Does the gold plating on various plugs and sockets (jacks, phono, SCART,
etc) make any real difference?

I notice that on my PC the PCI sockets have a gold color (is this gold
or phosphor bronze or something else?)

On the other hand the jack sockets, USB, D sockets, etc all have tinner
contacts.

So is gold significant?

Are othe rmetals more significant?

In article ,
Alex Coleman wrote:

Does the gold plating on various plugs and sockets (jacks, phono, SCART,
etc) make any real difference?

My understanding: in some applications, using a good gold-to-gold
contact can reduce (or almost eliminate) contact oxidation over time,
and thus increase the reliability of these contacts. This is
especially beneficial when the contacts are not expected to be
unplugged and replugged at all frequently (an action which will tend
to break up oxide films via the wiping action, but which can also wear
away thin gold plating).

Thin, cheap gold plating may not be of much if any benefit over time.
A thin gold "flashing" on a base metal such as copper may wear away,
and I believe it's actually possible for the copper to migrate through
a thin surface layer of gold. I had some gold-plated phono cables
years ago - Discwasher "Gold-ens" - and after a decade or so they
showed extensive tarnishing on the surface.

On the other hand the jack sockets, USB, D sockets, etc all have tinner
contacts.

The general rule is "gold to gold, tin to tin". Using tin and gold
contacts together is not a good idea - the tin contact will degrade
faster when in contact with gold.

Are othe rmetals more significant?

Silver is often used for high-quality RF connections. Other precious
metals (palladium and rhodium in particular, if I recall correctly)
are also used in some applications.

Nickel is very common in consumer-type applications.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

On Mon, 22 May 2006 04:45:38 +0100, Alex Coleman
wrote:

Does the gold plating on various plugs and sockets (jacks, phono, SCART,
etc) make any real difference?

I notice that on my PC the PCI sockets have a gold color (is this gold
or phosphor bronze or something else?)

On the other hand the jack sockets, USB, D sockets, etc all have tinner
contacts.

So is gold significant?

Are othe rmetals more significant?


Many "gold" plated connectors use an electrolytic alloy containing
cobalt to improve abrasion. Generally, nickel plated rca connectors
works well when new, but over time they tend to oxidise and can become
unreliable unless cleaned and treated with a suitable anti-oxidant.
The "gold" plated ones usually have less problems in this regard and
IMO they are preferable. Most problems I have come across in rca
connectors in general use (whether nickel or gold) are due to the
construction technique used for the centre pin, which tends to go high
resistance or intermittently open circuit. The higher quality ones are
good by comparison to the low cost run of the mill items because they
use a better centre pin connector.

Here is a website on plating compounds for connectors from one
manufacturer.
http://www.uyemura.com/china.htm

The gold color is many times it is just for show... and to increase
sale price....
BUT if it is real gold plating it will not oxidise and will provide
much better contact over time..... but compared with new cheap
connectors that are not tarnished or oxidised.... NO DIFFERENCE....
can't measure it, can't see it, can't hear it..... kinda like the
expensive Monster (type) cables.... big money, big and fancy claims and
wording , and a complete waste of money.
electricitym

On 21 May 2006 22:14:33 -0700, wrote:

The gold color is many times it is just for show... and to increase
sale price....
BUT if it is real gold plating it will not oxidise and will provide
much better contact over time..... but compared with new cheap
connectors that are not tarnished or oxidised.... NO DIFFERENCE....
can't measure it, can't see it, can't hear it..... kinda like the
expensive Monster (type) cables.... big money, big and fancy claims and
wording , and a complete waste of money.
electricitym


real gold is much too soft for direct use on connectors. the gold
flashing used on connectors is usually a harder alloy containing
cobalt and does in fact provide a better connection due to its
resistance to oxidation, as compared to nickel plating.

"Ross Herbert" wrote in message
...
On 21 May 2006 22:14:33 -0700, wrote:

The gold color is many times it is just for show... and to increase
sale price....
BUT if it is real gold plating it will not oxidise and will provide
much better contact over time..... but compared with new cheap
connectors that are not tarnished or oxidised.... NO DIFFERENCE....
can't measure it, can't see it, can't hear it..... kinda like the
expensive Monster (type) cables.... big money, big and fancy claims and
wording , and a complete waste of money.
electricitym


real gold is much too soft for direct use on connectors. the gold
flashing used on connectors is usually a harder alloy containing
cobalt and does in fact provide a better connection due to its
resistance to oxidation, as compared to nickel plating.

I would say it does provide a contact that doesn't degrade much over time
due to the fact that it doesn't oxidize. However, it starts out as a higher
resistance joint than many other metals would be, so calling it "better" is
somewhat dubious.

"Alex Coleman" wrote in message
...
Does the gold plating on various plugs and sockets (jacks, phono,
SCART,
etc) make any real difference?

I notice that on my PC the PCI sockets have a gold color (is this gold
or phosphor bronze or something else?)

On the other hand the jack sockets, USB, D sockets, etc all have
tinner
contacts.

So is gold significant?

Are othe rmetals more significant?

Gold is a relatively poor conductor when compared with copper. It's
major benefit would be lack of oxidation over time. Of course the
audiophool thinks that gold is better at everything because it shines.
Silver is a far better conductor, even better than copper. Of course it
oxidizes fairly rapidly, but only the portion exposed to the air. The
connection itself will not really degrade as long as it is tight.

Alex Coleman wrote in
:

Does the gold plating on various plugs and sockets (jacks, phono, SCART,
etc) make any real difference?

I notice that on my PC the PCI sockets have a gold color (is this gold
or phosphor bronze or something else?)

On the other hand the jack sockets, USB, D sockets, etc all have tinner
contacts.

So is gold significant?

Are othe rmetals more significant?


Gold is significant. While it's not the best conductor, it will maintain a
good connection for a long time if undisturbed. It's not the resistance
that matters, it's the electrical noise of corrosion. That's especially a
problem with low voltage signals from tiny coils where energy output is so
small that you might want the current as well as the voltage to get an
efficient signal from them. When using a 200 ohm input, the resistance of
gold contacts is still insignificant, but the noise of any corrosion won't
be.

On a standard input, greater than 10K or even 100K, a bit of tarnishing
isn't going to matter unless it's so bad that it changes resistance
dramatically in a short time. It's still worth having a very low ground
contact resistance though, to prevent hum loops. It's not only audiophools
who might want to consider this. Ground loops are a royal pain, and a
bit of gold plating is usually a cheaper way to avoid it if you want to use
the system instead of tweaking it all the time. Just avoid butch-looking
cabkes with go-faster stripes and predatory names.



--
----------------------------------------
http://save.nazanin.googlepages.com/home

"Alex Coleman" wrote in message
...
Does the gold plating on various plugs and sockets (jacks, phono, SCART,
etc) make any real difference?

Basically - All contacts, except gold, oxidize over time.
Contacts are designed to mechanically "wipe" when inserted, i.e., remove
oxide by scraping, or to remove oxides and refuse by using current density
in the connection.

Low level signals like in phono plugs don't have the power to burn
through oxides except on very small connections, but 1) since low level
signals usually see hi impedance and 2) since they don't need as much area
to conduct as does the human hand needs in order to hold the pin, even if
there is some corrosion,
there is usually still a decent path for conduction of low level signals
for most connections (indoor, a year or so in place, not damp, etc.), and
the resistance is small relative to the input impedance.

In my experience -
Use gold plated contacts if you are going to leave them in place for some
time (video/audio connections in the back of the equipment left for years,
in warm moving air that can build up a charge, outdoors)

Use the chrome/silver plated contacts where it will be inserted and
removed often.

( I have only seen a few corroded silver/chrome connectors indoors, and
they were left in place for 20 years)



I notice that on my PC the PCI sockets have a gold color (is this gold
or phosphor bronze or something else?)

On the other hand the jack sockets, USB, D sockets, etc all have tinner
contacts.

So is gold significant?

Are othe rmetals more significant?

But what use is a connector that will last 20 plus years,
when the electronics of today might only last 8 months to a year ?? Just a
thought.........



"hob" wrote in message
...

"Alex Coleman" wrote in message
...
Does the gold plating on various plugs and sockets (jacks, phono, SCART,
etc) make any real difference?

Basically - All contacts, except gold, oxidize over time.
Contacts are designed to mechanically "wipe" when inserted, i.e., remove
oxide by scraping, or to remove oxides and refuse by using current density
in the connection.

Low level signals like in phono plugs don't have the power to burn
through oxides except on very small connections, but 1) since low level
signals usually see hi impedance and 2) since they don't need as much area
to conduct as does the human hand needs in order to hold the pin, even if
there is some corrosion,
there is usually still a decent path for conduction of low level
signals
for most connections (indoor, a year or so in place, not damp, etc.), and
the resistance is small relative to the input impedance.

In my experience -
Use gold plated contacts if you are going to leave them in place for
some
time (video/audio connections in the back of the equipment left for years,
in warm moving air that can build up a charge, outdoors)

Use the chrome/silver plated contacts where it will be inserted and
removed often.

( I have only seen a few corroded silver/chrome connectors indoors, and
they were left in place for 20 years)



I notice that on my PC the PCI sockets have a gold color (is this gold
or phosphor bronze or something else?)

On the other hand the jack sockets, USB, D sockets, etc all have tinner
contacts.

So is gold significant?

Are othe rmetals more significant?

Anthony Fremont wrote:
"Alex Coleman" wrote in message
...

Does the gold plating on various plugs and sockets (jacks, phono,

SCART,

etc) make any real difference?

I notice that on my PC the PCI sockets have a gold color (is this gold
or phosphor bronze or something else?)

On the other hand the jack sockets, USB, D sockets, etc all have

tinner

contacts.

So is gold significant?

Are othe rmetals more significant?


Gold is a relatively poor conductor when compared with copper. It's
major benefit would be lack of oxidation over time. Of course the
audiophool thinks that gold is better at everything because it shines.
Silver is a far better conductor, even better than copper. Of course it
oxidizes fairly rapidly, but only the portion exposed to the air. The
connection itself will not really degrade as long as it is tight.

Silver oxyde has the nice property,that it is
somewhat conductive,and in a thin layer that
is acceptable.

"Anthony Fremont" wrote in message
...

"Alex Coleman" wrote in message
...
Does the gold plating on various plugs and sockets (jacks, phono,
SCART,
etc) make any real difference?

I notice that on my PC the PCI sockets have a gold color (is this gold
or phosphor bronze or something else?)

On the other hand the jack sockets, USB, D sockets, etc all have
tinner
contacts.

So is gold significant?

Are othe rmetals more significant?

Gold is a relatively poor conductor when compared with copper. It's
major benefit would be lack of oxidation over time. Of course the
audiophool thinks that gold is better at everything because it shines.
Silver is a far better conductor, even better than copper. Of course it
oxidizes fairly rapidly, but only the portion exposed to the air. The
connection itself will not really degrade as long as it is tight.

Plus, silver oxides, unlike most other oxides, are good conductors
themselves.

"rb" wrote in message
news


But what use is a connector that will last 20 plus years,
when the electronics of today might only last 8 months to a year ?? Just a
thought.........

My Pioneer SX-1250 says NOT! And my 40 year old JBL speakers.

On Tue, 23 May 2006 05:02:33 GMT, "Long Ranger"
wrote:


"Anthony Fremont" wrote in message
...

"Alex Coleman" wrote in message
...
Does the gold plating on various plugs and sockets (jacks, phono,
SCART,
etc) make any real difference?

I notice that on my PC the PCI sockets have a gold color (is this gold
or phosphor bronze or something else?)

On the other hand the jack sockets, USB, D sockets, etc all have
tinner
contacts.

So is gold significant?

Are othe rmetals more significant?

Gold is a relatively poor conductor when compared with copper. It's
major benefit would be lack of oxidation over time. Of course the
audiophool thinks that gold is better at everything because it shines.
Silver is a far better conductor, even better than copper. Of course it
oxidizes fairly rapidly, but only the portion exposed to the air. The
connection itself will not really degrade as long as it is tight.

Plus, silver oxides, unlike most other oxides, are good conductors
themselves.



Strange you say that...

When I worked in telecom maintenance the bane of relays using pure
silver contacts was that the oxidation played merry hell with signal
transmission. Unless the circuit was arranged to have a tiny DC
"wetting" current which minimised contact resistance caused by
oxidation, we were forever burnishing them. Nickel silver or platinum
contacts were much better in this regard.

"Ross Herbert" wrote in message
...
Plus, silver oxides, unlike most other oxides, are good conductors
themselves.



Strange you say that...
snip

Not to mention the more common silver sulfide which is not conductive.

Tim

--
Deep Fryer: a very philosophical monk.
Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

Long Ranger wrote:

My Pioneer SX-1250 says NOT! And my 40 year old JBL speakers.
- - - - - - -



Long Ranger:
I think that is the point.... exactly.
Today's electronics are not built as robustly as that grand old
mid-seventies Pioneer SX-1250 and it's contemporary competitors.
electricitym
..
..

"Tim Williams" wrote in message
...
"Ross Herbert" wrote in message
...
Plus, silver oxides, unlike most other oxides, are good conductors
themselves.



Strange you say that...
snip

Not to mention the more common silver sulfide which is not conductive.

Tim

--
Deep Fryer: a very philosophical monk.
Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms


Apparently, the key to avoiding silver sulphide on connectors & contacts -
is to stop farting!

wrote in message
oups.com...

Long Ranger wrote:

My Pioneer SX-1250 says NOT! And my 40 year old JBL speakers.
- - - - - - -



Long Ranger:
I think that is the point.... exactly.
Today's electronics are not built as robustly as that grand old
mid-seventies Pioneer SX-1250 and it's contemporary competitors.
electricitym

Yeah, I guess it is, and to think, there was no gold on those contacts! I
wonder why they lasted so long? I never even gave them a thought in all
these years.
.
.

On 21 May 2006 22:14:33 -0700, wrote:

The gold color is many times it is just for show... and to
increase sale price....
BUT if it is real gold plating it will not oxidise and will
provide much better contact over time..... but compared with new
cheap connectors that are not tarnished or oxidised.... NO
DIFFERENCE.... can't measure it, can't see it, can't hear it.....
kinda like the expensive Monster (type) cables.... big money, big
and fancy claims and wording , and a complete waste of money.
electricitym


"Ross Herbert" wrote in message


real gold is much too soft for direct use on connectors. the gold
flashing used on connectors is usually a harder alloy containing
cobalt and does in fact provide a better connection due to its
resistance to oxidation, as compared to nickel plating.


On 22 May 2006, Long wrote:

I would say it does provide a contact that doesn't degrade much
over time due to the fact that it doesn't oxidize. However, it
starts out as a higher resistance joint than many other metals
would be, so calling it "better" is somewhat dubious.

Very roughly what sort of additional resistance would a nickel
plating have or how does the nickel's resistance compare to a plating
of regular metal on the connector?

On 22 May 2006, Anthony wrote:

"Alex Coleman" wrote in message
...
Does the gold plating on various plugs and sockets (jacks, phono,
SCART,
etc) make any real difference?

I notice that on my PC the PCI sockets have a gold color (is this
gold or phosphor bronze or something else?)

On the other hand the jack sockets, USB, D sockets, etc all have
tinner
contacts.

So is gold significant?

Are othe rmetals more significant?

Gold is a relatively poor conductor when compared with copper.

Gold a poor conductor?

I though silver was better than copper and better still was gold.

Oh well.


It's major benefit would be lack of oxidation over time. Of course
the audiophool thinks that gold is better at everything because it
shines. Silver is a far better conductor, even better than copper.
Of course it oxidizes fairly rapidly, but only the portion exposed
to the air. The connection itself will not really degrade as long
as it is tight.

Alex Coleman wrote in
:

On 21 May 2006 22:14:33 -0700, wrote:

The gold color is many times it is just for show... and to
increase sale price....
BUT if it is real gold plating it will not oxidise and will
provide much better contact over time..... but compared with new
cheap connectors that are not tarnished or oxidised.... NO
DIFFERENCE.... can't measure it, can't see it, can't hear it.....
kinda like the expensive Monster (type) cables.... big money, big
and fancy claims and wording , and a complete waste of money.
electricitym


"Ross Herbert" wrote in message


real gold is much too soft for direct use on connectors. the gold
flashing used on connectors is usually a harder alloy containing
cobalt and does in fact provide a better connection due to its
resistance to oxidation, as compared to nickel plating.


On 22 May 2006, Long wrote:

I would say it does provide a contact that doesn't degrade much
over time due to the fact that it doesn't oxidize. However, it
starts out as a higher resistance joint than many other metals
would be, so calling it "better" is somewhat dubious.

Very roughly what sort of additional resistance would a nickel
plating have or how does the nickel's resistance compare to a plating
of regular metal on the connector?

I doubt it's worth quantifying for signal connectors, not even those from
moving coil cartridges, where electrolytic action in corrosion is the
problem, not the initial resistance. Nickel is used with chromium in high
temperature resistance wire, for heaters, but in a thin plate with large
surface area, it will be micro-ohms or less, probably.

--
----------------------------------------
http://save.nazanin.googlepages.com/home

Alex Coleman wrote in
:

On 22 May 2006, Anthony wrote:

Gold is a relatively poor conductor when compared with copper.

Gold a poor conductor?

I though silver was better than copper and better still was gold.

Oh well.


Easy thing to fall for, progression through the masses in the periodic
table might indicate that it ought to be.. I've wondered about this one. If
anyone has a nice laymans-terms explanation, now would be a very good time
to post it.


--
----------------------------------------
http://save.nazanin.googlepages.com/home

On Wed, 24 May 2006 15:43:45 GMT, the renowned Lostgallifreyan
wrote:


I doubt it's worth quantifying for signal connectors, not even those from
moving coil cartridges, where electrolytic action in corrosion is the
problem, not the initial resistance. Nickel is used with chromium in high
temperature resistance wire, for heaters, but in a thin plate with large
surface area, it will be micro-ohms or less, probably.

Gold over copper virtually always has a much thicker layer of nickel
underneath anyway (as a barrier). Often nickel is used on other metals
as well before gold plating. The bling is just a surface treatment,
and the metals used underneath will dominate the total connector
resistance.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

"Long Ranger" wrote in message
k.net...

wrote in message
oups.com...

Long Ranger wrote:

My Pioneer SX-1250 says NOT! And my 40 year old JBL speakers.
- - - - - - -



Long Ranger:
I think that is the point.... exactly.
Today's electronics are not built as robustly as that grand old
mid-seventies Pioneer SX-1250 and it's contemporary competitors.
electricitym

Yeah, I guess it is, and to think, there was no gold on those contacts! I
wonder why they lasted so long? I never even gave them a thought in all
these years.

they wipe - some of the RCA connectors, on the other hand, turn a pleasing
fuzzy tan

.
.

"hob" wrote in message
...

"Long Ranger" wrote in message
k.net...

wrote in message
oups.com...

Long Ranger wrote:

My Pioneer SX-1250 says NOT! And my 40 year old JBL speakers.
- - - - - - -



Long Ranger:
I think that is the point.... exactly.
Today's electronics are not built as robustly as that grand old
mid-seventies Pioneer SX-1250 and it's contemporary competitors.
electricitym

Yeah, I guess it is, and to think, there was no gold on those contacts! I
wonder why they lasted so long? I never even gave them a thought in all
these years.

they wipe - some of the RCA connectors, on the other hand, turn a pleasing
fuzzy tan

.
.






That's nicotine stain!

wrote:

On 23 May 2006 07:30:36 -0700, wrote:

Long Ranger:
I think that is the point.... exactly.
Today's electronics are not built as robustly as that grand old
mid-seventies Pioneer SX-1250 and it's contemporary competitors.
electricitym

I have an assortment of 80s and later amps around here, some bought by
me, some just given to me because they were "broke".
Every damned one of them has a bad input/output selector switch. Why
is it so hard for these companies to come up with a switch that works,
even when the equipment costs several hunderd 198x dollars? These
switches are of some proprietary design that you can't easily
replace with a decent off the shelf switch.
I ended up jumpering the switch out on a few of them, just to use one
input reliably for my MP3 players. The amp chip/module itself is
fairly bulletproof.


Try "Coolamp" silver plating, if you want to repair the worn
contacts. It is used to replate large roller inductors and antenna
switches at AM radio stations. I'm told that it lasts as long as a new
part would, if the plating is thick enough. Replating the contacts of a
small switch wouldn't be easy, but don properly it would outlast the
original part.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida