From: chenh@athena.ecs.csus.edu ( h philip chen )
Subject: Re: Gold vs Tin RCAs/Solid vs Stranded  
Keywords: RCA, amp wires
Organization: California State University, Sacramento
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 92 08:42:37 GMT

ehawrysh@bmers217.bnr.ca (Evan Hawrysh) writes:
>I'm about to install a system into my car (finally) but have a few
>economic vs performance questions.
>
>1) I'm building my own line-level cables. I've got the cable, but I can't
>decide on whether to buy gold-plated or tin RCA connectors. Is it 
>worth the additional cost? I need 10 pairs and can get 6 pair of tin for
>the price of 1 pair of gold. (ie CAN$2.50 for 3pr vs CAN$5.00 for 1pr).
>BTW, all components have gold-plated connectors.

me too!  i had to build my own cables because of the custom lengths.
i've got some Soundstream gold connectors along with their silver 
teflon cables.  

the main benefit of gold connectors is they won't corrode, especially in 
the car environment where the humidity changes from season to season, and 
even from day to night.  since it won't corrode, both the male/female 
connectors/terminals will have excellent conductivity from day one.

the other one that you mentioned is tin.  i believe the tin ones may 
corrode or is that for silver only? (ie. tarnish -- remember we have to 
polish the silverwares at home?)  anyway, since your amps already have 
gold terminals, you might seriously like to consider all gold RCA 
connectors too.  (don't want the gold, silver and/or tin to react and 
start bonding:-))  anyway, try not to plug and unplug the connectors 
too often -- so the gold won't rub themselves off.


>2) I'm also looking for power wires to my amps. One amp is a HiFonics
>Cupid and the other a Sony XM-3040 4ch. For my application, 10 ga is
>adequate, but does it matter whether I get solid core or stranded wires?
>I realize that stranded would have an advantage if we're talking AC, but
>since it's a DC voltage, would there be a difference? 10 ga solid is easy
>enough to bend, takes up less space than the stranded, and is cheaper
>to buy, so I'm leaning toward the solid.

the stranded wires are more flexible than the solid core ones as you
probably understand.  bending the 10 ga. solid one may not be a problem, 
but when you're unbending it (eg. errors), you may accidentally damage 
the wire internally, especially if that was a sharp bend/corner and when 
that core is/was too hard.  also, the solid cable may look kinda funny 
after you unbend it but that shouldn't be a problem if noone else is going 
to see it.  honestly speaking, go for the stranded ones -- i think it'll 
be easier to snake the wires along the intended path.  remember to put an 
inline fuse near the battery -- 12 inches or less from the battery's 
positive terminal for safety precautions.  i've seen this documented in 
some installation manuals for amps.

talking about wires, try not to put _any_ wire in middle of the foot area 
though it's nicely hidden under the carpet and the soundproofing material.
always put them at places where passengers are less likely step over it, 
eg. in the floor corner or taped to the vertical walls, or in the conduit 
if your vehicle got it - everything behind the carpet.  (it's your 
passengers' shoes {the one with the Really Sharp Pointed Heels}, that may 
accidentally snap the wires under the carpet and spoil the day.  i've got 
a coupla holes in my sunsheild (that "help! call the police" cardboard 
thingy) which i usually dump on passenger side foot area, and that's more 
than enough to convince me!)

oh well, hope this helps a little.  anyway, sorry for the long article but 
have fun there!


-philip chenh@neptune.ecs.csus.edu

Newsgroups: rec.audio.car