Is speaker wire that has "OFC" really that much better? (1 Viewer)

[Matt LB]

I am about to buy about 200 feet of speaker wire and i'm trying to figure out if "OFC" higher grade speaker wire (which costs a lot more) is really better than the speaker wire that has thick insulation at Lowes or Home depot. Can anyone point me in the right direction here or give me more information?

 

[Chu Gai]

It's very difficult to find speaker wire that's not OFC. OFC, meaning Oxygen Free Copper, means that the oxygen is at a very low, parts per million, level. The primary benefit of OFC has to do with a phenomenon called hydrogen embrittlement, which occurs at high temperatures. What that means is that if the copper contains significant amounts of oxygen, in the presence of high temperatures and oxygen, water is formed within the copper. The high temperatures cause the water to boil and this creates micro-fissures. Don't know what prices you saw, but OFC from say SoundKing over at PartsExpress is pretty cheap.