Raven Audio Soniquil Cables: Misrepresented Build & Tarnishing Connectors?

@macg19 

There are no indents - having owned an Osprey, having multiple, long conversations with Dave and James, and purchasing several NOS tubes from Dave, I find it hard to believe there was any intentional misleading going on, especially for a low dollar product like their cables.

FWIW all Raven amps are supplied with the same power cables they sell online, not the $2 PC most others supply with their amps.     

I'm glad you've had a good experience with them. I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt as well, but we'll see if I get a response.

I get your point of "why bother with the low dollar items" but this doesn't exactly build trust in the brand for me - regardless of whether it was intentional or not. I would not purchase another product from them without a reasonable explanation for why this happened, as this would just leave me wondering what other corners they might cutting.

I'll definitely you know if I hear back from Raven Audio.

Thanks, please reply to this tread with what you hear.  I have replied so that I will be notified.  TIA

Scientifically, brass and copper both are subject to discoloration from oxidation.  However, oxidation of these rhodium plated brass plugs is strange.  Stating the obvious, rhodium and gold are used for oxidation resistance while not affecting electron transfer.  While brass is a less expensive option that does not transfer electrons as well as OCC and OFC four nines copper, the brass is more resistant to discoloration from oxidation than copper due to zinc in the alloy.  If you are a boomer like me, think of the rot cars used to get after a few years compared to today.  The reduction in car rot (steel oxidation) is due to zinc phosphate.  I have only used Furutech rhodium plated OCC/OFC connectors and I have no experience with this cable brand.  Others post good experiences.  I have not experienced oxidation of Furutech connectors.  So, from a quality engineering perspective, potential causes could be:

1. A plating processing problem at the manufacturer. Either the coating thickness is off or the plating process parameters were not in validated ranges.  
2. Issues with the brass base material.  The lot of brass (termed a heat lot in metal production) may have produced material not specification or at the upper or lower tolerances, causing it to be subject to a faster rate of oxidation.  For example, a lower level of zinc.  
3. Ware from use (plugging/unplugging often).  
4. Chemical reaction with contact cleaning/enhancing or oxidation removers. 
5. Inadequate male/female connection under high current, causing heat that, in turn, accelerates oxidation.   

I hope this helps you prepare for your discussion with Raven so that they do not attempt to make this your problem and not theirs.  

Raven uses connectors made by an outside supplier. Just make Raven aware of it, as you are trying, and they will most likely send you replacement ones for free. They may even offer to replace for you. The connector supplier at that time most likely had a production issue unknown to Raven.

Screw on connectors can and do sound great as copper sounds better than solder 🙂. Raven may just have missed the “solder” copy on the site and just needs to update. I am assuming the best of Raven at this point until they earn a different approach. Good luck.