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The Curse of CCA (copper clad aluminium). I took an oath!

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Posted on February 6, 2023 at 11:52:17
catbert242000@yahoo.com
Audiophile

Posts: 268
Location: Puerto Rico
Joined: April 17, 2006
 My experience with wiring speaker systems taught me the hard way to avoid CCA like the plague! The cca wire I used failed a number of times; bad connections, corrosion, bad wire, bad splicing, I got feed up with that quickly - ripped it all out and replaced with solid copper. Problem solved!

I took an oath to never use that crap again!!

Now, I'm shopping for components for a new speaker build project. In reviewing the spec sheets for some high compression drivers ( Celestion and Selenium that I know of) ) they state that the voice coils are made with CCA! How widespread is the use of CCA in speaker construction?

I don't know if the use of CCA is a serious design flaw by these manufacturers, but I won't buy that junk. Am I wrong?





 

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RE: The Curse of CCA (copper clad aluminium). I took an oath!, posted on February 6, 2023 at 12:08:00
Paul Joppa
Industry Professional

Posts: 7295
Location: Seattle, WA
Joined: April 23, 2001
 It's lighter weight, improving treble extension and/or efficiency.

 

RE: The Curse of CCA (copper clad aluminium). I took an oath!, posted on February 6, 2023 at 12:17:00
Bill Fitzmaurice
Industry Professional

Posts: 5370
Location: New England
Joined: October 20, 2002
 It's not what you make it out of, it's how you make it that counts. Even pure aluminum is used in some very high end drivers, like JBL.

 

RE: Who likes Altec Valencias?, posted on February 6, 2023 at 14:35:00
catbert242000@yahoo.com
Audiophile

Posts: 268
Location: Puerto Rico
Joined: April 17, 2006
 I have had negative experience with aluminum in my environment (marine) so I avoid it when possible and stick with copper.

Perhaps those drivers using CCA wire function ok, but I'm afraid to take a chance.

 

RE: The Curse of CCA (copper clad aluminium). I took an oath!, posted on February 8, 2023 at 10:05:30
6bq5
Audiophile

Posts: 4385
Location: SF Bay
Joined: August 16, 2001
 There are two factors that make Aluminum wire and/or CCA attractive-
Weight
cost
There are also two factors that make it undesirable:
-Thermal coefficient of expansion - need special connectors, or special attention to connectors/tions
-The speed at which Al corrodes, and note: Al2O3, aka Aluminum Oxide is a dielectric

The choice can be simple-

and there are well executed uses of Al based wire -

But I would not chose to go that route...

Happy Listening

 

RE: The Curse of CCA (copper clad aluminium). I took an oath!, posted on February 10, 2023 at 11:31:43
Coner
Audiophile

Posts: 3703
Location: S.W. Washington state, USA
Joined: November 17, 2001
 Carlsons Lab did a teardown of a UPS backup power unit that was making loud arcing noises. Problem was a failed solder joint at the main tranny winding, which used CCA. There ya go.

 

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