Western Electric NOS Powercord

[rollo]

   Picked up 16 ft of 10 GA copper wire annealed with Permalloy. This wire was made for audio way back in the day. Heard one assembled and was impressed so why not give it a try. Picked up Oyide all copper IEC and Plug. Ordered some crystals [1 lb] from Alan Maher to fill plugs. Looking for Carbon Nickel shielding cover wire.
  If anyone is interested in a assembled 2 mtr. cord without shielding or crystals PM Triode Pete.



charles

[shep]

Is this from the infamous "best wire in the world" guy? He dropped out when he was taken to task...I guess it isn't. Nos wire...now there's a new one for me. 

[satfrat]

Is this from the infamous "best wire in the world" guy? He dropped out when he was taken to task...I guess it isn't. Nos wire...now there's a new one for me. 

Could you explain to me what you mean by "dropping out"? The NY RAVE's very own BobM is demo'ing Nagy's touring cable package this very moment.

NOS = New Old Stock,,,, as in wire that was manufactured many many years ago but has never been used. Just like NOS tubes.

Cheers,
Robin

[shep]

Well he was very present and now he's not. Of course I was being fecitious. I took an instant dislike, based on the immodesty, but I am more than willing to be proved wrong!  Of course I know what NOS means but in this case I admit to being sceptical. Modern techniques for casting, drawing, etc, and the ability to create extreemly pure copper with a very fine and almost continues internal structure are surely supperior to "old" wire. Please correct me if I am wrong. Always willing to learn something new 

[satfrat]

Well he was very present and now he's not. Of course I was being fecitious. I took an instant dislike, based on the immodesty, but I am more than willing to be proved wrong!  Of course I know what NOS means but in this case I admit to being sceptical. Modern techniques for casting, drawing, etc, and the ability to create extreemly pure copper with a very fine and almost continues internal structure are surely supperior to "old" wire. Please correct me if I am wrong. Always willing to learn something new 

I just wasn't sure if you were talking about his current demo tour or what shep. While I was curious as to Nagy's wire offerings (more than his braggard claims), I dropped out of his tour cuz I too dislike the guy's attitude and would never buy anything from him regardless,,,, so why even bother.

I also find it strange that older wire could possibly have been made more pure than todays methods but I have heard it said more than once so I'll just sit on the fence with NOS wire and read what others have to say. With NOS tubes tho,,, it's imho the only way to "roll" (pun intended). 

Thanks for the clarification shep. 

Cheers,
Robin

[shep]

No prob. We'll just have to see what shakes out of this. I never dismiss anything out of hand but I'll be damned if I'm going to get rid of my nice "new" wire!

[topround]

I own two pairs of this NOS Western Electric power cables.
Again like the Pangea, very open, dynamic, tons of detail and impressive dynamics.
Unfortunately it will grate on you, with fatigue setting in eventually. There is a midrange glare, especially with vocals(ugh)
There are different gauges available, as well as twisted, versus straight runs, shielded and non sheilded, and also a plethora of connectors available that can change your results. I am using 14 gauge shielded with Furutech copper and wattgate's.
A friend had told me that the copper was coated with an alloy because the copper was oxidizing too quickly because of the impurities in the copper.Don't know how true that may be, he was told this by a metallurgist who was familiar with that cable.
Just like all cables it worked better in some situation than others.
Some believe it to be the best PC available, I am not one of them.

Mike

[Deton Nation]

I like them. They are full & open sounding with good balance top to bottom. Nothing sticks out soundwise and thats good. They add a touch of warmth too. I have the 14 ga with copper Chinese knockoffs of Oyaide and I dont hear any midrange glare at all. They sound a bit laid back if anything which fits my bill. I only have them on sources and not any amps. Really you have to try them in your system but I think there strength is not favoring any area of the sound spectrum and giving you lots of extension plus a huge sound stage.
M

[_Scotty_]

From Wikipedia,"In its initial application, permalloy was wrapped around the insulated copper conductors of telecommunication cables, reducing signal distortion through improved inductive compensation of cable capacitive reactance.  Molybdenum Permalloy is an alloy of 81% nickel, 17% iron and 2% molybdenum,invented in 1940 by Bell Labs, when it was used in long distance copper telephone lines, it allowed a tenfold increase in maximum line working speed.
I would like to know where I could buy this wire,what it is insulated with and what guages are available? I would like to build a star quad configured powercord using 12g wires. Also,is this stuff stranded or solid core
wire?
Scotty

[Triode Pete]

Is this from the infamous "best wire in the world" guy? He dropped out when he was taken to task...I guess it isn't. Nos wire...now there's a new one for me. 

You may be referring to http://mojo-audio.com/NOS-Wire-Power-Cord-NOSPC.htm. Ben (Mojo Audio) was at the last NY Audio Rave meeting at TopRound's lovely home. IMHO, he's a bit pricey... TopRound tried his 2 conductor powercord with a foil shield ground... you can read Mike's comments above.

For love of the hobby and not for commercial purposes, I began experimenting with my good friend John Wiesner some different power cord materials & designs. About 2 years ago I did not believe in the power cord hype until I heard Paul Kaplan's (Occam) cords at a NY Audio Rave at Emil's beautiful home... it was an all-around improvement in sound quality; not a subtle difference & being a licensed PE, I still do not understand how this could be  .

I stumbled across various old NOS Western Electric cloth covered wire (all different types - solid, multiple stranded, and 7 stranded versions). From some research (based upon "successful" PC manufacturers), I used Oyaide-type knockoff connectors with solid copper material (same as in the $2K Bybee PC!) and some that are Rhodium plated (believe it or not, there are sonic differences in connectors & connector material - don't ask me to explain why...). All the Western Electric wire versions had a sonic signature & currently I prefer the multiple stranded versions which are extremely pliable from the annealing plating process. What I've heard is that this NOS wire is no longer made due to strict environmental regulations (EPA) that were placed into effect during the Nixon Administration... whether this is true or not, who knows? I know that this wire has not been made in a long time (since the 60's or so).

For the love of the hobby, I've made some for friends & family, including Deton Nation, drews_hifi, rollo, etc... A couple cords are currently being auditioned by my friends in the Audio Syndrome & NY Audio Rave...

Recently (yesterday), we did a quick informal test at BobM's home switching his Kaplan Copper cable with my WE copper PC on his Ayre CD player. Listening was Emil, drews_hifi, toobluvr & Deton Nation... Both cords were very good; both cords did sound different (still can't explain why!)... bottom line - your mileage may vary depending on your system & how it synergizes with other components...

My $0.02,
Pete

[shep]

No! the one on AC who came on so strong. Maybe same wire though.

[Triode Pete]

This seems pretty strong... BobM auditioning his RCA's yesterday...http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=79128.0

BTW, his PC's appear totally different than my design...


Pete

[rollo]

  OK now with over 100 hours the WE cord is beginning to settle the harsh upper midrange is going away a bit every day. It is still changing and IMO needs much more time to fully break in. The bass so far is powerfull, focused and weighty. Midrange is smooth and accurate and slightly tipped up in the upper mids. Cymbals sparkle and decay as in real life with NO crisp artificial sound or smearing.
  IMO this cord needs serious break in time due to the Permalloy annealing process similiar to trannies. It is easy to give up on this as the hardness and foward upper mids will drive ya nuts. But but it is goeing away with time. No I am NOT gettting used to the sound. I HATE HARDNESS and BRIGHT, never could I get used to THAT.
  The openess and dynamics are killer. I would say the cable is neutral but time will tell. Topround ya need some patience man. I believe you retreated to soon.
 BTW THANKS PETE !!!!!!!!

charles

[Deton Nation]

The WE PCS are SICK SICK I tell you! I had mine burned in by Pete, Rollo did he burn yours previous? Now Im deciding whether I have the perfect balance, because I have different PCs on my amps, or I should go WE everywhere!
EVERYWHERE!!!! You hear me!!!!

[Triode Pete]

The WE PCS are SICK SICK I tell you! I had mine burned in by Pete, Rollo did he burn yours previous? Now Im deciding whether I have the perfect balance, because I have different PCs on my amps, or I should go WE everywhere!
EVERYWHERE!!!! You hear me!!!!

Since Charles' PC's were not terminated at the IEC end, I could not burn his in...Sorry, Charlie...