Oxidation and bare silver or silver coated wire???

I'm not a metallurgist but I've heard that oxidized silver actually conducts better than new copper.

Silver can oxidize but the process is slower than copper oxidizing. But, the oxide of silver is a good conductor, unlike that of copper. However, silver has another trait: it tarnishes. There are always trace amounts of hydrogen sulfides in the ambient air from typical carpet cleaners to lighting matches. Tarnish is not a good conductor; it does build up slowly and therefore you should periodically clean the connections - same as with gold plated spades (gold is not supposed to oxidize but my connectors seem to have some build-up after a year or so) and other types. Just part of the fun... :)

If you treat them with Caig every 4 months it should not be an Issue.
Bare wire connection is best.
Spade's Bannana's just get in the way of the music.

"Spade's Bannana's just get in the way of the music."

I do not agree. If you crimp spade-lugs, you can get a lower resistance contact than with bare wire.

As for silver oxidation, there is no anecdotal evidence that oxidized silver sounds worse than non-oxidized silver. Silver oxide is a conductor. As a precaution for my customers, and in order to maintain longevity, I put chemical oxidation inhibitors inside of my silver cables, but it is probably not necessary.

GS5556 is very accurate in his statement. Silver Oxide is fine, but exposure to sulfers can be detrimental, though probably no nearly as bad as oxidized copper. Cleaning up your spades once in awhile is a good idea. If I can't clean them up with something like Pro-Gold, I give them a buff with the very fine emery paper you can find on some good finishing fingernail files...I like the padded kind.

Audioengineer is right about how a better connection can be made with proper spade terminations. They also save you the hastle of restripping the cable if you disconnect it and don't want a lousy frayed connection. If you need to save some money and not buy them terminated, silver or a heavily silver clad cable will work out much better than a copper one that can quickly oxidize.

Jeff Delman
Value Audio
DH Labs Authorized Dealer