Cleaning and Maintenance of Connections.....

Agree cleaning makes a big difference on RCA and speaker connectors and if you turn off the circuit breaker at the panel, you can spray Caig Pro Gold into your AC socket.

You might wait five minutes before turning it back on or you can speed the process and improve debris removal with one of those cans of compressed air sold at computer stores.

I love Caig DeOxit and Pro Gold, but I think connections sound better if you remove DeOxit completely with alcohol before applying Pro Gold.

That's also why I mentioned Pro Gold (only) and not DeOxit for AC outlets. Too difficult to remove the DeOxit in that closed space.

Albertporter, I didn't even know they sold the Caig Pro Gold in a spray can! I'll have to order a can here from Parts Connection. Question, how often do you clean your connections...and what do you do for cleaning for your xlr cables?

Calgarian, Yes, Pro Gold is in spray can, I use it for speaker, XLR, and RCA. I even apply a bit on cartridge pins with a toothpick and wipe off excess with a Q Tip.

I clean about once a year or anytime I'm working on the system, such as testing something or swapping tubes.

Oh, that reminds me, I use Pro Gold on tube pins too.

In addition to DeOxit & Pro Gold, Flitz metal polish works great for power cords, copper spade lugs & binding posts.

Dill,

Agreed, I use Flitz metal polish and also their lesser known product, Polier.

I've polished out power cord prongs with Flitz and then cleaned with Caig. For unplated speaker posts such as Cardas manufacturers, there's a copper cleaning gel containing Hydrofluoric Acid that works miracles. If the post is unmounted you can drop in the solution for 15 seconds, remove and wash with water. It literally looks flawless and brilliant.

If it's mounted on speaker or amp, apply the gel with Q-Tip and then wrap paper towel around the post and spray with water. I bought one of those spray bottles at Home Depot for the job, usually used to mist house plants.