Gold-plating the connectors is actually one of the few things that does make sense. When new, they won’t sound better, but they corrode less, which can, sometime in the future, make a difference, albeit very slight: surface oxidation can form a tiny capacitor. That said, I think you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference to chrome-plated ones. But unlike lots of other esoteric “high-end” nonsense, this one has at least theoretical technical merit. And the micrometer-scale galvanic gold-plating isn’t expensive, either.
Gold/Nickel plating is standard for most connectors nowadays except for the cheapest of contacts, which uses tin plating.
Gold plating can still wear off, because pure gold plating is “soft” and “hard” gold plating is usually done with some kind of mixture with other metals for hardness. And the cost of gold plating depends greatly on the thickness, since most of the cost won’t be in materials but in process time.
That being said, if you truly want the absolute best uncorrodible and toughest plating for a connector, look for rhodium plating, but that is VERY expensive.
Gold-plating the connectors is actually one of the few things that does make sense. When new, they won’t sound better, but they corrode less, which can, sometime in the future, make a difference, albeit very slight: surface oxidation can form a tiny capacitor. That said, I think you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference to chrome-plated ones. But unlike lots of other esoteric “high-end” nonsense, this one has at least theoretical technical merit. And the micrometer-scale galvanic gold-plating isn’t expensive, either.
Gold/Nickel plating is standard for most connectors nowadays except for the cheapest of contacts, which uses tin plating.
Gold plating can still wear off, because pure gold plating is “soft” and “hard” gold plating is usually done with some kind of mixture with other metals for hardness. And the cost of gold plating depends greatly on the thickness, since most of the cost won’t be in materials but in process time.
That being said, if you truly want the absolute best uncorrodible and toughest plating for a connector, look for rhodium plating, but that is VERY expensive.