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Thread: It's a mystery

  1. #11
    Join Date: Jan 2009

    Location: Essex

    Posts: 31,852
    I'm openingabottleofwine.

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    Hi Adrian,

    You might be on to something there, and provide a possible reason why cables and/or connectors might just fail while being plugged in, as mentioned by Martin.

    Yes, a dry joint will produce an intermittent and time dependant fault: initially sound with no manifest problem, but becoming either noisy or completely failing with time. That is one of the reasons why, where possible, I like to assemble my own interconnects. That way I have complete control on the choice of cable and of connector, as well as the neatness and quality of the soldering.

    Until recently, my system used a concatination of components each with their own connector style. Thus I had to make up leads fitted with a variety of connectors: RCA phono; DIN; 1/4" jack; XLR; Teuchel, and CAMAC as interconnects. As my system moved towards one where most of the components used balanced-line connections, for the sake of expediency and convenience, I would often buy ready made leads from respected cable companies such as Studiospares and Chord etc.

    One set of balanced-line cables I used between the preamp and a buffer amplifier are made by Chord. In the past I have tried out some un-balanced Chord coaxial cables, terminated with RCA phono plugs and loaned to me on a try and return basis - and have to say I was most unimpressed with the quality of their construction; in fact I had to repair them in order to use them. It is quite possible that the Chord balanced cables were poorly soldered and had a dry joint. In reassembling the system I replaced the Chord cables with some using Mogami 2549 cable and Neutrik XLRs, as the latter were shorter, and I like to keep all cable lengths to a practical minimum.

    I will inspect the soldering on the Chord cables carefully - it might explain what happened.

    Thanks
    Barry
    Barry

  2. #12
    Join Date: Nov 2011

    Location: Seaton, Devon, UK

    Posts: 13,240
    I'm Adrian.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Barry View Post
    Hi Adrian,

    You might be on to something there, and provide a possible reason why cables and/or connectors might just fail while being plugged in, as mentioned by Martin.

    ...... In reassembling the system I replaced the Chord cables with some using Mogami 2549 cable and Neutrik XLRs, as the latter were shorter, and I like to keep all cable lengths to a practical minimum.

    I will inspect the soldering on the Chord cables carefully - it might explain what happened.

    Thanks
    Barry
    Well if it is that at least you will know the cause of the issue.
    Listening is the act of aural discrimination and dissemination of sound, and accepting you get it wrong sometimes.

    Analog Inputs: Pro-Ject Signature 10 TT & arm, Benz Micro LP-S, Michel Cusis MC, Goldring 2500 and Ortofon Rondo Blue cartridges, Hitachi FT5500 mk2 Tuner

    Digital:- Marantz SA-KI Pearl CD player, RaspberryPi/HifiBerry Digi+ Pro, Buffalo NAS Drive

    Amplification:- AudioValve Sunilda phono stage, Krell KSP-7B pre-amp, Krell KSA-80 power amp

    Output: Wilson Benesch Vector speakers, KLH Ultimate One Headphones

    Cables: Tellurium Q Ultra Black II RCA & Chord Epic 2 RCA, various speaker leads, & links


    I think I am nearing audio nirvana, but don’t tell anyone.

  3. #13
    Join Date: Feb 2008

    Location: South Wales

    Posts: 9,151
    I'm NotTakingLifeTooSeriouslyTheseDays.

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    Connections that have been under stress for long periods of time can eventualy suffer cracked solder joints,depending on how good the soldering was in the first place, and also the type of solder used!
    I see equipment on a regular basis in for repair where there are multiple cracked joints due to hot/cold stress, that might have happend a while before the equipment actualy failed, sometimes it just needs a diffrence in teperature to finaly show up the issue.
    Anyway, good to hear you now have music again Barry, but i am sure it would be good to finaly know what the problem was!
    A...
    "Today scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation, and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality"
    Nikola Tesla



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