How often do you clean cables? And which types do you clean most often?

Hello Doug,  The efficacy of contact cleaners is proved quite simply: by the evidence of crud and oxidation on the Q-tip after cleaning. This is one area of the hobby that doesn't require blind testing. I only wish that reviewers of cables would ensure before commenting that all terminations have been cleaned.  Ditto fuses.       

dgarretson, imo the efficacy of contact cleaners would be in the purported sonic change, not the amount of oxidation removed. I suspect that it might not pass my Law of Efficacy. But, rather than simply prejudge I will conduct a comparison between two identical sets of speaker cables, one with cleaned terminations and the other uncleaned.

To the community: How many of you who disdain comparisons of cables have done an A/B test between two sets of identical cables, i.e. one treated with contact cleaner and the other not? If you have not done so, if all you have done is clean the ends and put them back in, I don’t think you have all that much to declare about contact cleaners. Obviously, your impressions could be due to confirmation bias.

I plan on doing that very comparison. I have a temperature controlled, low humidity environment for listening, so would anticipate very little to be lifted from the terminations. We will see...  BTW, my cables are in pretty consistent use, so there is no obvious build up or crud on them. But, I am still willing to try the contact cleaner to see what will transpire. I have asked others to believe that there can be a difference in Ethernet cables, so I should not condemn the use of contact cleaners without trying it.  :) 

It's too bad that both copper and silver , both excellent conductors, oxidize.  I own one cable with a copper termination that doesn't appear to oxidize , so there is hope.

Doug, I suggest that you also clean the amp & speaker binding posts as part of your comparison. I will be amazed if you don’t hear an meaningful improvement. Then work through the entire chain of ICs, fuses, tube pins and sockets, AC prongs and receptacles. I didn’t mean to suggest that dirt or tarnish on a Q-tip is a substitute for close listening or ABX testing. But its evidence will correlate to improvements that you will hear. If I understand your remarks so far, I am frankly surprised to find a pro reviewer who dismisses basic cable hygiene and maintains that the mechanical action of frequent equipment and cable swaps is an adequate alternative. Dirty connections can be the weakest link in a system and can skew an equipment or cable review as one chases equipment to compensate for the lifelessness, creeping malaise, and loss of transparency that accompany oxidation and crud.

silver is unique
 in the sense that when it oxidizes conductivity increases fact!