 A special procedure in the production of OFHC Copper permits the alignment of its crystalline structure, allowing a natural "direction" in which electron flow is facilitated. In this way, a particular direction of preferred signal transmission can be pre-imposed on the material itself, allowing improved transmission in that direction.
The cable will, obviously, work in the opposite direction, but with perceptibly diminished performance. This is the reason for which there are arrows on the connectors of these cables, clearly indicating preferred direction of signal path for peak performance of the cable.
A related concept is tied to Skin Effect, an electrical phenomenon that causes higher frequency alternations to be attenuated near the core of a conductor, and facilitated in the outer layers. Skin effect is therefore responsible for high-frequency loss across cables. How have we minimized this phenomenon in our cables?
The solution to the problem lies in the use of conductors with a reduced ratio of cross-section area to circumference. This means, in practice, the use of extremely fine conductors despite their more limited current-flow capability.
Since fine conductors are problematic in this sense, we opted for the use of a disproportionately increased number of them in compensation, thus reversing a disadvantage with two resulting advantages: improved flexibility and shielding.
Regarding the first of theses advantages, it should be considered that the increased number of fine conductors together equals the applicable current of a single, larger section conductor, but also allows a physical flexibility unobtainable with larger conductors.
The use of these finer conductors also permits a much finer, closer-knit braiding in the screen layer of the cables. This provides an unprecedented shielding against external EM interference, the Achilles' Heel of most currently available cables. We mention electromagnetic interference because today's stage and studio are typically a spaghetti-plate of criss-crossing cables, all of which and especially in the case of AC Mains cables are surrounded by their own varying electro-magnetic fields that can induce hum and distortion in nearby signal cables.
In testing under conditions of extremely exaggerated external interference duplicated in our laboratories, our cables performed impeccably in every aspect, including complete exclusion of audible interference.
An additional advantage of our use of these fine, flexible conductors is the reduction in handling noise. Do you happen to know anyone who remains perfectly motionless during a live performance?
Another important electrical characteristic of a cable is capacity. In practice, a cable can be considered a capacitor that, in series with the impedance of the signal source forms a low-pass filter, and can significantly filter out the high end of an audio signal.
We have tested many commercially available instrument cables, and found that they effectively attenuate audio signals up to 4dB/oct starting at only 5kHz, thus darkening and closing tone. Each of these new cables has been quality tested to assure that this low-pass extends up to at least100kHz…extraordinary quality.
And connections?
These are the critical points for a reliable signal transmission, relying on physical contact between metallic parts. Considering the certainty of wear and tear and the problem of oxidation, connectors can be the make-or-break points in your signal path and poor contact or conductivity can cause noise, attenuation or distortion.
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