
The fact that cotton has very limited sealing ability and largely leaves the conductor vulnerable to the environmental impact has been addressed by many manufactures. Common solutions to this problem are the use of oil or wax impregnated cotton or enameling the copper conductors. However, while these methods attempt to deal with the sealing ability of the insulation, they create a dielectric environment with undesirable electrical properties negating the point of using plain, natural cotton all together. Of course such types of insulation are easier to apply and produce and they help keep the costs low.
We have chosen solid Teflon for this role since is the most stable and durable type of insulation with regards to the environmental impact and its physical and electrical characteristics. The same time it has a very low sonic impact with a low dielectric constant. Teflon offers remarkable electrical stability over a wide range of frequencies and environmental conditions. The dielectric constant of PTFE shows less change over a wide range of temperatures and frequencies than any other solid material. This value remains essentially constant at 2.1 over the entire frequency spectrum. The dissipation factor of PTFE is constant and below 0.0004 over a very broad frequency range. Its dielectric strength is high and does not vary with temperature and thermal ageing. Finally it is weather and UV resistant with water absorption of less than 0.01%.
Of course, at the heart of the design are the the pure OCC copper cores; in solid form free from any enamel coating or plating. The advantages of the continuous casting process are well documented in regards to the use of copper and silver products as an electrical conductor. Wires produced with this method exhibit superior electrical and mechanical characteristics making them the most perfect conductors for audio applications.
However, despite the choice of the conductor material, the main electrical properties of the cable (and consequently its sonic performance) will ultimately depend on the the overall geometry of the cable with aspects like proximity, size and density being the determinant factors on the success of a design. On each of the cables we design and produce we have dedicated a substantial amount of time on research and testing to ensure that such parameters are optimized in a way that they produce the best possible result. Overall, Coppercord is a very well thought and well executed, innovative cable design which combines top quality materials & ideal electrical characteristics with a very competitive price.
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