I am doing some research on spades and banana plugs for speaker cable. A friend of mine suggested I go with pure unplated copper instead of gold plated copper. Does pure copper offer any sonic benefits over the plated versions?
This same question can be applied to power receptacles and power cord plugs and IEC ends. It's not a matter of one being better than the other, they are just different. I comes down to personal preference and what you perceive as a good or poor match up with various combinations of wire and the connectors. Also, a specific combination of wire and cable can be perceived as good on one component and less good on another component. It's variable.
Re: the tarnishing of bare copper, well, if you have a strong preference for how a bare copper connector sounds, you will likely be willing to have to do some periodic maintenance to clean it. Spade = best chance for better sound, Banana = more convenience.
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