Black RCA Connections

Hi-Fi Corner
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Hi all
I was just changing a pair of RCA Lead to try and noticed the Terminals on My 552 are gone black. I Presume the terminal is gold plated and has oxidized.What do you guys use to clean as it has to be effecting the sound or does it? Have tried Alcohol And whit spirit but its very black. Would sand paper be to aggressive?
Thanks

Steve
PS can you add Photos here

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Do not use Sand Paper.

First thing to try would be Metal Polish. That should remove any oxide.

(I am a bit flummoxed here. Gold does not oxidize - which is why it is so often used on connections. What was the finish on the Phono Plugs you used…?)

PS. Yes you can add Photos - use the Mountain icon.

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Gold doesn’t oxidise. It can only get dirty. What are the connectors on the rca lead like? Plugging and unplugging should be enough to clean the connectors. Pic might be useful.

1 Like
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image3024Ă—4032 1.74 MB

The posts are on the 552.I also removed the interconnects on the left and they are in a similar way.
I use these for my CD Player and Phono Stage which are not Naim.
They both Play But Will this have any effect on the signal or Clarity

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With those WBT Next Gens you should really only use the corresponding plugs or else locking RCAs. I’ve seen plugs that have effectively “shaved” the pliant plastic of the socket onto the thin conductive inner strip. Or maybe the plugs on those i/cs use silver or some other metal that has tarnished onto the gold? Do you have a better picture?

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Are you referring to the rca terminals themselves?

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They are WBT next gen rca sockets.

It’s not clear from the photos, is the gold spiral contact bit tarnished?

IMG_5888

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Hi Richard
thanks for the quick reply. Will take it out of the rack tomorrow To take a better photo. I don’t understand WBT Next Gens. Also Those interconnects are Atlas Marvos and the The other RCA is a Nordost SPM Which have a spring loaded mechanism so not cheap interconnects.
Thanks
Steve

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The Next-Gen sockets only have a very small contact area, the rest being plastic. This presumably to reduce multiple contact points and eddy currents. But it does mean that they need to be used with a suitable plug. Normal RCA phono plugs don’t work so well with them as, thanks to the gold plated contact area often being ever so slightly recessed within the plastic they don’t make a particularly good contact. Better are locking RCA Phonos, so long as they are locked down very tight - I have experienced big performance differences on my RP10 where the locking RCA Phonos have not been tightened enough onto the Next Gen sockets. Best of all are the Next Gen Plugs with the single point contact - hardly surprising as they were designed to be used together.

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Hi Richard Thanks a million for the help. I have never heard of this type of interconnect before. i will have to look into it further.
Cheers

Steve

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Hi Robert
Thanks for the Photos this Explains everything .Everyday is a schoolday as they say.
Cheers
steve

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