Type 2 Litz Wire Type 1 litz wire utilizes a number of individually insulated wires twisted together. This is what most people think of when they think of litz wire and have been led to believe that such a litz wire is effective at reducing skin effect. Unfortunatley such is not the case. The problem with Type 1 litz is that although the individual strands are insulated, when simply twisted together, each wire retains the same position radially from the center from one end to the other. Just as at higher frequencies more current flows toward the outer surface of a solid core wire, more current flows in the outermost strands in a Type 1 litz wire. To be truly effective against skin effect, each individual wire must, on average, occupy all radial positions from the center to the outermost position. This is effectively accomplished in Type 2 litz wire. Type 2 litz wire is made by taking a number of Type 1 litz wires and twisting them together. This "twistof a twist" results in each of the individual wires-on average over the length of the wire-occupying all of the radial positions from the center outward. Each of the four litz wires used in our cables are made up of 165 strands of 46 gauge wire, equivalent in cross sectional area to a 24 gauge solid core wire. To give some perspective, the nominal diameter of a 46 gauge wire is just 0.00157 inches, less than that of a human hair. Further, each wire is insulated with an extremely thin film of polyurethane just 0.00008 inches thick. It's construction is 5 by 3 by 11. This means it starts out by taking 11 strands and twisting them together. Then taking three bundles of those and twisting them together. And finally taking five bundles of those and twisting them together. A twist of a twist of a twist if you will, further enhacing the benefits of Type 2 litz wire. The final construction is then finished with an ultra thin wrapping of filament silk. While there is much debate as to whether or not skin effect is a problem at audio frequencies, there is no debate that skin effect is effectively non-existent in our cables. And skin effect aside, the ultra fine stranding, combined with its cotton jacketing, results in a cable with unparalleled flexibility. Milloit Braid Named in honor of Henry Albert Milloit who invented this self-shielding design for the Perfection Mica Company back in 1958 (the patent, 2,958,724, was issued two years later in 1960). The construction is of two interwoven twisted pairs of wires oriented at 90 degrees to each other. It is terminated at the ends by pairing a wire from one twisted pair to a wire from the other, forming the two legs (i.e. "hot and "ground") of the cable. This geometry is more effective than twisted pairs or star-quad when it comes to reducing noise pickp from magnetic fields which are the most common source of noise pickup in audio cables (largely due to the magnetic fields radiated by power transformes). The braiding also has the benefit of allowing for a self-constrained cable that doesn't require additional jacketing. Cotton Jacketing What can we say? We're not a big fan plastic. While plastic has its uses, and is sometimes the only practical solution (such as insulating individual strands of 46 gauge wire), we found cotton much more preferable for a jacketing material. We also have an appreciation for its connection to the past. The first cables used to connect the first audio components were made using cotton jacketing, crossover technology from the telephone and telegraph industries which had been using it for decades previously. Made on Planet Earth Some may be wondering about this slogan we use on our packaging. We chose it because "Made in USA" doesn't mean what it used to mean and has in many cases come to be used rather deceptively and cynically purely for marketing purposes. Products branded "Made in USA" may only be assembled in the USA from constituent parts made in many other countries. So to simply say "Made in USA" doesn't really impart any useful information to those who may care where the products they buy are made. For those who do care, our cables, the constituent parts and materials that they are made from, as welll as their packaging are all made in the USA with two exceptions; the banana plugs which are fabricated in India and plated in the United Kingdom, and the paper used for the label on our packaging which is printed on paper made in Germany.