Speaker cable and Interconnect BRASS Connectors


I have been thinking about speaker cables and interconnect connectors, in that cable manufacturers don't say what the connectors are made off. When you read the description of cables you are lead to believe that the cables the best thing there is since slice bread. Yes I do know that cables make a difference in your system but i don't understand why the connectors in most cases are made of BRASS. Don't you think Brass will cause a bottleneck in signal flow? if you consider what the best electrical conductors are you might agree:
1. Silver (pure)2. Copper (pure)3. Gold (pure)4. Aluminum5. Zinc6. Nickel7. Brass8. Bronze9. Iron10. Platinum11. Steel
Brass falls in 7th place; so why make the connectors out of Brass? I think we are paying $400 + for speaker and interconnect cables but not getting the full potential of these cables because of the Brass connectors. And don't tell me that the Brass connectors don't affect the signal negatively. You know about the difference that silver solder makes, then what about Brass? have you tested it against other connectors such as copper? I am curious to hear your thoughts.

almandog
Wire construct MS or SC
OCC
OFC
Silver over either
Silver
Pure Tungsten stinger (SC)

Covers
Poly vinyl
Teflon
silicone
AIR

Terminals, nuts, bolts, washers
Copper
Red Copper
Silver over either
Gold over either
5n silver

NO
Rhodium (VERY harsh environment)
brass (ok when copper, silver or gold clad and tune the BASS a bit..)
steal
Stainless
tin
lead
nickel (though not bad)
gold (to expensive)
aluminum
Bearing in mind it is the RCA Connectors Inner Pin (+) that will be the most beneficial material to be made of Copper as part of the Connector.

With a Modern Design Concert, using the most up to date Designs for Copper Metal, there are Furutech, Zavfino and Aeco RCA Male Connectors.

For a Solid Silver (+) Pin there is Aeco, which I use at present on my most expensive Wires.
There are also Silver RCA's from Furutech, but I am not sure if these are utilising a Solid Silver (+) Pin.

Costs Vary across the above RCA Connectors, but unfortunately they are Rare and Branded Items.

Mapleshade produce their own Solid Copper RCA, I have been using these as well, with a M'shade Cable I own.
I have dismantled one RCA Connector and it is a very simplistic Design.

If uses a Outer Copper Tube/Housing with a ID to match the OD of the Female RCA.
It has a Copper (+) Pin with a OD to Match the ID of the Female RCA Centre Penetration.   
The Copper (+) Pin is Mounted Centrally into a Wooden Dowel and the Dowel is of the Diameter that offers a Snug Fitting within the Outer Copper Tube/Housing.
Ensure there is a short overhang of the Centre Pin from the rear of the Dowel, to serve as Tag to connect the (+) Wire.

If a person is familiar with producing their own Cables and have an understanding of a RCA's Construction and Function, the M'shade method will be easily understood, and the cost to produce a RCA will be seen as very affordable.           
Not sure about what you are saying. But seeing that most connectors are made of brass, seems to me one can't tell the difference. I looked for copper connectors but hard to find. This topic is highly debatable. But to each his own. Just be satisfied with what you have. 
Are there audible characteristics that gold plated brass exhibits that anyone here has picked up on? I’m my experience with upgrading binding posts and AC connectors from gold plated brass to copper (gold and rhodium plating) that brass exhibits a distorted, more forward, less refined, harder character from the midrange into the treble. Can anyone else characterize what they hear in gold plated brass?
Tellurium copper (or even berylium copper) would be superior to brass or bronze, yet strong enough and elastic. Brass is a legacy, historic material but also obviously cheaper to make connectors from. While it is great for general use it's not the best available yet affordable option for hifi. 

However makers of connector still mostly refuse to accept that minimum metal mass is a way to go for hi-fi instead of massive, heavy connectors which have to fight Eddy currents. Also, heavy nickel plating under gold or silver finish plating is still preferred over direct gold/silver plating just because it gives that nicem looking eye-candy effect gloss. Seems many manufacturers prefer eye candy gloss or massive approach before what's best for the sound. However wise ones will choose otherwise if they have an option...
Another thing we dont know is: The kind of wire used inside the speakers. But that is another subject because cable makers and speaker makers are mostly different companies. Last weekend I was in Tokyo and I went to my favorite spot to buy some interconnect and speaker connectors but they only had brass connectors. I bought a few pairs. I will do a test at some point.

almandog,

I think about this frequently when I see glossy ads for cables...including my own. Too soft is no excuse as we know copper RCAs and speaker terminals exist, and I read about tellerium copper alloys that are used in hi end wall outlets. Gold and rhodium plating over brass isn't good enough. There are companies using copper, but not enough, and it isn't spoken about enough either. I think these companies are getting a pass.


Almandog,

This is an interesting question/concern which I have considered at length in my pursuit for perfection in speaker cables, and I’m glad you bring it up. In my case I use Acoustic Zen Absolute Copper interconnects and Hologram 2’s at the recommendation of Robert Lee, owner of AZ for optimizing my system which includes PASS labs x250.8, XP-20 preamp and among others Focal Scala Utopias. I own both connectors for my 2 sets of Hologram 2 speaker cables, spades on both ends, which are zero copper, and spades with locking banana which are brass. I must say trying to hear the difference between the two is difficult. The zero copper length wires of the 9ft runs of each I feel overrides the small brass terminators on the speaker end in the case of the spade/ banana pair. I don’t hear a bottleneck affecting sound in any way, highs lows detail etc. But I propose to you calling Robert ( his cell number is on their website and he will pick up) and discussing this with him and posting your/his conclusions here, as he is articulate, a perfectionist, engineer and former violinist. It could be very helpful to all.

Best,

janmnov
Its a strength game pure copper, silver(somewhat) and gold are way to soft to use with out adding something so brass wins the strength to cost to performance game. My guess is there are some legal requirements for strength as well for safety reasons.

Tinned bare wire is best "IMO" but not very convenient. I say tinned to prevent-control corrosion you can use products to help here, but I’m not personally a fan of smearing goop on my connectors - wires.

You wont find high quantities of silver in silver solder that is DYI use with out special equipment.  I think around 3% - 5% for electronics using an iron. Anymore an you need torches not something your going to do with electronics I'm thinking. You can get up to 80%+ but that's for fixing water pipes and silver dishes etc. and some specialty items were you need no lead.