At what point does damage to connector terminals or connectors negatively affect signal quality?

[virtua]

Hi guys,

I haven't been able to find any information on this, but it got me thinking. Can corrosion, scratches or any other types of superficial damage to terminals or connectors negatively affect the signal quality? or are cables a matter of, if they have continuity end to end it should be good to use (outside of differences in shielding etc)?

I haven't found much information as to how different types of damage to cables or connectors can affect sound quality, if anyone has any insight that would be great.

 

[abdo123]

if you're using something like the Benchmark ABH2 then yes maybe the quality of the connector will degrade MEASURED performance slightly, otherwise not really.

 

[virtua]

if you're using something like the Benchmark ABH2 then yes maybe the quality of the connector will degrade MEASURED performance slightly, otherwise not really.

In terms of the difference in cheap vs good connectors (both undamaged), I wouldn't imagine there would be much in it. Amir has measured RCA cables before and most of them have basically been as clean as the loopback on his analyzer, well beyond the capability of the AHB2 (which I'd imagine is well beyond anyones hearing already)

I'm not referring so much to the quality of the connector itself, but how much possibility there is of a connector negatively affecting signal quality if it is corroded or damaged in any way but is still able to pass a signal.

 

[alex-z]

There is virtually no amount of corrosion or surface marks that will impact audible performance. The amount of resistance provided by the speaker and cable far outweigh connection resistance.

Similarly, materials like brass and nickel used in terminals have far lower conductivity than copper, yet it doesn't matter because the total amount is so low.

If you still have devices which use analogue video, that is where such concerns become relevant.

 

[virtua]

There is virtually no amount of corrosion or surface marks that will impact audible performance. The amount of resistance provided by the speaker and cable far outweigh connection resistance.

Similarly, materials like brass and nickel used in terminals have far lower conductivity than copper, yet it doesn't matter because the total amount is so low.

If you still have devices which use analogue video, that is where such concerns become relevant.

Thanks for the reply, would we be able to extrapolate this to connections between line level devices as well? It sounds to me that would matter even less so.

Is it fair to assume that even if a connector or terminal is damaged on line-level or speaker inputs/outputs, that as long as it is able to receive a signal that there would be no audible degradation to the signal due to this? As in, you're either getting a signal with good integrity or you aren't getting one at all?

 

[alex-z]

Yes, for the purposes of consumer audio you don't need to worry about connection quality, both at low and high signal levels. Obviously there is some practical limit, like if a 16 gauge cable was frayed down to 30 gauge. But in that case I would be more worried about whatever is chewing the cables, and not the audio quality.

Pro audio is a bit more discerning, because of the travel factor and higher wattage. A rack mount amp could potentially see thousands of plug/unplug cycles, and vibration as it gets trucked around. Hence the extra money spent on stuff like locking speakon connectors with < 2 mΩ contact resistance.