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Ok, how bad really are magnetic materials in binding posts?

dogwan

dogwan

Dogwan
I've seen quite a few videos now on YouTube (including GR Research's) where it's stated over and over how bad it is that manufacturers ruin perfectly good non-ferrous binding posts by using Steel nuts and/or other hardware.

My question is... how bad is it really?
What are the actual consequences?
And at what point do you start to notice?

We see so many vintage speakers and even modern ones where this seems to be the norm. Plus, I keep finding that even Parts Express modern commodity grade caps and resistors intended for speaker work actually have magnetic leads. Whenever I pick up a set of vintage speaks with old spring clips (even the high-end ones from years past) I pretty much automatically replace them with 5-ways. But I don't usually spend big bucks unless they are serious keepers. Which means even the semi-decent 5-ways from Mouser intended for test and instrument equipment comes with gold plated steel nuts and lock-washers. Lately I've started running down to the hardware store and picking up Brass nuts and Bronze lock-washers. I don't mind really. But starting to question my sanity.

What say you all?
 
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dogwan said:
I've seen quite a few videos now on YouTube (including GR Research's) where it's stated over and over how bad it is that manufacturers ruin perfectly good non-ferrous binding posts by using Steel nuts and/or other hardware.

My question is... how bad is it really?
What are the actual consequences?
And at what point do you start to notice?

We see so many vintage speakers and even modern ones where this seems to be the norm. Plus, I keep finding that even Parts Express modern commodity grade caps and resistors intended for speaker work actually have magnetic leads. Whenever I pick up a set of vintage speaks with old spring clips (even the high-end ones from years past) I pretty much automatically replace them with 5-ways. But I don't usually spend big bucks unless they are serious keepers. Which means even the semi-decent 5-ways from Mouser intended for test and instrument equipment comes with gold plated steel nuts and lock-washers. Lately I've started running down to the hardware store and picking up Brass nuts and Bronze lock-washers. I don't mind really. But starting to question my sanity.

What say you all?
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Getting rid of steel binding posts can make a difference but they are down the list of things to do. A bigger sonic impact can be had by replacing iron core with air core inductors and electrolytic caps with film caps (all same values).
A lot also depends on how revealing the gear in front of the speaker is.

Copper is a great conductor, but you have to keep it clean and oxide free.
 
I use 99.999% Pure Silver speaker wire on a 4 way active system.

Pure Platinum wire for preamp signal path and pure silver for everything else.

You Can hear the difference.

Silver speaker wire...

YLOb77t.jpeg
 
The silver speaker wires in the picture I built over 12 years ago and they look the same as the day I made them.

Have audio gear I made over 25 years ago with silver wire and it looks the same.

Worked on a few 40 year old High End preamps that had silver wire, Looked fine.

Never had a second thought about oxidation with these experiences.

Also the oxide on silver wire is conductive so it has no effect on performance.
 
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There is a mil spec wire that is silver coated copper. It’s pretty good and is very reasonably priced compared to most audiophool wire.
It’s a variant of M22759 I believe.

I know a guy who doesn’t use any binding posts and swears by it. He solders everything together. Including bypassing the terminals on the drivers. He solders right to the tinsel wires.

I also think he’s a little crazy :)
 
Silver is the better conductor. Copper next. You see a lot of gold plated this and that, even gold foil in some film capacitors. Why people spend more on say, Mundorf EVO gold foil in oil caps over the cheaper silver foil is beyond me. Gold is nice since it doesn't corrode, but isn't the best conductor.
 
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Buck Rogers said:
I use 99.999% Pure Silver speaker wire on a 4 way active system.

Pure Platinum wire for preamp signal path and pure silver for everything else.

You Can hear the difference.

Silver speaker wire...

YLOb77t.jpeg
Click to expand...
Could one hear a difference in a YouTube video if played back over an "audiophile" system? Can you demonstrate?
 
loudnoises said:
Internal amp wiring is often 18ga feeding the posts, and any crossover components squeeze it thru a solid 20ga wire.

These facts simply can't compete with our desire for fancy looking jumpers.
Click to expand...
length matters. a few inches of 20 gauge wire is not like 50 feet of it. Try running any decent amp draw appliance through a 16 gauge extension cord for 100 feet. then do the same with 12 gauge and watch the difference.
 
Rick Owen said:
length matters. a few inches of 20 gauge wire is not like 50 feet of it. Try running any decent amp draw appliance through a 16 gauge extension cord for 100 feet. then do the same with 12 gauge and watch the difference.
Click to expand...
Oh absolutely.

Still, these bottlenecks exist. I'm more trying to demonstrate how so many only pay attention to the wires and connectors that we see.
 
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