Cable Connector Build Materials - Why Is Everything Brass? How Does Plating Factor In?

msg

So I'm trying to learn about cabling and conductors and sonic signature of particular materials, platings and such - copper, silver, brass, gold, rhodium, etc. I've had some informative discussions with some experienced members, but lately, been seeing people bashing brass a bit, so I'm wondering, why are so many connectors made of brass, even from some of the better vendors?

I would surmise that brass is chosen for its strength and cost, with the other metals being softer and more expensive?

So my question is, does the plating become the conducting element, or does the base material still play a significant role? Put another way, does the sonic signature come more from the plating or the component build material?

Some information provided to me from Furutech's technology page - http://bit.ly/1LO4ody

A Guide to Differences in Metal Plating Materials

Rhodium, a member of the exclusive platinum group, is the most costly and rare precious metal. It’s extremely hard and doesn’t corrode. Most people don’t think about it but most of world’s rhodium production goes into the catalytic converters under your car! Furutech chooses rhodium plating for their highest-performance cable lines. Numerous tests with different plating and treatments reveals that durable rhodium plating provides fast, powerful, controlled bass, an open and extremely palpable midrange with detailed and transparent mid- to upper-frequencies and a smooth, nuanced wideband tonal balance. Furutech recommends rhodium as the most refined plating metal.

Gold is a dense, soft, extremely malleable metal that — in pure form – won’t oxidize in air or water. Among gold’s more practical characteristics is its resistance to corrosion – better than nickel or silver – and its superior electrical conductivity. Gold is softer than rhodium and the surface is not molecularly flat. Over time some erosion takes place and a dark build-up occurs that is, in fact, gold dust! Furutech recommends periodically disconnecting and reconnecting gold-plated connectors with all components turned off, of course. Auditioning reveals that gold plating produces a warmer, slightly more plump and romantic midrange, somewhat more powerful but less controlled mid to deep bass, with high frequencies that are either sweeter or less extended than rhodium plating. As always it depends on the connected equipment.

Silver is very malleable and slightly harder than gold. Pure silver distinguishes itself with the highest electrical and thermal conductivity and the lowest contact resistance of any metal. It tarnishes when exposed to air or water with ozone or hydrogen sulfide and that forms the familiar tarnish, silver sulfide. Silver is effective at protecting bare copper heat oxidation and boosting the conductivity of braided shielding. Silver-plated copper conductor’s sound is more detailed and open than gold but slightly less natural than rhodium. It offers a very tight bass and detailed midrange, plus extended high frequencies with a tendency towards detail rather than warmth.

Copper is another very malleable metal and its low hardness is one reason for its high electrical and thermal conductivity, the second highest among pure metals. Copper is a good conductor because there are a lot of “free electrons” that can carry current flow efficiently. These free electrons don’t remain tied with the copper atoms but instead form an electron cloud around the outside of the atom and move through the solid very quickly. Long auditioning reveals that copper plating produces a sound that resembles gold; somewhat warm mid frequencies, a big bottom end, and relatively sweet high frequencies, but not as extended as gold or especially rhodium.

Jimbo18

I wondered the same thing. Seems like this article indicates it comes from the plating. However, that doesn't address whether there's any loss of signal from the brass connection with the copper wire.

msg

Yeah, I've been doing some casual reading and talking to a couple of people over the past couple of days. Still don't have anything "definitive", but it seems that the plating is what matters most - the plating effectively being the conductor? I thought there was a problem with brass being used over pure copper, but I guess with plating technologies, the core material impacts sound quality much less significantly (if at all?) than the cost savings and durability gained from use of a harder metal like brass, and just plating it in quality fashion.

If I'm not mistaken, I think even the cable openings and termination points are plated, so there shouldn't be any direct brass/wire contact?

there was a time when I wouldn't really have thought much of this, but since starting to play with cable building a little bit, obviously, one wouldn't want to sabotage a cable build with use of crummy connectors.

pitdogg2

the electrical signal will take the path of least resistance always has always will. That being said Rhodium is not even on the list of top 12 best conductors. It is a hard metal and stands up to a lot of say plug unplug friction/abuse it is best used where that will take place like male/female plugs for power connection. I have used it in the form of banana plugs they came right off and I went with silver much better(the Best) conductor.

http://www.metaldetectingworld.com/conductive_order_metals.shtml

http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/sitefiles/15/2/2/152201/On the Conductivity of Selected Metals.pdf


http://materion.com/~/media/Files/PDFs/Alloy/Newsletters/Technical Tidbits/Issue No 38 - The Platinum Group Metals as Contact Materials.pdf

mantis

Read this , live by it.
http://www.audioquest.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/DoNoHarm-whitepaper-1222-11-r11.pdf

tonyb

Only thing I live by is what my ears tell me. Nothing else matters.

voltz

The AQ pdf Dan mention, they talked about twist conductors are better then parallel conductors..but... I bought some AQ Slate cables from billw that he re-terminated & I decided to redo these with a different set of spades and I shorten them a bit, but when I cut back the cable I found what was twisted outside the jacket was not twisted inside the jacket.. now these are older AQ cable not made anymore but I was surprised what I found.

They used the term spiral and not Twisted, if that makes a difference.

F1nut

tonyb wrote: »

Only thing I live by is what my ears tell me. Nothing else matters.

Same here.

On topic, it's the plating and by a very large margin, gold is the preferred choice of the audio industry.

Speedskater

pitdogg2 wrote: »

the electrical signal will take the path of least resistance always has always will.

Well no.
The electrical signal will take all available paths. But electrons being very lazy, most will take the paths of lower resistance.

pitdogg2

you know what I meant Vampire's page at one time extolled the virtues of the brass they used to keep the signal on the plating but yes one has to understand that the signal will pass through the brass also.