Terminations
Zero Loss Connectivity
Even with ‘Audiophile’ cables, terminations are often an afterthought. Terminations that utilize screw pressure to clamp against the side of a conductor result in minimal actual contact area between the sides of a few conductor strands. Screws are designed to fasten, not to create a secure, low-resistance, reliable contact. These terminations invite contamination of the contact surfaces and degrade over time as the cable and screw housings age.
Soldered connections are an improvement over mechanical connections but are inherently inconsistent and subject to fatigue and cracking over time. Solder also tends to wick up conductor strands, stressing the conductor where the solder ends. Most litz cable is terminated using solder as this is the easiest method to deal with the individual strand insulation.
Terminations
Vanish Terminals
The best possible termination is a uniformly crimped, cold weld termination. Vanish cables are terminated by first removing the litz insulation via a unique methodology, and then immediately crimping over the remaining pure copper strands and environmentally sealing the assembly to prevent any opportunities for oxidation. Our crimping process utilizes a 13 ton hydraulic press and applies force equally around the diameter of the cable, creating a uniform, durable, consistent cold weld connection with essentially zero contact resistance.
Terminations
Gold Plating
Vanish cables utilize gold plated, pure copper terminations custom designed specifically for our conductor and crimping technique. We gold plate our terminals to a thickness of over 50 microinches (1-1.25 microns) – far thicker than most terminals that only contain a ‘flash’ plating for cosmetics but are susceptible to corrosion and wear over time.
Terminations
Custom Terminals
If our standard terminal offerings do not meet your needs, SMR Cable Technologies offers a complete custom cable termination solution for your system.
How it works:
- You provide pictures, measurements, and any other information that will assist in designing a custom terminal that meets your equipment requirements. We will contact you if we require additional information or need to discuss your terminal requirements. We may also contact your equipment suppliers directly for dimensional information if required.
- We will design and 3D print a custom, dimensionally accurate representation of a terminal that is compatible with our cable and termination process, and send this to you to confirm that it is compatible with your speakers and amplifier.
- Upon approval of the custom terminal, we will proceed to manufacturing.
Each custom terminal package is quoted individually, but the typical custom terminal cost adder for a set of cables (8 gold plated, copper terminals) is approximately $1600 and takes between 30 and 45 days.