Solid core OFC vs stranded OCC copper

@blue_collar_audio_guy - after many years of building my own cables, plus conferring with other audiophiles all over the globe that also tried many different configurations of wire types,

Generally,

• a solid wire provides exceptional clarity and details compared to a  stranded wire made from similar grade of metal
  • the impact can be observed in the more expansive image that solid wires achieve. 
• WRT OFC vs. OCC
  • OFC is far less dyamic than UP-OCC wire regardless of whether either is stranded or solid

Regards - Steve

@sasho - if each strand is insulated - the problem with running parallel strands of wire is that you increase the capacitance of the finished cable - much like Kimber Kables products, which have a relatively high capacitance compared to many other brands.

Some systems do not like the higher capacitance, whereas other systems are not bothered by it.

But it can be an expensive lesson to learn

You can run 2 x 16 gauge or 2 x 14 gauge wires without loosing too much flexibility

I run 2 x 14 gauge solid bare wires, where each wire is inside it’s own teflon tube that has a larger inside diameter then the diameter of the wire.

• Using a Teflon tube for insulation actually reduces the capacitance because the insulation is only ever in contact with a very small percentage of the surface area of the actual wire
  • because the tube does not collapse around the wire, like cotton or silk, it creates a tiny layer of.air between the wire and the teflon tube
  • for wires that have a moulded teflon insulation the contact area between the wire and the insulation is close to 100%
• This approach results in a very low Dielectric Constant (DK)

e.g.

• Teflon’s DK is 2.2
• Foamed Teflon has a value of 1.45
• Silk and cotton is 1.3
• air is 1.1 and a vacuum is 1.0

Lowering the DK improves clarity and details and as a result, the image is far more realistic.

I use solid wire because trying to accomplish this with a stranded wire is extremely difficult, but unfortunately it does make for a stiffer cable, so I use a stranded wire for the neutral, which provides some flexibility and assists ia a more natural curve to the finished cable,

Hope that helps

@sasho - I have no experience with the Neotech NES 3002 2 x 9 AWG speaker cable cable.

While it may well be a very good cable i.e. compared to other brands on the market, it’s touted benefits are proabably due in large part to the UP-OCC copper used

Based on what I see of the cable geometry, compared to my Helix AIR cables, there is an aweful lot of Teflon insulation used on seperate wires, together with PVC insulation, which would contribute to high DK values, so the overall the capacitance of this cables would probably be quite high like Kimber Kables wire,

• which is not a problem with Tube amps, but some high current solid state amps might not like this cable.
• Because of the high DK values the clarity, details and image would not be as good as the Helix AIR geometry

The Helix AIR approach to cables provide exceptionally low Dielectric Constant (DK) values, which mitigates cable distortions to extremely low levels, making it one of the best approaches for clarity, details and imaging

But - If the Helix DIY AIR is not for you, I would recommend taking a look at Zavfino cables. They use UP-OCC solid copper coupled with good cable geometry and their high end use Graphine, which apparently results in lower DK levels

Speaker Cables - ZavfinoUSA

As for my choice of UP-OCC wire

1. OCC6N Copper Hook-Up Wire (partsconnexion.com)
2. Neotech Copper PTFE Solid Hook-Up Wire (partsconnexion.com)

I have tried both of these in the Helix AIR geometry cables and #1 was noticebly better, but not by a HUGE margin, just a little more dynamic

Hope that helps - Steve