Solder for passive crossovers.

[JoeBob]

Well, I finished up my first passive crossover, but used up all my silver solder. Now does the solder make much of a difference in the sound of a passive crossover? Because I've got some age old normal (tin/lead I believe) solder lying around and wondering if I should bother using it to do the secound crossover, or will it ruin the sound? I pluged in my first crossover to my finished speaker, and if I do say so myself it's the greatest speaker I've ever heard, so I wouldn't want to ruin the secound one by using under-par solder.

 

[Super]

This is one of those questions bound to raise argument. Personally, I feel that the proper solder technique is of greater importance, but some people claim they can hear differences. But if I had made one crossover using silver solder, and the loudspeaker wasn't a budget design, I would buy some more silver for the second, just to be on the safe side.

 

[JoeBob]

Ya, I guess I'll just go buy somemore, after all, I'm going to need more soon anyways. Just a little impatient to hear my latest creation at it's fullest...

 

[GRollins]

It may be a pain in the rump to fetch some more solder, but I vote for consistency between the two channels, whether it's tin/lead or tin/silver.

Grey

 

[JoeBob]

Ya, I took your advice and was going to go buy another roll on monday (my local store, which knows me and gives me good prices is closed on weekends), when I fell across an extra silver roll lying around. I guess I can finish it now and use silver solder. Thanks for your info though...

 

[Lisandro_P]

This is one of those questions bound to raise argument. Personally, I feel that the proper solder technique is of greater importance, but some people claim they can hear differences. But if I had made one crossover using silver solder, and the loudspeaker wasn't a budget design, I would buy some more silver for the second, just to be on the safe side.

Same thoughts here.... the "sonics" of different types of solder are debatible (i feel there aren't any differences), but a clean solder jobs is more important. Myself, i like using a solder that's a bit expensive, but only because it flows much better than regular brands.

 

[GRollins]

Not having ever done a comparison between different solders, I have no opinion. I can see how they <i>might</i> make a difference, but that's not the same thing as saying that they do.
However, soldering technique is unquestionably important. I've always taken it as a given that people should do a good job soldering, in the same way that I assume that people calculate the heat dissipation in a resistor and choose a part that can take whatever the circuit is going to dish out. It's basic. It should, I'd hope, go without saying, but...
One channel in my Hafler DH-500 cuts out after a while (since I got the first Aleph 2 running, it's lived in the home theater rig upstairs). Being intermittant, I have yet to catch it on the bench. I suspect a cold solder joint. I'd like to think that a factory-assembled unit like this would have good solder joints, but it ain't necessarily the case.

Grey

 

[CHRIS8]

Sonic differences? None that I have ever heard or have even heard of from a credible source.

The main reasons for silver solder are increased strength/durability of the joint. Also, you can melt/flow silver bearing solder over more times than tin/lead solder without it losing as much strength. For this reason I always use silver bearing solder as I always end up adjusting something in the speakers for months after I finish them.

Also, I like to avoid contact with toxic metals when I can help it.

-Chris

 

[GRollins]

<i>Pssst!</i>
You're not supposed to eat the stuff, you know...
The Romans used to sweeten their wine, something not done much these days, as fashions have changed. Sometimes they'd use honey, which is fine, but sometimes they'd use lead acetate (aka 'sugar of lead') because it's sweet-tasting. Needless to say, there were health issues as a result.
I seem to recall seeing somewhere that they were going to phase out lead solder anyway because the stuff eventually ends up in garbage dumps, gets leached out by rain/groundwater, and enters the water table.

Grey