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Fact: Gold has a higher resistivity (a measure indicating how strongly a material opposes the flow of electric current) than copper.

So I am left wondering why do most of the "high-end" RCA cables still use gold-plated terminals?

Is it because of its deceiving appearance?

Of course, true hifi cables would use solid silver...

Maybe because gold doesn't turn to junk after a long long time.I dont think gold loses it's luster. Other than that I really have no clue. I'll check back sometime to see if someong has the answer.

Copper corrodes easily when not coated, it oxidizes very easily when exposed to the elements. If you were to coat copper to protect it, it would of course increase resistance. Copper requires periodic cleaning and may cause a junction (RCA to stick, basically). Silver oxidizes as well, but the corrosion cunducts current, but again any corrosion that could occur may also cause the RCA to stick in place. Gold is a noble metal and does not corrode when exposed to the elements, it also serves to protect the more vulnerable wiring such as copper and silver. Gold is also very soft, and allows it to totally form itself to the connection it is making. From a resistivity standpoint, copper would outperform gold, but only until it corrodes, which will happen fairly often in a mobile environment.

That's sweet. I was right. =)

....Jonathan, you never cease to amaze me with your seemingly infinite wisdom!

I cant find it off hand, but I had a chart that listed the electron flow of different materials.

Quite good refference.

Ryan from Ohio wrote:I cant find it off hand, but I had a chart that listed the electron flow of different materials.

Quite good refference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistivity

BTW, the rest of that site is very good too.

I have cited there site a few times around the old forum. Good place :)

gold doesn't oxidize.
this is why most RCAs and speaker cable is OFC copper wire, and the ends, exposed to o2 are gold plated. Very high end home audio/theater interconnects use pure silver conductor wire and gold or silver plated ends. cars are subjected to high temperatures and high humidity, as well as very low temperatures with high humidity, so copper would be a very poor choice of material for exposure.
gold is also very maliable and being that soft means it forms a better connection at the connect surfaces, forming to the other material or connector mate. This lends to a good, solid connection other, lower resistance materials might not.

man i love the knowledge on this board