Update: April 2012 ... This is among the very last, long sections multistrand copper / cotton & sisal inner jacket (see photos below) wire. The remaining lenghts are some of the best looking of all .... from the late 1930's .. clean & supple outer rubber jacket. The following offering is the PhotoPhone type "T" wire. You will find it's excellent for all tube amps & speakers!
It's rubber is of slightly harder rubber durometer, as it was used by ERPI soundmen & technictians, "on-site" for mobile 1930s prewar sound events. Historically, this type was used from tube amp to speaker/horn or side-fill -- "final" runs. Also, note in exhibit B, C, & D -- the stranded copper has been "tinned", and does not show the rose tint unless it's scrapped with blade..just the same it's old, slow-draw copper and just about 80 years old! The sound is phenominally detailed, yet remaining quite neutral in your system.
I just finished completely inspecting this unique 12.4M piece -- incredibly low reactance, and only under 0.3 ohms DCR per conductor for the entire length!
More listening reports from users/buyers just in.
A customer, Alex from Moscow - (Alex is a very experienced tube audiophile, and has heard many high-end vintage systems) -- he writes: "I have listened yours PhotoPhone speaker cables, it really nice, very clean, tender, every sound is stretches and a vocal is a main, a live. Thank you very much for good items."
And...there are many more reports are in from several recent sales. They all say excellent sound; astonishing revealing detail withsmoothness... this is with a variety of amps/speaker setups! Lower price per ft here...discounted for longer/quantity!
This wire is positively wonderful for all perceivable kinds of hifi full range 8" & 15" drivers, large & small tube amps. Also have received positive comments from a couple of Western Electric 755A open baffle owners. All very happy!! Universal praise on this wire's neutral & uncolored tone and deeply detailed quality.
It's a dream to physically handle and strip / solder as well....you won't believe how much nicer than newer era (like PolyVinyl/Teflon/Olefin etc) wires it is!!
Now offering...this single long piece 12.4 meters =about 40ft. This is a longer length, as requested by several customers.
A very pure rubber/sisal/cotton audio wire in mint condition from the 1930s. Perfect for Diy, Western Electric, RCA, Altec, Marantz, SE tube amps - infact, all tube powered sound systems. Simple really - it's the best rubbber; the best tinned soft copper, natural fiber & that's it! Carefully removed from surviving ERPI / Western Electric, RCA, Lansing and Motiograph sound systems. This type of wire carried amplifier output, to all speakers in various locations..such as cinema side-fill, recording and sound in pictures 1930s - late 1940s. Vintage cinema installs, sound trucks, nos storage, and in-service equipment. This wire is of very limited supply. The natural rubber is 80 years old, all ORIGINAL - yet is still flexible, supple, easy to strip and totally corrosion free. PREWAR (that's before WWII) copper often has a beautiful stranded conductors.
Great for full range cabinets and entire systems, no matter the length. Useful for low or high power tube amps. The sound is neutral, detailed and non-colored - the quintessential vintage USA sound. This wire reads low resistance and capacitance on all meters. This outer black is almost .25" OD. It has one white and one black conductor -- lined with non-reactive a natural sisal or cotton fiber runner. It is very soft and flexible/pliable even in our cold office. About like polished cotton sash cord or thin rope! We have to throw away lots of other wire to find little of this grade, which takes years! Totally different from anything you see in modern use. Go into any modern HiFi shop -- you'll see them using ridiculous forms of wire speakers. It's the last & furthest length of wire you will be buying, and it's best to avoid gimmicks here. Buyers who need wire easily succumb ... we know! Just avoid the fancy sales pitch; the ribbon wire, magic boxes, "active" shielding, etc. Don't use excessively thick gauges either.
If you're a tube audiophile take note. I am only making two points here here... this wire: the best, oldest, corrosion-free copper and great quality liner & rubber. That's it, not other silly mojo. Fancy new wire can have problems: poly plastics, teflon(s), foil shielding and ultra hard, quick cold draw, and highly purified metals result in predictably bright, brash sound. The the modern materials all have reactances within themselves and in response to each other... To many for even a scientist to predict. This old, soft copper has a nice feel and an old american neutral and detailed tone (not dark, nor too bright) and retains great detailed sound. It does not change your music like many other wires can. It's just cotton fiber and prewar rubber, around very old, very soft, rose colored, slow draw, stranded copper. Sometimes we really must take our thoughts back to the basics, remove all of the standard brainwashing we receive from Stereophile and other magazines; they exist to pitch glamour and expense. Time to judge more by feel and manufacturing technique. Less concern with raw specs, noise, resistance, OHFC etc. I'm sure you can tell from the wire's tint, how it's very different from newer wire. No amount of flexing will fatigue it. Nice, no green oxides, even a long 40ft to 50ft coil could only muster 2 ohms DCR at 20,000 cycles. That's very impressive. (Watch our video for a detailed explanation and test.)We personally use this wire for all of our speaker projects. Reliable and great sounding. Forget modern "oxygen free" claims. One of the worst problems with modern wire is it's chemical drenched vinyl jacket and aggressive dielectric insulators. Part of the story is rubber.
In the years preceeding WWII, rubber was a precious material. Entire countries were invaded for it. The success of the allies is partially credited to the enhanced production of petro formulated synthetic rubber. This allowed unlimited / rapid production of tires, insulation - all you need is more oil. In comparison, just a few years before say... the late 1930's, the rubber had to come from a far more natural process, and needed extraction from a tree! Cheaper, faster rubber may be good to win a war, but not for your speakers! By the war's end - 1950s on, almost all rubber was produced with DuPont's method. This post war production used lots of yucky "plastiziers" to make "fast" rubber, using less latex, more oil and hydrocarbons in an all plastic lining. Fine, but what happens is after many years - the plastizers spread around, it gets stiff and can crack. Post-war rubber is not stable. That is not the worst of it; the copper tends to oxidize from the chemicals, changing to black or green. Later vinyl wire processes are worse! Find some 1970s clear vinyl stranded, chances are it will fee sticky to touch on the outside. These same chloride laced chemicals leeched to the inside and attached the outer strands of the wire. This results in high capacitance, high resistance and altered sound! Notice the photo below, how clean the inner cotton liner is! That's after nearly 80years under the latex jacket. No stickiness, goo, or smells. Any important hifi system around here get wired with this stuff. It's predictably neutral reaction will help your speakers & amps sound very clean indeed.
Update: April 2012 ... This is among the very last, long sections multistrand copper / cotton & sisal inner jacket (see photos below) wire. The remaining lenghts are some of the best looking of all .... from the late 1930's .. clean & supple outer rubber jacket. The following offering is the PhotoPhone type "T" wire. You will find it's excellent for all tube amps & speakers!
It's rubber is of slightly harder rubber durometer, as it was used by ERPI soundmen & technictians, "on-site" for mobile 1930s prewar sound events. Historically, this type was used from tube amp to speaker/horn or side-fill -- "final" runs. Also, note in exhibit B, C, & D -- the stranded copper has been "tinned", and does not show the rose tint unless it's scrapped with blade..just the same it's old, slow-draw copper and just about 80 years old! The sound is phenominally detailed, yet remaining quite neutral in your system.
I just finished completely inspecting this unique 12.4M piece -- incredibly low reactance, and only under 0.3 ohms DCR per conductor for the entire length!
More listening reports from users/buyers just in.
A customer, Alex from Moscow - (Alex is a very experienced tube audiophile, and has heard many high-end vintage systems) -- he writes: "I have listened yours PhotoPhone speaker cables, it really nice, very clean, tender, every sound is stretches and a vocal is a main, a live. Thank you very much for good items."
And...there are many more reports are in from several recent sales. They all say excellent sound; astonishing revealing detail withsmoothness... this is with a variety of amps/speaker setups! Lower price per ft here...discounted for longer/quantity!
This wire is positively wonderful for all perceivable kinds of hifi full range 8" & 15" drivers, large & small tube amps. Also have received positive comments from a couple of Western Electric 755A open baffle owners. All very happy!! Universal praise on this wire's neutral & uncolored tone and deeply detailed quality.
It's a dream to physically handle and strip / solder as well....you won't believe how much nicer than newer era (like PolyVinyl/Teflon/Olefin etc) wires it is!!
Now offering...this single long piece 12.4 meters =about 40ft. This is a longer length, as requested by several customers.
A very pure rubber/sisal/cotton audio wire in mint condition from the 1930s. Perfect for Diy, Western Electric, RCA, Altec, Marantz, SE tube amps - infact, all tube powered sound systems. Simple really - it's the best rubbber; the best tinned soft copper, natural fiber & that's it! Carefully removed from surviving ERPI / Western Electric, RCA, Lansing and Motiograph sound systems. This type of wire carried amplifier output, to all speakers in various locations..such as cinema side-fill, recording and sound in pictures 1930s - late 1940s. Vintage cinema installs, sound trucks, nos storage, and in-service equipment. This wire is of very limited supply. The natural rubber is 80 years old, all ORIGINAL - yet is still flexible, supple, easy to strip and totally corrosion free. PREWAR (that's before WWII) copper often has a beautiful stranded conductors.
Great for full range cabinets and entire systems, no matter the length. Useful for low or high power tube amps. The sound is neutral, detailed and non-colored - the quintessential vintage USA sound. This wire reads low resistance and capacitance on all meters. This outer black is almost .25" OD. It has one white and one black conductor -- lined with non-reactive a natural sisal or cotton fiber runner. It is very soft and flexible/pliable even in our cold office. About like polished cotton sash cord or thin rope! We have to throw away lots of other wire to find little of this grade, which takes years! Totally different from anything you see in modern use. Go into any modern HiFi shop -- you'll see them using ridiculous forms of wire speakers. It's the last & furthest length of wire you will be buying, and it's best to avoid gimmicks here. Buyers who need wire easily succumb ... we know! Just avoid the fancy sales pitch; the ribbon wire, magic boxes, "active" shielding, etc. Don't use excessively thick gauges either.
If you're a tube audiophile take note. I am only making two points here here... this wire: the best, oldest, corrosion-free copper and great quality liner & rubber. That's it, not other silly mojo. Fancy new wire can have problems: poly plastics, teflon(s), foil shielding and ultra hard, quick cold draw, and highly purified metals result in predictably bright, brash sound. The the modern materials all have reactances within themselves and in response to each other... To many for even a scientist to predict. This old, soft copper has a nice feel and an old american neutral and detailed tone (not dark, nor too bright) and retains great detailed sound. It does not change your music like many other wires can. It's just cotton fiber and prewar rubber, around very old, very soft, rose colored, slow draw, stranded copper. Sometimes we really must take our thoughts back to the basics, remove all of the standard brainwashing we receive from Stereophile and other magazines; they exist to pitch glamour and expense. Time to judge more by feel and manufacturing technique. Less concern with raw specs, noise, resistance, OHFC etc. I'm sure you can tell from the wire's tint, how it's very different from newer wire. No amount of flexing will fatigue it. Nice, no green oxides, even a long 40ft to 50ft coil could only muster 2 ohms DCR at 20,000 cycles. That's very impressive. (Watch our video for a detailed explanation and test.)We personally use this wire for all of our speaker projects. Reliable and great sounding. Forget modern "oxygen free" claims. One of the worst problems with modern wire is it's chemical drenched vinyl jacket and aggressive dielectric insulators. Part of the story is rubber.
In the years preceeding WWII, rubber was a precious material. Entire countries were invaded for it. The success of the allies is partially credited to the enhanced production of petro formulated synthetic rubber. This allowed unlimited / rapid production of tires, insulation - all you need is more oil. In comparison, just a few years before say... the late 1930's, the rubber had to come from a far more natural process, and needed extraction from a tree! Cheaper, faster rubber may be good to win a war, but not for your speakers! By the war's end - 1950s on, almost all rubber was produced with DuPont's method. This post war production used lots of yucky "plastiziers" to make "fast" rubber, using less latex, more oil and hydrocarbons in an all plastic lining. Fine, but what happens is after many years - the plastizers spread around, it gets stiff and can crack. Post-war rubber is not stable. That is not the worst of it; the copper tends to oxidize from the chemicals, changing to black or green. Later vinyl wire processes are worse! Find some 1970s clear vinyl stranded, chances are it will fee sticky to touch on the outside. These same chloride laced chemicals leeched to the inside and attached the outer strands of the wire. This results in high capacitance, high resistance and altered sound! Notice the photo below, how clean the inner cotton liner is! That's after nearly 80years under the latex jacket. No stickiness, goo, or smells. Any important hifi system around here get wired with this stuff. It's predictably neutral reaction will help your speakers & amps sound very clean indeed.
