Silclear hocus pocus or does it really work?

[Guest dragonboy]

[email=http://www.sgheadphones.net/index.php?showtopic=9866]http://www.sgheadphones.net/index.php?showtopic=9866[/email]

Anyone actually tried this before? Please post your honest comments. I had read lots of reviews about this but I always try to take reviews with a pinch of salt. It would be a fantastic piece of audio tweak if it actually works since it doesn't have to break my wallet.

Edited May 8, 2009 by dragonboy

[[J]-ohn 0]

I have been using this for years even before Stereo, simple and effective. The coating not only improves the conductivity but only provides a layer of protective coating against oxidation.

[kookie 0]

-ohn' date='8 May 2009, 08:55 AM' post='112059']

I have been using this for years even before Stereo, simple and effective. The coating not only improves the conductivity but only provides a layer of protective coating against oxidation.

 

so its compatible for all earphone/headphone and hifi jacks as well??

[Stereo_Electronics 0]

so its compatible for all earphone/headphone and hifi jacks as well??

 

Technically, the Silclear engineering objective is simple; to create the thinnest possible continuous layer of silver between two mating surfaces of any electrical connection.

 

It is easier to apply silclear on Phono aka RCA plug, on 3.5mm plug aka TRS plug shown below

 

 

you need to apply thinly on three sections without allowing the silclear coating from overlapping each other.

 

There is an enclosed brush supplied, coat ONLY the male surface of any connector, never the female surfaces. Meaning for RCA, coat the center pin of the male connector and the outside of the cylindrical metal surface of the female jack.

 

Silclear's initial sonic enhancement improves significantly with continuous playback.You will hear overall system warmth and depth continue to improve for at least 4 to 10 hours.

 

What else you can treat with Silclear:

 

- XLR, BNC, DIN plugs

- Cartridge pin clips and tone arm wire plugs

- All tube pins

- Amplifier and speaker ground wire binding posts.

- All fuse contact surfaces

- FM antenna wire connections

- TV antenna connections

- Power cords

 

Just remember not to leave excess Silclear or thin lumps when applying.

 

 

[wwenze 0]

Hay, scientifically, it makes sense. So what's wrong?

 

It's not just about it being silver, but it being a grease. (So read: Effect will not last if you keep pluggin it in and out, but will last forever if you apply plug in and leave it there)

 

The surface area of contact is usually way smaller than what people think hence the measurable impedance and voltage drop of connectors. Contact grease has always been used to reduce the resistance at the connectors for high-voltage and high-current applications. Just like how thermal grease helps to improve heat transfer between the CPU and the HSF.

 

Instead of buying exorbitant plugs this seems like a good and worthy investment. Now the question is, what is the cheap industrial real-life alternative to all these high-price audio-branded consumables.

 

A trip to the internet and SLT is in order. Anyway the name says it all: SilClear. Must be a silicone-based grease.

 

Oh and add: I myself am a non-believer where connectors are concerned, only believing in the bad effects of improper termination and impedance matching, otherwise making no difference as long as certain standards are met. But, this will help prevent oxidation, which definitely helps aesthetically, which in turn helps improve what we think about the performance of our gear. And, the real-life versions are cheap, so nothing to lose.

 

Add2: Sht, if this had crossed my mind earlier I would've taken some of the mil-grade (or "mil-grade" actually) contact grease from the workshop. For use in 200A applications.

Edited May 8, 2009 by wwenze

[alamakazam 0]

 

ehh got 1 bottle today... after apply can be this clear? I still see silver paste, no matter how thin is the coating...

[Stereo_Electronics 0]

Hay, scientifically, it makes sense. So what's wrong?

 

It's not just about it being silver, but it being a grease. (So read: Effect will not last if you keep pluggin it in and out, but will last forever if you apply plug in and leave it there)

 

The surface area of contact is usually way smaller than what people think hence the measurable impedance and voltage drop of connectors. Contact grease has always been used to reduce the resistance at the connectors for high-voltage and high-current applications. Just like how thermal grease helps to improve heat transfer between the CPU and the HSF.

 

Instead of buying exorbitant plugs this seems like a good and worthy investment. Now the question is, what is the cheap industrial real-life alternative to all these high-price audio-branded consumables.

 

A trip to the internet and SLT is in order. Anyway the name says it all: SilClear. Must be a silicone-based grease.

 

Oh and add: I myself am a non-believer where connectors are concerned, only believing in the bad effects of improper termination and impedance matching, otherwise making no difference as long as certain standards are met. But, this will help prevent oxidation, which definitely helps aesthetically, which in turn helps improve what we think about the performance of our gear. And, the real-life versions are cheap, so nothing to lose.

 

Add2: Sht, if this had crossed my mind earlier I would've taken some of the mil-grade (or "mil-grade" actually) contact grease from the workshop. For use in 200A applications.

 

While there are a number of silver-filled greases (or silicon-based grease... ) that could be used to meet the thin silver coating objective. Unfortunately, all were developed for maximum thermal conductivity, that is, for conducting heat out of transistors, integrated chips or high current switch contacts. Though these silver grease can enhance sound, their sonic benefits are limited by the high dielectric absorption of the grease and the too-thick silver grains necessary to optimize heat flow.

 

Silclear uses silver platelets far thinner than the finest silver powders made, close to one-millionth of an inch thick with an astonishing surface area of 8 square feet for each gram. Beside giving a far better continuous silver-plating effect than powders, the ultra thin platelets also make possible a higher proportion of silver to binder. Silclear has the lowest dielectric absorption and the highest surface clinging properties compared to average thermal greases to allow many plug-unplug cycles.

 

One beneficial effect of applying Silclear is the near-monomolecular layer of silver in reducing skin effects (i.e. the velocity disparity between signal propagation on the surface and in the interior of a conductor). Second is eliminating the distorting diode effects (i.e. unequal resistance to the + and - halves of a music waveform) of the inevitable oxide films on any conductor surface.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ehh got 1 bottle today... after apply can be this clear? I still see silver paste, no matter how thin is the coating...

 

Yeah, it is silver paste, just try to apply as thin as possible.

Edited May 8, 2009 by Stereo_Electronics

[kookie 0]

"a millionth inch thin; 8 square feet of surface per gram"

 

basically, i would use the tip of a pin and dab it on the surface the terminal and work it out slowly with the brush..

 

@stereo - did you receive my latest email?? O.o

Edited May 8, 2009 by kookie

[ical 0]

Few of us have already ordered and yet to collect. Going to Woodlands is like to JB for me. Let see how it turns out.

Edited May 8, 2009 by ical

[wwenze 0]

http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/118009.aspx

 

Using an ohm meter, the stuff did not seem to conduct electricity.....resistance was infinite...instead of being a dead short.

 

[Guest dragonboy]

I saw stereo applying the silclear on one of their customer's Westone ES3x customs. It was applied on the 3.5mm connectors and the dual contact tips. Out of curiousity, I waited to hear what he might actually comment after trying it out. Nothing said.... he look very surprised and paid for his new tweak of the month.

 

I couldn't say that there's any difference yet coz I'm one of those who bought without trying. Maybe I happened to be in my buying mood especially when I'm in stereo. There always seems to be a magnet attracting me to pull out my wallet.

 

I'll try to coat it on all my connectors and see how it goes.

[uberburger101 0]

http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/118009.aspx

 

There will always be skeptics. It's only natural. It's like how I'm skeptical of how a $399 shirt is any better than my $30. It's just how you justify it. And definitely, "if you haven't tried it, you don't have an opinion."

 

I, too was skeptical of that CD demagnetiser. But well, I tried it. And...

[Guest dragonboy]

There will always be skeptics. It's only natural. It's like how I'm skeptical of how a $399 shirt is any better than my $30. It's just how you justify it. And definitely, "if you haven't tried it, you don't have an opinion."

 

I, too was skeptical of that CD demagnetiser. But well, I tried it. And...

Agree... I was as skeptical with powercords too. To me powercords transmit power current. Talk to any engineer, they'll tell u the same thing. But I was totally amazed the diff it made to my system..... it never sounded that good till I started with powercords.

Edited May 8, 2009 by dragonboy

[alamakazam 0]

it really did improve the bass of my new ie8 today, is even louder, I can save some battery life

 

 

 

 

[wwenze 0]

Agree... I was as skeptical with powercords too. To me powercords transmit power current. Talk to any engineer, they'll tell u the same thing. But I was totally amazed the diff it made to my system..... it never sounded that good till I started with powercords.

 

From an engineering perspective, there are valid explanations to powercords and there are appliances that require them to be of good quality. It's just that "any engineer" out there is usually under-informed.

 

There will always be skeptics. It's only natural. It's like how I'm skeptical of how a $399 shirt is any better than my $30. It's just how you justify it. And definitely, "if you haven't tried it, you don't have an opinion."

 

I, too was skeptical of that CD demagnetiser. But well, I tried it. And...

 

Read the second last post in the thread.

 

There are skeptics that know what they're doing. Then there are skeptics that don't. The person who did the ohmmeter test obviously didn't know the mechanism of how conductive paste works. But it's a good laugh nonetheless.

 

BTW I found that there are conductive grease containing platinium on the internet. Hmm...