Hi,
I'm looking for a pair of female RCA panel jacks for the inputs to my AlephJ pass amp. Pure copper (OFC) appears to be a good option but most options appear expensive. I found the attached. I guess its possible the seller may be creatively using the word "copper" and they could be brass.. Anyway, two questions:
1. The attached photo doesn't show a ground lug. How would you connect the ground to this particular jack?
2. Can anyone suggest an alternative RCA jack that really is copper (not brass) and isn't expensive?
I understand the copper base metal needs to be plated for corrosion resistance, usually gold.
Thanks
I'm looking for a pair of female RCA panel jacks for the inputs to my AlephJ pass amp. Pure copper (OFC) appears to be a good option but most options appear expensive. I found the attached. I guess its possible the seller may be creatively using the word "copper" and they could be brass.. Anyway, two questions:
1. The attached photo doesn't show a ground lug. How would you connect the ground to this particular jack?
2. Can anyone suggest an alternative RCA jack that really is copper (not brass) and isn't expensive?
I understand the copper base metal needs to be plated for corrosion resistance, usually gold.
Thanks
Attachments
Hi,
For high current the conductivity of copper may be important, at low signal levels quality of contact is the priority
For high current the conductivity of copper may be important, at low signal levels quality of contact is the priority
Copper is not strong enough for a connector.
Cheap fleabay connectors are steel plated with gold or copper.
Better quality are brass and professionals use Neutrik; Phono (RCA) Chassis Connectors - Neutrik
Nickel plated with gold.
Cheap fleabay connectors are steel plated with gold or copper.
Better quality are brass and professionals use Neutrik; Phono (RCA) Chassis Connectors - Neutrik
Nickel plated with gold.
Yes, copper is too soft and so will make a poor connector. I am going to guess that OFC copper will be particularly soft and so particularly useless for this application. It is unlikely that you will be able to buy such an item, as nobody should be daft enough to make one.
I can see two ground lugs on those connectors.
I can see two ground lugs on those connectors.
Tellurium copper is used for high quality connectors, and is nearly as machinable as brass.
Binding Post, Low Thermal Emf. Tellurium-Copper, Gold-Plated | Pomona Electronics
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I bought recently couple of RCA sockets (from the OP) on fleabay, and I can confirm those are made of gold plated brass. Besides they're really massive.
Majority of manufacturers use (thicker) nickel plating underneath gold plating. Apparently it gives the gold that shiny look but it's not the best for audio.
Even WBT Nextgen 0210 Cu RCA sockets use bronze plating underneath thin (0.4 micron) gold plating. Only 0210 Ag RCA's are compromiseless in this respect - the only thing which is not silver in its signal part is bronze spring for the signal pin, which is obviously necessary for longevity reasons. There's a brass nut version, but it's disconnected from the signal path.
ETI Research FR-TC07 RCA sockets declare they don't use nickel or bronze or brass in the signal path. However they don't specify gold is directly plated on tellurium copper body - so it's possible they use some other in-between plating metal option which they hide. There's a brass nut, but it's disconnected from the signal path as well.
These two are probably best quality RCA socket options available; however I'd like if there was a cheaper option built on similar principles (tellurium copper or silver, low mass of signal conductor). However I see no similar female RCA from the Star Line, while Elecaudio produces tellurium copper RCA's, but unfortunately they use nickle plating as well.
Any suggestions? Any knowledge of other quality without compromise female RCA's, except less priced than WBT or ETI?
Majority of manufacturers use (thicker) nickel plating underneath gold plating. Apparently it gives the gold that shiny look but it's not the best for audio.
Even WBT Nextgen 0210 Cu RCA sockets use bronze plating underneath thin (0.4 micron) gold plating. Only 0210 Ag RCA's are compromiseless in this respect - the only thing which is not silver in its signal part is bronze spring for the signal pin, which is obviously necessary for longevity reasons. There's a brass nut version, but it's disconnected from the signal path.
ETI Research FR-TC07 RCA sockets declare they don't use nickel or bronze or brass in the signal path. However they don't specify gold is directly plated on tellurium copper body - so it's possible they use some other in-between plating metal option which they hide. There's a brass nut, but it's disconnected from the signal path as well.
These two are probably best quality RCA socket options available; however I'd like if there was a cheaper option built on similar principles (tellurium copper or silver, low mass of signal conductor). However I see no similar female RCA from the Star Line, while Elecaudio produces tellurium copper RCA's, but unfortunately they use nickle plating as well.
Any suggestions? Any knowledge of other quality without compromise female RCA's, except less priced than WBT or ETI?
Pure copper jams the machining tools because it is too soft, so i would require a non standard and expensive production method
As I understand it, adding tellurium to copper will
1. make it more radioactive - but not dangerously so
2. make it more toxic - but not dangerously so
3. make it harder and so easier to machine and more durable
4. reduce conductivity - but not enough to do harm to an audio signal
Note that better audio performance is not a factor.
1. make it more radioactive - but not dangerously so
2. make it more toxic - but not dangerously so
3. make it harder and so easier to machine and more durable
4. reduce conductivity - but not enough to do harm to an audio signal
Note that better audio performance is not a factor.
You can work-harden copper. Makes a huge difference to its properties (of course there is absolutely no point using oxygen free copper, work-hardened metals have higher resistivity anyway). Typically copper alloys are used for machined parts, not pure copper, such as tellurium copper and beryllium copper (used for spring contacts).
The ground lugs are machined flat to be soldered directly onto a PCB I think (like SMA connectors). Alas a solid copper connector is going to be impossible to solder without a large powerful iron - the plastic gaskets should be removed before soldering of course.
Almost immeasurably so - many orders of magnitude less radioactive than bananas for instance.
"The radiation exposure from consuming one banana is approximately 1% of the average daily exposure to radiation."
Sorry, I just had to check on Wikipedia! 🙂
Sorry, I just had to check on Wikipedia! 🙂
People have made and tested interconnects made out of banana. They were almost indistinguishable from copper.
Weapons are currently made out of iron/steel, but we must remember our History: they were earlier made out of Bronze (hint: Bronze Age) or even ***COPPER***
By the way, these are Chinese copper swords.
If they make swords out of copper, why wouldn´t they make simple RCA connectors?
Earlier ones from stone or wood, but maybe at a primeval age we made them out of Bananas, why not?
So learning to defend against them can save your life someday.
YouTube
By the way, these are Chinese copper swords.
If they make swords out of copper, why wouldn´t they make simple RCA connectors?
Earlier ones from stone or wood, but maybe at a primeval age we made them out of Bananas, why not?
So learning to defend against them can save your life someday.
YouTube
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Early copper would have contained lots of impurities so would have been stronger than modern copper.
There is no good reason to make an RCA connector out of copper. There are good reasons for making wire out of copper. People should not confuse these two quite different applications of conductors.
There is no good reason to make an RCA connector out of copper. There are good reasons for making wire out of copper. People should not confuse these two quite different applications of conductors.
In the copper age, there was no attempt to refine the metal, so it would probably have been mixed with arsenic naturally, which is a much harder alloy