Goldpoint SA4M-47 passive 'preamp' winging its way to Marco Towers...

[CageyH]

From your Wiki link:
And what about the stuff that's in our food? If ingesting cadmium is more dangerous than inhaling it, then why are people not dying every day from the effects of cadmium ingestion?

Read your quote from Wiki again, as you have misinterpreted it. The lungs absorb Cadmium better than your stomach.

[Marco]

It's in the text you quoted.

I hope you enjoy your LDR preamp, but it will have to go some to beat your Croft from what I have read.

Out of interest, how much Cadmium is in an LDR? I have no idea, but there are plenty of alternative products that sound good.
Various flavours of passives and of active preamps are available without the need to use a soon to be banned substance.

As I said, I just wanted to highlight the dangers. It's up to each individual if they deem it an acceptable risk. If you do, buy one while you still can, but bear in mind selling it on in a few years time may not be legal.

I appreciate all that, Kevin, and your reasons for drawing our attention to it. As ever with hi-fi equipment, my sole concern is for what sounds best - every other consideration pales into insignificance.

If the LDR preamp ends up sounding best, then quite simply, that is what I will use. And as I rarely sell any of my core system components, especially stuff that sounds great, there will be no inclination to dispose of the LDR. Simples - no big bad bobbies knocking at my door!

Marco.

[Marco]

Read your quote from Wiki again, as you have misinterpreted it. The lungs absorb Cadmium better than your stomach.

Sorry, yes my mistake. However, it proves the point I made about cigarettes, which cumulatively, via every smoker in the world, emit rather more cadmium into the air, and have been doing so for years, than any LDR preamp!

If someone can tell me the statistical likelihood of an LDR preamp to 'burst' or 'fry' in normal use, and thus become a genuine hazard, then I might take the danger more seriously.

Marco.

[CageyH]

A single cigarette typically contains 1-2 mcg of cadmium. When burned, cadmium is present at a level of 1,000-3,000 ppb in the smoke. Approximately 40 to 60 percent of the cadmium inhaled from cigarette smoke is able to pass through the lungs and into the body. This means that for each pack of cigarettes smoked, a person can absorb an additional 1-3 mcg of cadmium over what is taken in from other sources in their daily life.

I am sure an LDR has more than 1 to 3 millionths of a gram of Cadmium in.

http://quitsmoking.about.com/od/chem.../p/cadmium.htm

[Marco]

Anyway, we're in danger of going round in circles, so let's get back on topic, unless someone can supply an accurate answer to the point raised in the final sentence of my last post.

Marco.

[Marco]

Just one final point....

Dare say they could spontaneously combust due to the huge voltages involved

Yes, but statistically, how many have *actually* done that, out of how many sold in total? And if any LDR preamps have blown up like that, what was the outcome for those in the vicinity? Are they still alive and in good health?

Quite frankly, if you fretted about every 'what if?' in life, you'd never set foot outside the door!!

Marco.

[allthingsanalogue]

Don't all microwave ovens contain beryllium in the Magnatron?

[struth]

Just one final point....




Yes, but statistically, how many have actually done that, out of how many sold in total? And if any LDR preamps have blown up like that, what was the outcome for those in the vicinity?

Quite frankly, if you worried about every 'what if?' in life, you'd never set foot outside the door!! It's a nonsense.

Marco.

I was being a tad Puckish and facetious

[walpurgis]

Don't all microwave ovens contain beryllium in the Magnatron?

I don't often listen to a microwave cooker.

[struth]

Don't all microwave ovens contain beryllium in the Magnatron?

Some do as beryllium oxide; It is another nasty, although you would likely need a fair amount to be inhaled to be super dangerous I would have thought. We worked with Mags a lot, and the dangerous part was operating them without shielding as the can sterilise you. we wore lead aprons; I looked cute