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From: prk@charm.UUCP (Paul Kolodner)
Newsgroups: net.audio
Subject: Replies to"Hitachi super-purecable"
Message-ID: <661@charm.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 8-May-85 22:36:14 EDT
Article-I.D.: charm.661
Posted: Wed May  8 22:36:14 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 10-May-85 00:29:08 EDT
Organization: Physics Research @ AT&T Bell Labs Murray Hill NJ
Lines: 23

I recently posted a response to an article concerning "Hitachi super-pure
cable".  I got a few amusing responses, some privately.  The most amusin
all said: the following, in paraphrase: "How can you dump on gold-plated
connectors?  They don't oxidize!"  My response (which I wouldn't bother
making public if it weren't of obvious general interest, despite my
ego involvement) is: yes, of course you want gold-plated connectors be-
cause they don't oxidize like nickel!  It's their resistivity which
is irrelevant, which is what the salesman of my fable was too fable-
minded to realize.  
Some other points which were raised:
1.  Don't metel-to-wetal contacts form rectifiers, which are bad?
Answer: what you're probably thinking about is thermoelectric voltages
set up between different metals.  Tht's dc and irrelevant.
2.  Don`t metal-to-metal contacts oxidize, making a resistive barrier
to what salesmen call "elecrtron transfer efficiency" in their quaint
and amusing manner?  Answer: an oxide layer in series with your speaker
cable is a little capacitor.  I could look in my E+M books to calculate
its capacitance, but I'm too lazy, and the answer is obvious:  the layer is
very thin, the capacitance is very high, the resistive impedance of
the circuit is very low, and the effect is very unimportant.
3.  Don't oxidized metal-to-metal contacts form rectifiers, which are
very, very bad for asystem which is supposed to be linear?  Answer:
I'm just not sure, but I really doubt it.  Give me a reference, please.