@slag_lover2013 - The answer to your question is far more complex than the simple question Gold vs. Silver.
Yes - silver is a better conductor than gold
However, depending on the base metal(s) to which the plating is applied, you may also find a further plating material is required to act as a substrate to achieve better bonding. Those substrate materials are often much worse at conducting electrical signals.
Whereas - Silver plating can be applied directly to copper, which is the best combination of base material + plating.
Just as with copper, there are many purity levels of silver also, so just because a plug is silver plated does not mean it will perform to the same level as other silver plated plug.
Gold and rhodium plating’s are perhaps the worst metals from a conductivity perspective, but they do protect from corrosion when copper is used as the base material for connectors .
- if you find yourself inserting the plugs often then they can be of benefit compared to copper connectors with very thin silver plating.
Plain copper is very good, but does oxidize and will require cleaning
A Silver plated copper (or even solid silver) plugs are best from a conductivity perspective.
But silver does tarnish...
- HOWEVER, the tarnish you see is NOT really "Silver Oxide"
- it is an extremely thin layer Silver Sulphide - see this link...
https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/workshops-conferences/regional-workshops-co...Now, some people go to great lengths to clean their tarnished silver plugs, but all that is really required is to reseat the plugs. This action is enough to break through the thin layer of silver sulfide to reestablish a perfect contact.
Also, the amount of sulfur containing gasses in my house seems to be quite low, because I am yet to see my plugs tarnish
Next thing to address is the amount of silver plating. Most plug manufacturers simply apply the least amount of silver. There are others that apply a more generous amount of silver and they state the number of microns sometimes in their specs.
BUT - What is far MORE important than the plating material in ALL connectors is the base material that the plug pins are made from.
Here is a good reference for the IACS ratings of different materials/alloys commonly used in audio connectors
https://www.avoutlet.com/images/product/additional/f/iacs_of_metals_n_solder.pdfPersonally - I use Silver plated connectors and have never had an occasion to "clean them" other than reseating them.
I use RCA and Banana connectors from KLE Innovations and I use Sonar Quest Silver plated copper IEC and mains connectors from Ebay.
All provide outstanding performance and as yet, they show no sign of "wear through" to the copper base material on any of these connectors after several dozen insertions.
Hope that helps - Steve
