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WHY GOLD PLUGS ARE BAD - Page 2

post #16 of 23
1/19/04 at 9:51pm
and another thing.......

i use a lot of vintage gear and those "death grip' RCA plugs will flat out destroy the jack unless you 'twist' and not "pully" when disconnecting

no easy task with the jack spacing of older audio equipment
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post #17 of 23
1/19/04 at 10:08pm
I've talked with Gerald Gessner (ee, formerly mainly loudspeaker designer, later on he dug deeply into cd player modding/tuning) about gold platings on connectors. He told me that the cheaper ones (= not the comparatively thick hard plated versions) would indeed have the problem that the thin electrolytic gold layer would diffuse into the material below over time - but there usually is a nickel layer beyond to prevent this. So the cheap gold plated connectors are usually not really better than the underlying el cheapo nickel plated models, whereas the more expensive hard plated types are the ones with the real audible benefit...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
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post #18 of 23
1/20/04 at 4:47am
Thread Starter 
thanks for making that clear.

There are also some RCA connectors which have screws to hold on to the cable.
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post #19 of 23
1/21/04 at 1:48am
Quote:
Originally posted by lini
I've talked with Gerald Gessner (ee, formerly mainly loudspeaker designer, later on he dug deeply into cd player modding/tuning) about gold platings on connectors. He told me that the cheaper ones (= not the comparatively thick hard plated versions) would indeed have the problem that the thin electrolytic gold layer would diffuse into the material below over time - but there usually is a nickel layer beyond to prevent this. So the cheap gold plated connectors are usually not really better than the underlying el cheapo nickel plated models, whereas the more expensive hard plated types are the ones with the real audible benefit...
Well, even if this is the case, the gold plating has an initial audible benefit, no?
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post #20 of 23
1/21/04 at 3:42am
Quote:
Well, even if this is the case, the gold plating has an initial audible benefit, no?
compared to what? it isn't the best conductor. is it audible?--no. it's main advantage is that it corrodes slowly.
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post #21 of 23
1/21/04 at 4:20am
Thread Starter 
So if its to use 40cent gold plated female rcas then its better to use 5cent nickel ones right?

I am planning to build a passive preamp with 8-9 ins and 3 outs. So I wouldnt like to have to resolder and replace RCAs soon.

Also anyone know a good rotary switch and GREAT cables for this application and good gold plated accessories from RS components. Thats the only place I can get them. Suggestions pls.
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post #22 of 23
1/21/04 at 5:01pm
use the gold anyway..... it'll corrode much slower. or you can get Cardas's rhodium plated sockets. dunno about the conductance of Rhodium though.... but i know it's not that great either. copper and silver is best, but both corrode way too fast if left bare.
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post #23 of 23
1/22/04 at 4:42am
Rhodium is used mainly because it is a much harder plating than Gold.

-Ed
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