What is "zip" wire? Why is it called "zip" wire? What difference would one expect to have by using 12 ga. zip wire vrs. 12 ga. Sound King in wiring my speakers?

1. Zip wire is the generic term for generic wire (ie, what you get at Home Depot, Radio Shack, etc.).

2. Absolutely nothing.

Ken got two out of three of your answers. Here's what he missed:

It's called zip wire because you can pull the two halves apart like a zipper.

The Sound King wires I bought from PartsExpress.com haven't "greened" yet after several years of use. I personally cannot give you an assurance like this on the Home Depot wires (they seem to sell multiple brands of wires anyway, sometimes different ones even from one local store to another).

Thanks for the replies. I guess the “greening” is the result of corrosion and oxygen-free cables would help prevent, right? Does “greening” just happen on bare wires or inside the cable jacket?

No, orexin-free copper will not help preventing "greening", which happens only inside the cable sheath apparently due to a wrong chemical process involved in sheathing/jacketing. A clear jacket at least makes it visible from outside.

"Orexin-free", Masa? Would someone using those cables sleep better or worse?

I'm not sure about sleep, but if they are orexin-free, they'd probably not be very hungry.

Bob,
This article might explain some things about the greening of copper wire.

I can't say that article is up my alley, but I'm certainly glad somebody looks deeply into this kind of thing.

See... I told myself not to post a message while writing up a paper...

Excellent paper, chess, but some audiophiles might view it with dismay if it gives them one less thing to worry about.

So this whole OFC thing is just more snake-oil? How long until a company spins it the other way and starts marketing "greened" speaker wire while touting the acoustic qualities of the copper-rosin salt?

Makes sense. Wires are pretty thick compared to any thin surface crud. Leaves plenty of uncorrupted inner wire to conduct signals.

Hi,

Catching up here on posts. Hmmm. So that's what "zip" is derived from? Years ago, "zip wire" meant the really cheap, thin generic 22-gauge stuff that retailers used to throw in with receivers and speakers. That was in Toronto.