Solders

Hello everyone, I wanted to share some of my knowledge I've been accumulating for the past few years as a professional cable maker (GladiatorCables), spending so much time and effort researching different products such as solders makes you figure out what works, what doesn't, and what are just lies. I wanted to make this thread for anyone looking for any information on solders for any DIYers or more seasoned cable makers. This isn't the end-all-be-all of solder guides or information, but I'm sure everyone can learn something new.

As all of you, I'm sure, are aware, solder is very important for audio. It's what we (cable makers) use to connect different connectors with various metals in cables, and as such, it can have a big effect on everything, from the longevity of a cable to the sound quality. I will get into some specifications and measurements I've personally taken, as well as some more measurements I've done by ear, so keep an open mind for any subjective stuff I might say.

Firstly, the number one most essential thing is the mix of metals. There are a TON of different solders out there, some better for other applications such as plumbing and others better for electrical stuff/audio applications. Overall, the reputation of the brand that offers the solder is the most critical thing. I've seen too many people, even cable makers, skimp out on solder and go with cheap Chinese alternatives, and I'm sure everyone can imagine how bad that can be for the longevity and the performance of a cable, even if it's a simple interconnect cable with OFC wiring. In the beginning, I started with some cheap solder I found at my local DIY shop, and for practising, it was fine, but the moment I started making cables for myself is when I realized this won't cut it and started looking for alternatives. AliExpress is a great website where you can connect with Chinese middlemen and shops for various things. Solders are not something I'd recommend for anyone to buy from there unless it's from one brand Mechanics. Mechanics solder is probably the only Chinese-based company solder I'd recommend for any DIYer that doesn't want to start looking for places to buy solder from and is familiar with the AliExpress website. I have used their 60/40 (discontinued) and their 63/37, and they've been great, meaning it has 63% Tin and 37% Lead. In this thread, I will mostly talk about leaded solder and will not get into lead-free, as that requires a thread just for itself. The advantages of a different % mix of these two metals are many. 60/40 has been the "standard" and continues to be, as it's easy to solder because it melts at a low temperature and flows easily without needing big-boy solder stations. A mix like 63/37 is better for soldering by hand, as the turning point of the alloy from liquid to solid happens very fast, thus making it easier not to get "dry" solder joints. A "dry joint" happens when the cooling solder is moved. Since non-eutectic solder (non-eutectic alloys have a specific temperature range to turn into a liquid) alloys have a small plastic range (plastic refers to when the solder is cooling down), the joint must not be moved until the solder has cooled down through both the liquidus and solidus temperatures.

Now I will go more into depth about what solders you should use whatever audio cable or audio DIY thing you're making, the mix of materials such as adding silver in the solder can and will affect the resistance of the overall cable or add resistance. Thus, it might be a good idea to use a solder with some silver (usually 2%) in the mix for resistance sensitive cases such as high-end cables.

For most people, my recommendation will always be a good 60/40 solder because they're the most versatile and overall the easiest to work with in my years of experience. A good 60/40 will always be handy, again like I said earlier buying from reputable brands is always highly recommended because lots of smaller brands often lie about their alloy mix thus resulting in bad solder joints, hard to work with solder and solder joints that will ultimately not last. Some brands I can recommend any day of the week are, Kester (probably the most famous brand out there) specifically the 24-6040-6403 as it uses a flux that's easy to clean, and it works great in every scenario, every DIYer should have a spool of these. MG and Weller, all these brands have years of solder making experience and are good for any DIY project.

For people who are more serious about their projects or for cable makers, getting a higher quality solder is key to make cables that will perform better, both in the long run but also specs wise. That will require a solder with silver in it (and sometimes copper), it is not a secret that silver is the most conductive metal, period, thus a solder with silver will be more conductive, but it is not the only thing that we should look for in a solder, things like the purity of the tin and the mixture of the different metals as well as the flux amount and type will all affect how the solder will perform and flow.

My standard for a good solder is a kester 60/40 like the one I've stated earlier, anything that performs worse I will not recommend anything that performs better I might recommend depending on price, I do not believe solder should cost more than 1 euro per gram. There are some brands out there that are just re-branding other companies solder which I will not name as I do not have the proof to suggest that but in my experience the WBT-0845 and Viablue 4%
Silver solder perform pretty much the exact same (both perform ok) In terms of pure performance for resistance conductivity and how they "sound" both the OYAIDE SS-47 as well as the Mundorf Supreme Silver 10% are by far my favourites, but that does not mean others aren't good either. In general in terms of top tier solders I'd recommend oyaide ss-47 is by far the best as this is the breakdown of the mix of metals,
4N Tin : 90.3%
Pure Silver: 4.7%
Pure Copper : 1.7%
Flux : 3.3%

It is the only solder on the market that has tin as pure as 4N (99.993%) and with as high as 5% of silver it makes for great solder joints. It might not have the most amount of silver, but it for sure punches way above its weight because of how pure the tin is. Overall, this solder is a no brainer for anyone that wants to make high performing cables.

Another great one that I have been using more and more lately is the WBT 0800 as it's been great to work with and has been very easy to work with. A solder I would not recommend is the HIFI TUNING SUPREME3 9.5% SILVER SOLDER, a solder I came across when looking around for new solders to try, not only this solder is extremely expensive as the price does not reflect the performance at all, it is a solder that is very hard to work with as it does not flow easily even when adding lots of rosin flux on top. Audio Note 6% silver is another one i more recently came across, and it's a solder that I suspect was sourced by another company as it performs similarly to the WBT 0800, but I am not mad about it, it has slightly more silver (2% extra) thus making it different in the way it flows and not in a bad way just different. Cardas quad eutectic is probably the most popular "Audiophile grade" solder and for good reason, it is relatively cheap, uses a proprietary mix of Sn, Pb, Cu, Ag, and it is a eutectic solder which makes it ideal for hand soldering or for people who don't have helping hands to hold the connector and the wire down to let the solder cool down. I will try to keep this short and make a small list of solders I recommend for different applications.
Best for all purpose audio projects, I would say the Cardas quad eutectic as it flows extremely nice and easy without requiring a ton of flux, and I've used this while restoring amps, making cables and even fixing my old dac. Purely for high performing digital or analogue cables, the oyaide ss-47 as well as the furutech s-070 with its 5 inner flux cores work great! I cannot recommend these solders enough, and I'm surprised that they're not more popular, as I think they perform better than most "audiophile grade" solders out there. For more restoration/PCB work the WBT - 0840 works amazingly, it flows extremely easily, but it spits out more flux than others, thus making it easier to work with for PCB work as it's easier to clean. The Mundorf supreme silver as well as the silver-gold gives a very distinct sound because of its gold content, I do not really like it, but it's a personal preference though as a solder it makes very good solder joints. In terms of sound the oyaide, furutech and supreme silver are my favourites, as they pretty much do not affect the sound of the wire whatsoever which is something other solders can do, ideally in a solder you don't want to have it affect the sound whatsoever, but some people have their preferences which is fine. In the end of the day no matter what solder you use from the ones I have listed above you won't have any issues, just keep in mind each and every solder performs differently for every scenario.

Thank you all for reading and happy DIYing

 

Oyaide SS47 is my solder of choice as well as a few others on here. There is a solder station thread somewhere already citing this solder type.
I've been using it almost exclusively for about 10 years since I doscovered it as it's the best solder to work with afaiac.
I'd love to find a cheaper version as it's so expensive, but at least I can reclaim the purchase tax now that I'm a registered, commercial cable-maker. In NL that's currently 21% so it makes it a bit less of a precious commodity as it was when I was a hobbyist.

 

After many years of trying to find the best solder, I always come back to furutech and oyaide for all audio cables, glad to see other people using oyaide solder as well. I don't mind the price, as I find it more enjoyable working with good quality materials.

 

I would totally buy some fancy solder, except I need to use up the old one first, or at least get through a significant portion of it. The problem is that I have a roll of this stuff...

... that I've been using for twenty years and I'm not even halfway through

 

Kester will always be some of the best solder you can get, hence why i asked everyone to buy some kester 60/40! thank you for sharing this picture.

 

How does silver work in electrical soldering?

As a once hobby jeweller, I know that silver doesn't melt until quite a way higher than red heat: "silver soldering" is a brazing, rather than a soldering, technique.

Google reminds, melting points:

Sterling silver (925/1000) 1640F
Pure silver 1763F
​

Eutectic thing? Or does it remain as a powder in suspension?

EDIT: further googling shows that solders with small percentage of silver do melt within the lower temperature ranges of "soft" soldering.

PS: my favourite off-audio-topic) solder... silver solder, enamelling grade. This has to withstand the orange-yellow heat of an enameling kiln and is within a breath of melting the silver itself. Always scary to use, always satisfying to have used

 

I found this page which shows silver solder alloys are typically flowed in the 1300F range which is much more reasonable than 1763F
https://www.halsteadbead.com/articles/types-of-silver-solder-in-jewelry

 

Hey, I found that page too. Google must like them!

Yes. 1640 and 1763 are the meting points for the metal, not the solder.

 

exactly plus the fact that its an alloy it handles and acts way different than pure silver