Raven Audio Soniquil Cables: Misrepresented Build & Tarnishing Connectors?


I bought a pair of Raven Audio Soniquil speaker cables a few years back. The connectors broke fairly quickly, and I finally got around to repairing them last week. I was disappointed to discover that Raven Audio is misrepresenting how the cables are manufactured. 

The website states that the connectors are soldered to the wire.

 

However, the connectors on my cables are not soldered. They're just set-screw banana plugs. 

 

 

I tried reaching out to Raven Audio for an explanation, but they haven't responded. Now I can't say with confidence that I personally could tell a difference in quality due to this issue, but I didn't like that the product is misrepresented.

 

Additionally, even though these connectors are supposed to be rhodium-plated, they appear to be tarnishing. Here's an image that shows the difference between the part that was exposed to air, and the part that was covered by heat shrink tubing. Does anyone know if this type of discoloration is to be expected with rhodium plated plugs, or is Raven Audio misrepresenting the metals used as well?

 

I'm guessing this might just be a case of "you get what you pay for" but I'd love to hear if anyone has had a different experience with these cables. Has anyone received a pair that actually was soldered? 

noryx

As this thread progresses I'm reminded of Hanlon's razor:  Don't assume malice (or evil) when the facts can be explained by incompetence (or stupidity).  

Incompetence might be a strong word as grannyring has pointed out several ways the misrepresentation could have been unintentional.

Jerry

The manufacturer's response to OP, if and when it comes, will certainly help clarify what really took place.

Maybe OP used the cable to snake a neighbor's toilet in a pinch, and the Drano stripped off the rhodium plating and tarnished the connectors.

One should not rush to judgement. This may yet turn out to be a Rashomon-like tale.

I've purchased several of Raven's power cables; top notch construction, connectors and visual appearance.  Don't be so quick to judge a manufacturer by a single bad sample.  (And don't be so quick to expect $$ support for your purchase of an $18 cable!)