If corrosion resistance is the goal, rhodium beats gold.Isn't Rhodium a worse conductor than silver or gold? As far as I know, it's only slightly better than a good steel alloy. Pure stuff is a WHOLE LOT more $$$.
Do binding posts really affect sound quality?
- Thread starter Onebean
- Start date
Wow! And gold is pretty good. Silver is not. Well... pure gold.
I'll stick to a good steel alloy.
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+1
I’ve always been very sensitive to sound, which is, perhaps, one reason I’m in this hobby. I’d wager that’s true for a number of audiophiles. Certain sounds (that of a nail file, for example) put me on edge. I’m one of those people who covers his ears when emergency vehicles with blaring sirens pass or subway trains screech into the station.
But we’re all different. I also love and live with big horns that can reproduce realistic volumes and huge dynamics. “Loud is beautiful if it’s clean.” Each of us has preferences. One size definitely does not fit all.
My late father-in-law was a neurologist. Whenever someone asked him a question about the brain, he’d say, as if surrendering, “We just don’t know. The brain is a universe we’ve barely begun to explore.”
100%.When you record or film something, you'll hear and see things differently in real time. The mind focuses on what is important at the moment and filters out the non-essentials. But the recording or the photographs pick up all the blemishes — when you listen to or look at them, later.
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Lou G
Super Member
Just a correction, Gold is more inert than Rhodium. Gold resists corrosion and chemical attack better than any other element. Rhodium will react with the halogens especially fluorine at ambient conditions as well as oxygen at elevated temperatures. Rhodium is much harder than gold and will hold up better than gold in harsh environments or where connectors are plugged and unplugged extensively.
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To be fair/objective...
...the horror, oh, the horror...datasheet reads like a Stephen King novel...
...and to add insult to injury...magnetic screws...oh, the horror!
...the horror, oh, the horror...datasheet reads like a Stephen King novel...
...and to add insult to injury...magnetic screws...oh, the horror!
Gold plating is fine (pun intended) for electrical connections, but note that for proper plating/adhesion there is usually an intermediate layer such as nickle, a relatively poor conductor.
What does it mean if you have a relatively mediocre conductor (such as brass) as a connector? Basically it needs to be larger (cross-section and contact area) to carry the same current, ... and unless you're welding with your audio cables this is a spec for salesmen only.
The steel set-screw? Really? Electricity takes the path of least resistance, which isn't the steel screw in a copper or brass connector that also is directly contacting the copper wire, a lot of pseudo-science here.
Last, the "lots of mass" concern about the connections, this isn't a problem, in fact it has no effect whatsoever, not like it has to "charge up" or heat up before electrical signals can pass, the electricity moves at the speed of light (ish) regardless of what metal and how much mass the connector has. It's only important that there is no resistance and no corrosion (which can act like a diode) between the metals.
Foolishness this is. Basic electrical theory applies here.
Use good quality connections that don't corrode and fit your lifestyle, and if you are really serious about it apply some dielectric grease and/or disconnect and clean them periodically.
If it makes you feel better, I'll buy some dielectric grease, label it as "audiophile high-resolution contact protector", charge you 100x the price and sell it to you?
What does it mean if you have a relatively mediocre conductor (such as brass) as a connector? Basically it needs to be larger (cross-section and contact area) to carry the same current, ... and unless you're welding with your audio cables this is a spec for salesmen only.
The steel set-screw? Really? Electricity takes the path of least resistance, which isn't the steel screw in a copper or brass connector that also is directly contacting the copper wire, a lot of pseudo-science here.
Last, the "lots of mass" concern about the connections, this isn't a problem, in fact it has no effect whatsoever, not like it has to "charge up" or heat up before electrical signals can pass, the electricity moves at the speed of light (ish) regardless of what metal and how much mass the connector has. It's only important that there is no resistance and no corrosion (which can act like a diode) between the metals.
Foolishness this is. Basic electrical theory applies here.
Use good quality connections that don't corrode and fit your lifestyle, and if you are really serious about it apply some dielectric grease and/or disconnect and clean them periodically.
If it makes you feel better, I'll buy some dielectric grease, label it as "audiophile high-resolution contact protector", charge you 100x the price and sell it to you?
It would sound great at first -probably better than anything else currently available, but would tarnish pretty bad if any of the metal was exposed to air and would diminish over time I'm thinking, requiring constant cleaning and maintenance. What about silver binding posts plated in gold, maybe something similar to gr-research's low mass tube connectors but using silver instead of copper as the base metal, do they even exist? A design similar to that would be my first choice if available.
Mike Stehr
Poverty Audio
A friend gifted me a pair of cloned Heathkit UA-1(2) mono PP EL84 amplifiers. The chassis' used were computer network switch boxes or some such...black and flimsy and not very appealing to my eye.
The amplifiers were wired with all silver (18-20AWG) wire. Ground paths, all the wiring in silver.
But all the passive parts were of mediocre quality.
I listened to the cloned amps with silver wire around about an hour.
Didn't like it. The sound was hyper etched...a sound of make a tube amp sound like a SS amp sort of thing.
I re-cloned the amplifiers with a different chassis and used 18-20AWG solid copper wire for layout.
Much better...
The amplifiers were wired with all silver (18-20AWG) wire. Ground paths, all the wiring in silver.
But all the passive parts were of mediocre quality.
I listened to the cloned amps with silver wire around about an hour.
Didn't like it. The sound was hyper etched...a sound of make a tube amp sound like a SS amp sort of thing.
I re-cloned the amplifiers with a different chassis and used 18-20AWG solid copper wire for layout.
Much better...
For 24K gold. Alloys may react to chemicals and oxidation. But they tend to be very resistant.
Pure silver oxidizes. You'd be Tarn-Xing it regularly, along with the silverware.
How about good old stainless steel? Although it's prolly not good enough for true high-end stuff.
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audiotemp
Super Member
Stainless steel (being an alloy) would not electroplate as itself. Composition would change, at the least.How about good old stainless steel? Although it's prolly not good enough for true high-end stuff.
Yeah. I was just thinking plain old stainless steel binding post. It is shiny, if that matters.
You know what's funny about all of this? I NEVER look at the speaker's binding post, or other interconnects — unless I absolutely have to (like sound issues). They're all back there somewhere, and as long as I get good tunes, I'm happy.
Tri-amping, digital wiring, analog wiring, power cords... It's all spaghetti noodles.
audiotemp
Super Member
OK, I misunderstood.Yeah. I was just thinking plain old stainless steel binding post. It is shiny, if that matters.
Stainless steel does form a surface oxide that then resists further oxidation, similar to what happens with aluminum. So, maybe that is the problem with it?