Gold-plated cables worth it?

[Asr]

I got my amp just a couple weeks ago and forgot I'd need an extra mini to mini cable, so I was thinking about getting them from RadioShack, but I figured I should probably ask here before I go spending money on possibly cheap stuff.

(1) Is the gold plating on A/V cables worth it or is it just a marketing gimmick?
(2) The shorter the cable, the better, right? What's a good length to buy? I'm thinking 4 to 8 feet, is that short enough to minimize signal loss?
(3) Does the gauging on a cable matter? I live in a mostly EMI-free area, but my desk has a CRT monitor, laser printer, and two shielded satellite speakers on it (plus on occasion my laptop PC), with a subwoofer underneath it and minitower PC off to the side.
(3) Should I be buying a mini to mini audio cable from RadioShack or is there a better place to get stuff? I don't want to spend more than $40 on an audio cable though, so please no recommendations for anything more expensive.

 

[NotJeffBuckley]

Well, the gold plating prevents corrosion compared to nickel or silver... but silver oxide is a better conductor than gold!

 

[michaelhwolff]

If you didn't do gold plating which is used on some of the cheapest cables on the market, what other plating would you consider?

 

[NotJeffBuckley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelhwolff If you didn't do gold plating which is used on some of the cheapest cables on the market, what other plating would you consider?

It's not a bad thing, honest. It just doesn't offer any real benefits compared to, say, silver plating, and under the vast majority of usage conditions nickel plating. I doubt he could find any other, really.

 

[Asr]

Is there a visible color difference between nickel and silver? How do I tell the two apart?

Also what about my gauge question, how important would it be for me?

 

[fewtch]

Why do you want such a long mini-to-mini cable? Is this a headphone extension or something?

I'd go for 6-12 inches, myself. Keep it as short as possible while still being able to sit your gear down the way you want. Headroom has some decent Cardas mini-mini cables... they're a bit pricey at $14-$17 (plus $7 shipping, uggh) but my experience with the 6" length has been good.

 

[MikeW]

I think he's talking about Radioshack's "Gold Series" vs radioshack's no name crap. The Gold Series is definatly worth the extra cost, they are much better made, alot of those other ones they offer that just say "Radioshack mini-mini" use aweful connectors, and are not even shielded.. Gold series minimal. You can also look into Acustic Research stuff from bestbuy, not sure if they have a mini-mini.

 

[guzzler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NotJeffBuckley Well, the gold plating prevents corrosion compared to nickel or silver... but silver oxide is a better conductor than gold!

True, but most of the corrosion you find on silver in a normal home is actually silver sulphide, so this doesn't really matter.