UP-4VRC^© (Ultra Pure Single Crystal Copper) technology (UP-SCC 4VRC^©) and 4VRC^© (Single Crystal Copper) technology

The 4VRC^© (Single Crystal Copper) technology means the adoption of four times baked copper as a conductor, instead of the 2VRC used by other competing companies. This technology allows you to obtain greater purity than that obtainable through normal cooking (only twice). It also means that the braid/capillary is processed at different temperatures four times instead of twice. The purity of the cable base material is decisive.

The UP-4VRC^© (Ultra Pure Single Crystal Copper) technology (UP-SCC 4VRC^©) represents the evolution of the 4VRC^© technology, as, thanks to more accurate copper processing, the filaments are even purer, with characteristics better techniques, so that the values in play take on a more performing value across the entire range.

The copper is made available for processing in the form of wire rod (16 mm section and 100 meters long), which is extruded and calibrated until it becomes a strand of 0.10 mm section for a length of 10,000 meters. The greater the purity of the copper, the easier it will be to achieve small sections, with high consistency and modest fragility, characteristics that allow perfect calibration and homogeneity of the section, discriminating elements especially in the case of power cables, where the diameter is smaller of the capillary, the more the skin effect is reduced. In the signal cable, the smaller the diameter of the capillary, the easier it becomes to reach the right compromise with the dielectric and the amount of graphite used in medium and high-end cables. This procedure ensures that the filament is significantly purer than those processed with traditional 2VRC technology, guaranteeing better inductance, capacitance and resistance values.

XLPE is 100 times better than regular Teflon. This lowers the spike release threshold and consequently the width of the musical signal barrier, guaranteeing greater linearity and lower amplitude of the basic sinusoid, to the full advantage of the naturalness of the musical signal emission.

GRAPHITE, mixed with copper in 4VRC^© technology, allows you to block the noise generated inside the cable by the passage of the electrical signal (which is nothing other than the musical signal), to bring out a perfect signal, without any introduction of noise which would ruin the final result.

THE VALUES AT STAKE

Resistance: it is linked to the characteristics of the metallic material that constitutes it. A good cable must have a small resistance, in order to guarantee low signal attenuations. A low value of this parameter is important, especially in the presence of signals of not high amplitude, in order to guarantee a sufficiently high S/N ratio.

Capacitance: the lower the capacitance, the faster the signal propagation speed. The capacity of the cable increases proportionally to the length of the cable and is linked to the characteristics of the dielectric material, given that not all the energy of the signal that passes through the cable is destined to reach its destination, given that a part of it goes to charge the conductors metal parts of the cable, storing electrostatic energy, as happens with the plates of a capacitor. The greater the dielectric constant of the cable, the greater the energy that is stored by the dielectric, and then released, causing a phase shift that cancels part of the transmitted signal, creating background noise and non-linearity of the musical signal. A good dielectric material has a modest value of the dielectric constant, so as to allow a greater speed of signal propagation and a lower capacity of the cable itself. This is why XLPE dielectric is used in our cables, which for this type of "work" is 100 times better than Teflon (the dielectric used by most cable manufacturers).

Inductance: this value must also be as low as possible. The inductance is linked to the geometric and construction parameters of the cable: it depends on the diameter, the quality and refinement of the conductors and their configuration. In general, braided cables have low inductance; high inductances determine a storage of electromagnetic energy which is subsequently returned in the form of signal distortion. The higher the inductance, the more the bandwidth is reduced.

FROM WIRE TO CABLE

Choice and transformation of the raw material: the joint management of these two aspects allows the quality to be kept under control. Then production choices come into play, such as using various technologies, such as our exclusive 4VRC© technology, to obtain greater purity compared to normal cooking. The purity of the base cable is fundamental for various reasons: the copper is made available in the form of wire rod (16 mm section and 100 meters long). The wire rod is passed, extruded and calibrated until it becomes a strand with a reduced section (in our case 0.10 mm compared to 0.20 mm for our best competitors) and a length of 10,000 metres. The greater the purity of the copper, the easier it will be to achieve smaller sections with section constancy and modest fragility.

Constancy of the section: it is a discriminating element, because it guarantees constant values ​​on which the characteristic parameters of the finished product depend. If the consistency of the section is the result of the quality of the raw material, the verification of this quality takes place upstream of production, with the control of the resistance per KM, and "downstream", with the scanned control of three specific parameters: the diameter of the lead primary, the diameter of the insulation of the primary conductor and the diameter of the outer conductor. This is the reason why skeins longer than 100 meters are not made in the audio field and it would be very expensive to maintain these standards for longer lengths. If the copper is not a minimum 95% copper or a copper that has alloys outside of the optimal electrical characteristics (such as alloys derived from lead), small diameter strands cannot be obtained. From a cable of this type it is difficult to obtain a strand below 0.20 mm. The centering of the strands and the dielectric also affects the stress of the cable: if the centering is not exact, the thinnest part tends to break more frequently (the bending radius deteriorates performance especially on signal cables, less so on power cables ). For this reason, the minimum core of the reel, where the signal cable is stacked, is 80 mm in diameter, while for power cables it is 160 mm.

Centering: How the strand(s), insulation and sheath are assembled is the next step in making a cable. Naturally, serious companies have sophisticated machines for braiding and stranding which must be absolutely precise and constant and cannot be done by hand.

Internal and external sheath: has its own relevance: the drawing, for example, must take place in such a way that the internal sheaths that adhere to the dielectric are double and perfectly cohesive with the conductive material, otherwise there will be noise during signal transmission. Also for this reason, in the most valuable cables, we use graphite to "neutralize" residual noise.

Soldering or crimping: It must take place in a circular and not square manner, otherwise the conductive material will be choked. The soldering must be thermoregulated, so that the soldering iron tip is at a constant temperature and of course the connector must be of high quality. Naturally, the connector must not be stripped, because in this case, after many insertions, the connector would tend to have a crack, creating a sort of air chamber which minimizes the optimal passage of the musical signal. For this reason, quality connectors require multiple galvanic steps, tinning of the piece, then chrome plating and a final gold, rhodium or other bath.

Controls: a series of controls, both on the bundled cable and on the finished product, guarantee uniform performance. The coiled cable, before being freed, must be checked electrically (if it is in phase, the expected resistance, capacity, etc.) with electronic equipment. We at HiDiamond regularly carry out these checks.

Final Phase: We arrive at the end, that is, the cutting and insertion of the connectors with relative welding or crimping. Here we use high-quality tin based on silver from our own production. Final tests concern the tear control of the connections and again measurements of capacitance, resistance and inductance, to guarantee uniformity of performance and a perfect final product.