more from the 'Jim Lesurf school' of uk.rec.audio-ism:

My experience is that gold plating isn't essential for good contacts,
but that non-gold does sometime begin to tarnish after a while. When I
used phono plugs/sockets that were not gold plated I used to clean
them about once a year, and this always removed a greyish deposit
which was then left on the cleaning cloth. With gold they are 'fire
and forget' in this respect so I don't have to remember to clean (or
replace) them after a few years.

If the 'High Quality' Maplin phonos seem to expensive, then the "Gold
Plated Plug" FK18U and JH94C are also OK. I use these when I have a
small diameter floppy coax to fit as they work better that the "High
Quality" phonos with such cables in my experience. Unlike the HQ58N,
they are gold plated, have a metal outer, and also a supporting spring
for the first part of the cable to prevent excessive bending.


I decided to go for the nicer JZ13P and JZ14Q for my frequently swapped
important cables and use the cheaper ones for my VCR (scart to *6* phono)
and playstation, where quality isn't really an issue anyway.

They arrived the next day, but having ordered more than 20 plugs I didn't
expect them to be individually wrapped! My waste paper basket is
overflowing with little plastic bags - Surely an inefficient and non-
environmental way to deliver?

--
Jim H jh
@333
.org