So I have an old NAD C320BEE; I had used it mainly for its pre-amp; piping it to my Hafler DH-500.. which has recently lost a channel. So I'm now back on that amp right now. The OEM jumpers are horrible sounding... There's no argument about that. It sounds thin and tinny. I switched them out for my Audioquest RCA cables, and man; what a difference! Totally new amp! But the problem is the Audioquest cables are about half a meter; and so dangle out the back. So I started hunting for a good audio solution that wouldn't break the bank. I know Audioquest and a few others have a pre-out jumper cable specifically; but it's expensive and I don't need another cable.
So reading up on the RCA specs; I discovered the intercore is .126" so 1/8th in just about. So I went on amazon.com and bought a 1/8" PURE COPPER rod for $3. It arrived; and I cut and bent it into a U (not well, but sufficient) and tried my own DIY jumpers.
First, I let the amp marinate in music for about 30 minutes on the original jumpers. Then I went to the Audioquests. HUGE difference. Highs were clean and clear; bass squared off cleanly without the muddy puddles; and I would say volume went up by quite a bit. Then it was time to try my pure copper rods.
MUCH better! The bass cleanliness went up again; sonic response rate was much better to my ears. I was amazed. It bested out the Audioquests by a lot.
Then I went back to the stock ones to make sure this wasn't all in my head; and it wasn't.. even my wife noticed how dramatic it was. One of my old students is a taste tester for Coke; and he said that you might think you hear a big improvement going from A to B.. but if B is better; you will notice the improvement when you go from B back down to A. It was dramatic!
The rod came as 1 foot length; I was cutting them in 6cm cuts; it came at a foot (30cm); so I had 18cm left; so I can make at least another set. I measured the depth of the RCA jack; and it was almost 1.5cm (surprisingly deep). I bent them into a U; and then sanded down the ends smooth.
So technically this cost me about $1.25 in material and some plier time. I hope someone will reproduce this and give me their results vs whatever they are currently using. It's cheap and I'm running pure copper! The only concern I have is long term oxidation of exposed copper; so I might go ahead and buy some clear nail polish or something like that.
Hope this helps someone get great jumpers on the cheap.
So reading up on the RCA specs; I discovered the intercore is .126" so 1/8th in just about. So I went on amazon.com and bought a 1/8" PURE COPPER rod for $3. It arrived; and I cut and bent it into a U (not well, but sufficient) and tried my own DIY jumpers.
First, I let the amp marinate in music for about 30 minutes on the original jumpers. Then I went to the Audioquests. HUGE difference. Highs were clean and clear; bass squared off cleanly without the muddy puddles; and I would say volume went up by quite a bit. Then it was time to try my pure copper rods.
MUCH better! The bass cleanliness went up again; sonic response rate was much better to my ears. I was amazed. It bested out the Audioquests by a lot.
Then I went back to the stock ones to make sure this wasn't all in my head; and it wasn't.. even my wife noticed how dramatic it was. One of my old students is a taste tester for Coke; and he said that you might think you hear a big improvement going from A to B.. but if B is better; you will notice the improvement when you go from B back down to A. It was dramatic!
The rod came as 1 foot length; I was cutting them in 6cm cuts; it came at a foot (30cm); so I had 18cm left; so I can make at least another set. I measured the depth of the RCA jack; and it was almost 1.5cm (surprisingly deep). I bent them into a U; and then sanded down the ends smooth.
So technically this cost me about $1.25 in material and some plier time. I hope someone will reproduce this and give me their results vs whatever they are currently using. It's cheap and I'm running pure copper! The only concern I have is long term oxidation of exposed copper; so I might go ahead and buy some clear nail polish or something like that.
Hope this helps someone get great jumpers on the cheap.
Which is precisely the reason we don't use bare copper contacts anywhere in audio. Get them plated or DIY with a noble metal like gold, rhodium, even nickel etc. Otherwise your precious sound quality will go slowly down the gurgler as the corrosion accumulates. Also think carefully about putting lacquer on the wire - why would you want to put an insulating layer on your contact surfaces?
is this pre out jumpers?
if so and you never plan on using the pre outs again then just open up your case remove the naff RCA sockets from the board then jumper the board.
if you are planning on using the pre outs again then just get 4 cheep gold plated phono sockets and make your own jumpers even household 2 core flex will suffice as the wire. if you want to go all audiophile then splash out on some solid silver with teflon sheath.
bare copper will tarnish in no time.
if so and you never plan on using the pre outs again then just open up your case remove the naff RCA sockets from the board then jumper the board.
if you are planning on using the pre outs again then just get 4 cheep gold plated phono sockets and make your own jumpers even household 2 core flex will suffice as the wire. if you want to go all audiophile then splash out on some solid silver with teflon sheath.
bare copper will tarnish in no time.
Martha Stewart's silver engraved set is on order (obviously). Wolverine apologized to me yesterday for using up all the adamantium.
Bibio; I will be using again once (hopefully sometime in the near future) my Hafler DH-500 gets fixed.. So no solid-solder.
Bibio; I will be using again once (hopefully sometime in the near future) my Hafler DH-500 gets fixed.. So no solid-solder.
Hi twoblink,
Your copper links should be okay as the actual connection points are gas-tight usually. By putting some WD-40 on the links, you can keep oxidation at bay, and cleaning them now and again. You have time to try these before diving into the money pool again.
Any contact cleaner that leaves a film on the surface should keep oxides out of your life. Just don't leave too much on the links as that gets messy. Did you try the original links after cleaning them?
-Chris
Your copper links should be okay as the actual connection points are gas-tight usually. By putting some WD-40 on the links, you can keep oxidation at bay, and cleaning them now and again. You have time to try these before diving into the money pool again.
Any contact cleaner that leaves a film on the surface should keep oxides out of your life. Just don't leave too much on the links as that gets messy. Did you try the original links after cleaning them?
-Chris
I was going to go "el cheapo" and get some clear nail polish; if the need arises.. But I just buffed out my kid's brass spoon with Flitz and the thing shines like the sun. So I'm not that afraid of oxidation; that said; I'm in texas and so humidity all but guarantees it will get some oxidation. A quick dab of WD-40 will probably be the extent of the maintenance for right now. Sound is excellent though; and still the best bang for the buck I've found. I haven't cleaned the old jumpers as they are shiny and oxidization-free.
Hi twoblink,
Why not give the originals a try anyway. It's not expensive to do so. Besides, maybe you cleaned the contacts in the RCA jacks.
-Chris
Why not give the originals a try anyway. It's not expensive to do so. Besides, maybe you cleaned the contacts in the RCA jacks.
-Chris
I did give the originals another try; sounded horrible. It looks like cheap stainless steel electroplated over I assume brass.
If true that means that the originals were faulty, perhaps due to oxidation. Replacing a faulty item by a working item should always improve the sound. Replacing a short piece of working cable with another short piece of working cable will always make no difference whatsoever.twoblink said:
Tin plating is very good for getting a corrosion resistant surface.
There are tin plating kits available. I don't know how effective they are.
I wonder if a thin coat of solder would do?
Solder does corrode at the surface. It becomes dull. But that corrosion coating is very soft. It wipes off to become "clean" at next insertion.
This is the same effect as the wiping contacts of relays.
They are made from a material on which the corrosion is very soft and the self wiping action cleans them on each make/break.
There are tin plating kits available. I don't know how effective they are.
I wonder if a thin coat of solder would do?
Solder does corrode at the surface. It becomes dull. But that corrosion coating is very soft. It wipes off to become "clean" at next insertion.
This is the same effect as the wiping contacts of relays.
They are made from a material on which the corrosion is very soft and the self wiping action cleans them on each make/break.
there are kits to silverplate your PCB boards, you can use those to silverplate your copper. (goldplating also exists but that is rather expensive and the chemicals required for that are quite nasty)
I've used MG Chemical Liquid Tin for years with good result. I haven't noticed any sort of tarnish in normal use.
Liquid Tin | MG Chemicals
Liquid Tin | MG Chemicals
Silver falls into the same category as other soft corrosion product that needs to be wiped off.
Tin is very different.
That's why we tin plate our steel/iron food tins.
We don't silver plate them.
Tin is very different.
That's why we tin plate our steel/iron food tins.
We don't silver plate them.
I think nickel has a medium hardness corrosion product.
But it is solderable and that is probably why it is used as a plating on very many products.
If one wants good corrosion resistance, then one overplates nickel with chrome.
But it is solderable and that is probably why it is used as a plating on very many products.
If one wants good corrosion resistance, then one overplates nickel with chrome.
Well, in calibration labs everywhere, the contacts preferred are ... copper. Clean them before use, just like any other contact material.
The big question that wasn't answered is: Did you clean those links and try them again?? If the links are that bad, no one could sell equipment that used them. What has been described is a severe case.
Another big issue is this. Your links are only 1/2 of the connection. Try them again because you have probably cleaned the contacts by now. Also, the RCA contacts would expand if a larger connecting pin was used, making them unsuitable for the use of any connection of a smaller diameter. That is something I have seen most often, so you have to reduce the open space in the center RCA jack.
-Chris
The big question that wasn't answered is: Did you clean those links and try them again?? If the links are that bad, no one could sell equipment that used them. What has been described is a severe case.
Another big issue is this. Your links are only 1/2 of the connection. Try them again because you have probably cleaned the contacts by now. Also, the RCA contacts would expand if a larger connecting pin was used, making them unsuitable for the use of any connection of a smaller diameter. That is something I have seen most often, so you have to reduce the open space in the center RCA jack.
-Chris
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