In article ,
ScottW wrote:
On May 28, 7:36*am, "Peter"
wrote:
For quite some time now I have been very unhappy with the sound of my stereo
system which consists primarily of Bryston components.
Today I had the idea to clean all of the male ends of my balanced XLR
interconnect cables and the Bryston male *balanced XLR inputs, which I
proceeded to do with cotton buds and 99% isopropyl alcohol.
The results are amazing, and with indeed very little effort, I believe that
I reclaimed the original excellent sound of my stereo system.
I am somewhat perplexed by these results since the ends of all of my
balanced XLR cables are gold plated and I believe the Bryston balanced XLR
input jacks likewise. *It seems to me that a gold to gold connection should
not deteriorate, and hence I wonder what is going on here?
If done right, you are correct. Gold to gold contact should be
reliable.
Unfortunately doing it right sometimes costs just a little bit more.
Heres a simple discussion of basic connector gold plating from Amp.
http://www.te.com/documentation/whit...f/aurulrep.pdf
I also wonder how often the above described cleaning should be necessary in
order to maintain top-notch sound?
If your problem is due to oxides from exposed base metal....you're
probably
looking at increasing frequency required with each cleaning.
You might find that simply reseating the connectors is sufficient to
reestablish
a good connection.
I'd look at the pins for signs of exposed base metal and if
visible...replace the the connector.
Perhaps others have had similar experiences and results?
I had a problem that I initially thought was a flaky connection on an
RCA but it turned
out the overtight monster connector cracked a solder joint on the
board...even though the connector
assembly was mechanically attached to the rear wall. Connectors can
be "too tight" for their own good.
ScottW
I still say that XLRs provide a very reliable, gas-tight connection and
as long as the connections are left alone (not made and broken multiple
times) there is simply no way that cleaning something that doesn't need
cleaning will actually do anything more than introduce the placebo
effect into the equation. Now, if he had said that he cleaned and
applied Stabilant 22 (Tweek) on all connection surfaces, then I might
believe that a real improvement in sound was noticed by the OP.
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