Shunyata Sigma NR & Triton V3

[Rob41]

Originally Posted by CGabriel

Getting a better quality outlet is always recommended over the standard grade outlets in the wall. We have tested many commercial grade and audiophile grade outlets over the years. We have found that the Hubbell model 5352 to have superior grip strength and good sound quality.

If you decide to invest in a high end outlet there are some that are more and some less compatible with our proprietary connectors. Generally electrical contacts that are pure copper or a high percentile copper alloy sound best. If you get a plated outlet - do not use a rhodium plated contact with our CopperCONN connectors. Pure unplated brass or copper is fine. Nickel or gold plating is fine. Silver not so much but definitely NOT rhodium.

Of this is just my opinion. (After years of experience and testing)

Hi Caelin,

Could you please elaborate a bit on why Rhodium is a problem with the Copperconn? I have a furutech rhodium plated wall outlet and use it with a sigma nr to my denali. What am i missing out on? Do you advise to change the wall outlet to a gold plated one?

Best, Rob

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by Rob41

Hi Caelin,

Could you please elaborate a bit on why Rhodium is a problem with the Copperconn? I have a furutech rhodium plated wall outlet and use it with a sigma nr to my denali. What am i missing out on? Do you advise to change the wall outlet to a gold plated one?

Best, Rob

If I were to hazard a guess, there is an interaction between Copperconn and rhodium that is deleterious. It could even be that a chemical reaction between those two metals occurs that degrades the quality of the connection. For example, galvanic corrosion (also called bimetallic corrosion) is an electrochemical process in which one metal corrodes preferentially when it is in electrical contact with another. My guess is that this could happen between rhodium and copper(?)

My recommendation would be to get a Shunyata SR-Z1 outlet.

[Masterlu]

Rob41... Welcome to AA!

[CGabriel]

Originally Posted by Rob41

Hi Caelin,

Could you please elaborate a bit on why Rhodium is a problem with the Copperconn? I have a furutech rhodium plated wall outlet and use it with a sigma nr to my denali. What am i missing out on? Do you advise to change the wall outlet to a gold plated one?

Best, Rob

As you may know, we make our own brand of connectors and outlets which we call CopperCONN. These connectors were developed to improve the performance of our cables and power conditioners. We did not make them to be in the “connector business”. We consider them an integral part of the performance advantage that our products enjoy in the marketplace.

We have an unlimited ability to make those connectors with any materials that our research indicates would give them a competitive advantage. If making the contacts with rhodium or gold or platinum plating was superior then we would make them with those platings. In our research the best sound quality is obtained from a pure copper contact. However, copper is a soft metal and therefore it can be challenging to make contacts with a high spring stiffness required for use in an outlet or AC connector. Then, copper is prone to corrosion if it doesn’t not have some form of surface protection. This is primarily why contacts were originally plated - to protect the surface from corrosion. We choose to use a flash nickel plating to protect the pure copper base metal. One of the reasons we chose nickel is because the galvanic metal-to-metal response. Look it up on the internet if you want to learn more about that. In the audio world the most common metal to metal surfaces are copper, brass, nickel and gold surfaces. Nickel has the least amount of galvanic potential between all of those metals. So a nickel plated contact has the best chance of having the least reaction to the most common metal surfaces. This is primarily why we use it on our connectors. Second, even if a contact has a gold, silver, rhodium or palladium plating it will ALSO have a sub-plating of nickel. This is commonly done to prevent molecular migration of copper through the plated metal which is usually a few microns thick. So a gold plated contact may actually go through several different layers of galvanic reaction. We think it is better to have just a single layer of protective plating.

And last but not least, rhodium plating just sounds bad (IMO) compared to nickel or gold. But you can do your own testing and decide for yourself.

[Masterlu]

Caelin... what are your thoughts about Cryogenic treating?

[CGabriel]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

Caelin... what are your thoughts about Cryogenic treating?

Ten to fifteen years ago cryogenic treatment was not well known as an audiophile treatment. It was developed as a method to improve drill bit longevity in the oil and gas industry. Then, it was a secret treatment employed by engine builders especially in drag racing. And it was used around the same time to improve the strength of certain metal tools. I was involved in competitive road racing and actually cryogenic treated an entire engine - disassembled of course.

As you know, we have our own in-house cryogenic, computer controlled plant. We started using it as a “secret” process to improve the sound quality of certain metal contacts and wires. As time moved along, more and more people became aware of the potential benefits of cryogenic treatments. Some people started using it to treat tubes, whole cables and even entire components. A few years back we just started listing it as just another one of the processes that we use to improve performance. We don’t see it as something that needs to be kept proprietary.

We still use it today, but sparingly. Over the years we learned that cryo treatment is beneficial for metals but can be destructive to certain non-metal materials. It can also degrade the longevity of some insulation materials. This is the case even with the use of an advanced computer controlled lab and careful attention to process control. So we ONLY use it to treat contacts or other metal parts that can be separated from the plastic enclosures and containers. One example is pure polycarbonates. Once treated they become very brittle. Polycarbonate headshells are usually extremely tough but after a cryo treatment just dropping them onto concrete would cause them to literally explode into many shards.

All of our cables now come with a very prominent warning. DO NOT treat our products with cryogenics. Deep immersion cryogenics is especially harmful. So to all you that want to argue about this - this is just my opinion based on many years of personal experience. Do as you wish. Just don’t do it to our cables. It does void your warranty and don’t think for a moment that we don’t recognize the telltale signs that a cable has been put through the process.

As an aside, I know that many people treat tubes with cryo and that you can even buy them treated. My personal experience has been that is does change the sound quality of the tube but in the long run I preferred tubes that were simply burned in naturally. I also found that many of my very expensive tubes would go microphonic more often and quicker when cryo treated. Now this really is JMO and I know other people that have had good results.

So I don’t want to start a war of words here. You asked my opinion and this is just my opinion.

[Masterlu]

Caelin... I much appreciate your very detailed explanation, and personal experiences.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by CGabriel

Ten to fifteen years ago cryogenic treatment was not well known as an audiophile treatment. It was developed as a method to improve drill bit longevity in the oil and gas industry. Then, it was a secret treatment employed by engine builders especially in drag racing. And it was used around the same time to improve the strength of certain metal tools. I was involved in competitive road racing and actually cryogenic treated an entire engine - disassembled of course.

As you know, we have our own in-house cryogenic, computer controlled plant. We started using it as a “secret” process to improve the sound quality of certain metal contacts and wires. As time moved along, more and more people became aware of the potential benefits of cryogenic treatments. Some people started using it to treat tubes, whole cables and even entire components. A few years back we just started listing it as just another one of the processes that we use to improve performance. We don’t see it as something that needs to be kept proprietary.

We still use it today, but sparingly. Over the years we learned that cryo treatment is beneficial for metals but can be destructive to certain non-metal materials. It can also degrade the longevity of some insulation materials. This is the case even with the use of an advanced computer controlled lab and careful attention to process control. So we ONLY use it to treat contacts or other metal parts that can be separated from the plastic enclosures and containers. One example is pure polycarbonates. Once treated they become very brittle. Polycarbonate headshells are usually extremely tough but after a cryo treatment just dropping them onto concrete would cause them to literally explode into many shards.

All of our cables now come with a very prominent warning. DO NOT treat our products with cryogenics. Deep immersion cryogenics is especially harmful. So to all you that want to argue about this - this is just my opinion based on many years of personal experience. Do as you wish. Just don’t do it to our cables. It does void your warranty and don’t think for a moment that we don’t recognize the telltale signs that a cable has been put through the process.

As an aside, I know that many people treat tubes with cryo and that you can even buy them treated. My personal experience has been that is does change the sound quality of the tube but in the long run I preferred tubes that were simply burned in naturally. I also found that many of my very expensive tubes would go microphonic more often and quicker when cryo treated. Now this really is JMO and I know other people that have had good results.

So I don’t want to start a war of words here. You asked my opinion and this is just my opinion.

My understanding and experience with cryogenically treating certain materials mirrors Caelin's experience. As a former motorcycle roadracer, I was aware of guys who were treating things like con-rods to strengthen them, particularly con-rods for big twins, where the mass of large-bore pistons impacts con-rod tensile strength, particularly at higher RPM, where piston-speed becomes a real failure mode due to con-rod stretch.

I've also had some tubes that were cryogenically treated, but I also gave up on them, both for the microphonics issues that Caelin has cited, but it also made some rather sweet-sounding tubes, e.g., certain 12AU7s, 6922s, etc., rather "hard-sounding" and quite "uncomfortable" to listen to.

[John49]

So, now I have to throw out all my Rhodium plugs... [emoji33]

[Rob41]

Thank you Caelin for your detailed response.

Best, Rob

Originally Posted by CGabriel

As you may know, we make our own brand of connectors and outlets which we call CopperCONN. These connectors were developed to improve the performance of our cables and power conditioners. We did not make them to be in the “connector business”. We consider them an integral part of the performance advantage that our products enjoy in the marketplace.

We have an unlimited ability to make those connectors with any materials that our research indicates would give them a competitive advantage. If making the contacts with rhodium or gold or platinum plating was superior then we would make them with those platings. In our research the best sound quality is obtained from a pure copper contact. However, copper is a soft metal and therefore it can be challenging to make contacts with a high spring stiffness required for use in an outlet or AC connector. Then, copper is prone to corrosion if it doesn’t not have some form of surface protection. This is primarily why contacts were originally plated - to protect the surface from corrosion. We choose to use a flash nickel plating to protect the pure copper base metal. One of the reasons we chose nickel is because the galvanic metal-to-metal response. Look it up on the internet if you want to learn more about that. In the audio world the most common metal to metal surfaces are copper, brass, nickel and gold surfaces. Nickel has the least amount of galvanic potential between all of those metals. So a nickel plated contact has the best chance of having the least reaction to the most common metal surfaces. This is primarily why we use it on our connectors. Second, even if a contact has a gold, silver, rhodium or palladium plating it will ALSO have a sub-plating of nickel. This is commonly done to prevent molecular migration of copper through the plated metal which is usually a few microns thick. So a gold plated contact may actually go through several different layers of galvanic reaction. We think it is better to have just a single layer of protective plating.

And last but not least, rhodium plating just sounds bad (IMO) compared to nickel or gold. But you can do your own testing and decide for yourself.