[markl]

Everything wears out eventually, and I am just curious if anyone knows at what point a "typical" better-quality IC and/or power cord starts to degrade under normal usage? What are the factors that begin to deteriorate over time? I imagine oxidation is one major factor, but how long does it take before oxidation starts to effect sound quality?

I know this is a broad question, and the real answer is "it depends", but speaking broadly, anyone have any ideas?

Mark

 

[john_jcb]

It has been my experience that the desire to have something new and hopefully better kicks in far before the anything I have ownede starts to degrade. I think the possible impact of corrosion is far less on quality interconnects. Gold plating is virtually immune to the normal corrosive elements in the air. I have found some very old (+30 years) cheap RCA type in the basement that were stored in boxes. The corrosion on these was extreme. I discarded them although it would have been interesting to see if a good cleaning restored them to usable cables.

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by markl Everything wears out eventually, and I am just curious if anyone knows at what point a "typical" better-quality IC and/or power cord starts to degrade under normal usage? What are the factors that begin to deteriorate over time? I imagine oxidation is one major factor, but how long does it take before oxidation starts to effect sound quality? I know this is a broad question, and the real answer is "it depends", but speaking broadly, anyone have any ideas? Mark

It's really going to depend on build quality more than anything else. Now that OFC copper is going into cabling, as long as it's properly insulated from air oxidation should be slow to non-existent. There are no mechanical parts to wear out. The key may be how long the dialectric stays viable. If insulators harden and crack, the cable will soon be useless. Connector quality may be critical, and connectors that get taken off and put back on frequently will mechanically wear out eventually. However, I expect that most high-end cables made today will outlive me, so I'll leave the issue for the next generation (or perhaps the one after than) to worry about.

 

[Mastergill]

I'm using an 15 years old Cardas IC and it sound and look like new.
With proper care very good cable should last a lifetime.

 

[DarkAngel]

dont worry..........John is right you will have new cables long before any wear issues effect cable performance

I can tell you that there have been huge advances in cable design in last 15yrs..............there was very little choice back then mostly Kimber, Audioquest, MIT stuff, and Linn was till preaching cables don't effect sound (I remeber going into Pro Musica on Clark st in Chicago to hear very expensive Linn/Naim system and speakers all connected with cheap looking zip cable for a couple dollars a foot!).........times have changed. Also I can't recall any real power conditioner products like we have today 15yrs ago.

Back in the 1980's I used Kimber 8TC speaker cables for Spendor SP1 speakers and thought I was on the cutting edge......today I wouldn't even use those for my back-up system, he he.

So it is either a blessing or curse but cables as a serious audio consideration is a very recent event.

 

[markl]

I no doubt will end up replacing key ICs in my system over time, but certain cables I expect to be in my system for a long time, getting recycled to newer components. I recently started asking myself, how many times in one's life does one purchase a $500 power cord? Can one keep doing this year after year as the latest and greatest new connectors/geometries/pixie-dust comes out? Maybe a re-prioritization is in order. If cables last at peak performance for 20-30 years or so, I suppose that's OK return on investment.

 

[Ebonyks]

Markl, we all know that you'll replace your cables long, long, long before they acually wear out

Really, it shouldn't be an issue, corroded connectors can be cleaned, and restored to good condition many times before they just wear out. Worst case scenerio, you may have to replate the plugs, or just replace them all together, which even on your nites is only a 100 dollar procedure (Given that you're using the WBT plugs)