wjm (03/28/83)
While it is true that gold-tin connections have the potential for corrosion,
and oxidation, so do tin-tin contacts that are exposed to air. The best
connections are gold-gold (but unfortunately, I've only seen gold pin plugs
on some very high end components). Another advantage of the high end cables
is that their plugs maks solid contact, and cover almost 100% of the area
of the component's jack on the shielding conductor - good mechanical contact
is not a virtue of all cheap connecting cables, I've had problems with some
marketed by a large nationwide electronics house.
As for the effects of thin speaker wire, I'd refer Mark Terribile and anyone
else whose interested to my article of last week, where I discussed it
(I won't repeat it for the benefit of those who saw it the first time).
Bill Mitchell
Bell Labs - Whippany
(whuxk!wjm)