Do they work?
I don't have the tools to measure tiny changes, maybe amir does. Care to test them?
Here's someone that might, although he's apparently a vendor, so there has to be a level of suspicion...
-----------------
http://ralaudio.com/stabilant-22-contact-enhancer-m-2.html?info=stbtn024
Background
The effects of accumulations of dirt and film in connectors carrying low-level signal not only degrades the signal to noise level of the system, but should introduce significant amounts of distortion if there are conduction discontinuities with voltages caused by those dirt accumulations and films.
Hypothesis
If discontinuities in conduction and rectification effects are present then the distortion caused by them should increase as the voltage decreases; for the increased voltage will break down the particulate and film material leading to those discontinuities.
Also, if discontinuities are present in the transfer function they should show up as disproportional amount of high order harmonic distortion as the applied signal voltage is lowered.
Chart 2: Total & the 5th and lower harmonic distortion - averaged for ten new connector sets - each having 100 contact pairs. (click to enlarge)
Chart 3:As above - after exposure for a period of 31 days disconnected (with card edge contacts exposed) and 31 days connected. (click to enlarge)
Chart 4: As above - after treatment with Stabilant 22 (click to enlarge)
Conclusions
The tests demonstrate that Stabilant 22 has a significant effect in lowering the harmonic distortion in connectors. Furthermore, the tests demonstrate that the use of Stabilant 22 apparently overcomes the discontinuous conduction effects of films and particulate contaminants in connectors. The test demonstrated that this discontinuous effect produced a high proportion of high order harmonics.
Comments:
In audio systems, high order harmonic distortion is held to be much more easily distinguished, and therefore is considered much more critical than lower order harmonic distortions of the same order of magnitude. The use of the Stabilant reduced this high order distortion through the apparent mechanism of reducing the amount of what might be termed "contact rectification" which was taking place within the connection means. As noted, the ear has been found to be quite sensitive to these higher order harmonics, the subjective effect ranging from "grainy" to "glassy" depending upon the level of this distortion present in the signal. In applications such as commercial recording consoles where the signal path involves a great number of connectors. the potential for degradation of the signal is particularly high. When it is considered that the connectors employed in the test were brand new, and that the period of sixty-two days produced a significant increase in the measured distortion, the potential for this type of signal degradation on equipment that has been in use for several months to several years is very significant.
------------------
Disclaimer:
I use DeOxit gold, whose ad-copy insinuates a similar method of action - a thin polymeric film* that fills microscopic voids and becomes conductive in the presence of a voltage across the film, but it doesn't have the same "approval" factor as Stabilant-22, which has automotive and aerospace application recommendations from the manufacturers.
Ears say "no harm done, possible improvement". Can Mr Wizard do a test here at ScienceCentral? Shouldn't be too hard or expensive.
*polyoxyethylene-polyoxypropyline block polymer with a molecular weight of about 2800
http://www.bellcustomer.com/files/Storage/TB_407-08-81.pdf
http://www.rialtainfo.com/vw/vw_images/tech_bulletin_97-95-03.pdf
I don't have the tools to measure tiny changes, maybe amir does. Care to test them?
Here's someone that might, although he's apparently a vendor, so there has to be a level of suspicion...
-----------------
http://ralaudio.com/stabilant-22-contact-enhancer-m-2.html?info=stbtn024
Background
The effects of accumulations of dirt and film in connectors carrying low-level signal not only degrades the signal to noise level of the system, but should introduce significant amounts of distortion if there are conduction discontinuities with voltages caused by those dirt accumulations and films.
Hypothesis
If discontinuities in conduction and rectification effects are present then the distortion caused by them should increase as the voltage decreases; for the increased voltage will break down the particulate and film material leading to those discontinuities.
Also, if discontinuities are present in the transfer function they should show up as disproportional amount of high order harmonic distortion as the applied signal voltage is lowered.
Chart 2: Total & the 5th and lower harmonic distortion - averaged for ten new connector sets - each having 100 contact pairs. (click to enlarge)
Chart 3:As above - after exposure for a period of 31 days disconnected (with card edge contacts exposed) and 31 days connected. (click to enlarge)
Chart 4: As above - after treatment with Stabilant 22 (click to enlarge)
Conclusions
The tests demonstrate that Stabilant 22 has a significant effect in lowering the harmonic distortion in connectors. Furthermore, the tests demonstrate that the use of Stabilant 22 apparently overcomes the discontinuous conduction effects of films and particulate contaminants in connectors. The test demonstrated that this discontinuous effect produced a high proportion of high order harmonics.
Comments:
In audio systems, high order harmonic distortion is held to be much more easily distinguished, and therefore is considered much more critical than lower order harmonic distortions of the same order of magnitude. The use of the Stabilant reduced this high order distortion through the apparent mechanism of reducing the amount of what might be termed "contact rectification" which was taking place within the connection means. As noted, the ear has been found to be quite sensitive to these higher order harmonics, the subjective effect ranging from "grainy" to "glassy" depending upon the level of this distortion present in the signal. In applications such as commercial recording consoles where the signal path involves a great number of connectors. the potential for degradation of the signal is particularly high. When it is considered that the connectors employed in the test were brand new, and that the period of sixty-two days produced a significant increase in the measured distortion, the potential for this type of signal degradation on equipment that has been in use for several months to several years is very significant.
------------------
Disclaimer:
I use DeOxit gold, whose ad-copy insinuates a similar method of action - a thin polymeric film* that fills microscopic voids and becomes conductive in the presence of a voltage across the film, but it doesn't have the same "approval" factor as Stabilant-22, which has automotive and aerospace application recommendations from the manufacturers.
Ears say "no harm done, possible improvement". Can Mr Wizard do a test here at ScienceCentral? Shouldn't be too hard or expensive.
*polyoxyethylene-polyoxypropyline block polymer with a molecular weight of about 2800
http://www.bellcustomer.com/files/Storage/TB_407-08-81.pdf
http://www.rialtainfo.com/vw/vw_images/tech_bulletin_97-95-03.pdf
Last edited: