Gold coated brass speaker spades


Question for the forum.

Whats the low down on brass speaker spades and bananas?

I recently demoed some very nice sounding speaker cables from a reputable manufacturer and found they used gold plated brass connectors.  From what I have read in these forums, copper is the preferred base metal.  Does it really matter?

What to do? 

mpomerantz

I think it matters, and I'm surprised that a company like Tara Labs would be using brass. Shame on them.

I think it matters, and I’m surprised that a company like Tara Labs would be using brass. Shame on them.

@roxy54 I’m really NOT surprised. They took smart Chinese approach of making materials cheaper. Consumers would not notice a thing like they would not notice any difference between pure silver in Siltech and brass in the fake Siltech as long as the outside looks same. 

When Alibaba, Aliexpress wasn't part of ebay they were all overwhelmed with fake Siltech, Harmonic Tech and other super high-priced wires made with cheap brass and most of the fools didn't notice anything till they took them apart. 

Brass is just copper with some zinc tin for hardness. Copper is a better conductor but you got better ears than me if you can tell the difference.

It’s how they sound to you in the end.  If the Tara cables sound better than comparably priced competitors with copper connectors I say go with Tara regardless.  Still surprising they’d use brass though because copper spades just can’t add all that much to the final price.  Not a good choice for a company like Tara IMHO.