I have read a lot, but not all of this Iconoclast thread. I use PS Audio AC10 power cables. What is the deal with the Audioguest Dragon cords and why are they so ridiculously expensive? I see even Paul is using them in his big music rooms. ???
Wouldn’t it be ideal to solder speaker cables directly to the crossovers inside the speakers? The terminals on my vintage speakers probably need to be upgraded in order to use Iconoclast. So, if I do this, why not forego the binding posts altogether?
Some trivial issues like HEAT with lead free solder! It will destroy a PC board getting a 10 AWG wire hot enough to solder. But, you’re right, nothing is better than something with wire!
Best,
Galen Gareis
Been meaning to ask this- I know rohs regs probably mean you cant use it, but is lead solder 60/40 better than the lead free stuff?
I’ve gone out if my way to obtain lead solder recently when my stash finally ran out…
Lead free is a high melting point solder, and that can cause issues. They add SILVER to LOWER the melting point as it conducts HEAT through the solder far better than standard lead free. Silver does not make it “sound batter”, but process better.
I know that tin/lead is super easy to work with…but it is a hazard more than we understood.
Lead isn’t to be taken lightly (ha!). It is a real hazard so ICONOCLAST won’t use tin/lead solder, but WBT silver solder only. True, you have to use better equipment to process lead free solder but good silver lead free solder is workable.
In the future, we will use SONIC weld and no solder. The connectors are being designed for sonic weld that actually melds the two materials into one in a gas tight sonic press that heats the materials and melts them together.
Best,
Galen Gareis
Yeah I know I wouldn’t suggest using it commercially or making anyone else work with it, but I may as well carry on, having used it all my life now.
Thanks for the summary, I’m glad I use it and I shall continue - I think, for me, the greater risk is the flux fumes on my sinuses - hence always ventilated, and I am considering some sort of extraction system for my hobby soldering (home brew - so will probably look pretty Heath Robinson;) )
Yes! Sonic welding is the best! I am excited to hear you guys are building this capability. Would I be able to have my SPTPC’s reterminated once you go live with this method?
50/50 solder is still available for industrial use in the USA. There are some situations where it is still (quietly) required and the higher temp stuff (95/5 Tin / Antimony or 96/4 Tin / Silver) simply wont work.
As it is in the UK I guess, just not in new consumer gear.
I believe repairs on existing kit with lead solder requires lead solder too…
Correct. They don’t mix well. We do some repairs on industrial equipment that is 50, 60, 70 years old.
There isn’t much in the industrial society that we live in that is really safe. Glass may be the safest but doesn’t get used much anymore due to manufacturing costs.Plastic is probably more dangerous in the long run than the heavy metals. It just hasn’t fully entered the food chain yet but is getting close. They recently found micro plastic in the snow at one of the poles.
Lithium battery waste is another. All electronics, appliance, automotive, construction, and military scrap or by products are another time bomb that no one wants to talk about. I worked at some really sketchy chemical plants in the late '70’s that polluted a lot of natural resources. Lookup Hooker Chemical (love canal) if you are interested.
We sure can but there will have to be a fee of some sort as there is a lot of labor as ICONOCLAST isn’t made to be fast to terminate, just measure well. It won’t be exorbitant, though. We are close to final spade designs.
The connector termination vessels have to be precision made to fit the “foot” of the sonic welder.
Best,
Galen Gareis
I will. Grim reading no doubt, I’ve read up on a few incidents out of (morbid?) interest.
Also, I’m still childishly entertained at the idea of a town or district called “love Canal”. I can only apologize - we brits were brought up on the “Carry On” films, so Double Entnedre is second nature 
also - I’m not safe with glass - too clumsy, but its inertness is appreciated, from an environmental point of view.
Teflon and similar chemicals also have a very nasty by product history. Michigan is currently having a huge problem with PFAS in the drinking water near military air bases. They used it in the firefighting foam that was and maybe is used on airplane fires. It may be used in forest fire air drops too. I’m not sure on that one.
Back in the day I think there was a bit of innocence on the part of consumers and some corporations but it has been proven that the giants were taking advantage of the environment in very permanently dangerous ways.
The Hooker Chemical plant I worked at was in Michigan and I only worked there for a couple of weeks. Everyone who worked outside got a sore throat, bloody nose, and nasty cough from whatever was being evaporated in some big hidden ponds. Their company doctor told everyone that it was just a virus or similar. The by product of Chlorine gas production was a thick white paste of hydrochloric or sulfuric acid and asbestos. Nasty stuff.
The site was probably 40 or more acres all behind a cyclone fence. I never saw a single living thing (bird, mammal, or amphibian) inside the fence while I was there. Al of the trees were also dying a slow death. I decided that I would have to find a different place to work pretty quickly but the poor local folks didn’t have a choice. Someone later said that the longest anyone worked there without developing cancer of some kind was 7 years.
Once the pollution was discovered there the company simply moved away and left all of the mess behind. This was 20 years or more after the poison was dumped at the Love Canal site by the same company. Did they know what they were doing? Most think so.
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming 
Unrestrained capitalism at work (but I don’t have an alternative system to offer).
Correct. It makes you sick to think about it so I try not to. All of the “third world” countries have to worry about it now that the USA and EU are “clean and green”
Pollution outsourced and offshored, just like my job
Thanks for the reply Galen. I am very excited for this.
I certainly expected such, and am prepared to pay.
Ill have to wait a bit as one end of my cables is spade and the other, banana.
Galen
Since I need to re-terminate my cables from spades/spades to spades/bananas, I’ll be thrilled when this service will be ready.
We are working to have some of the BAV power cables to be available by or shortly after Axpona in early April. Thank you for your interest.
Jeff, we can certainly take older assemblies back and re-terminate them to the new ultrasonic welded connectors. We have bananas ready now and are actively working to develop the finals on both the 7 and 9MM spades. We have yet to finalize the cost of the new connectors, labor and return shipping for this option. I am working very hard to make it reasonable from a cost prospective.