Does the quality of the spades matter


If you could chose between thin gold plated or thick silver plated over copper, which would be preferred?
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Showing 1 response by heymable1fc2

OZ - yes and no.

Copper over time will oxidize and cupric oxides can tend to be semiconductive, thereby forming semiconductive films on areas that have been exposed.

Silver oxides (tarnish) are conductive and therefore do not exhibit the same potential for affecting the signal that the cupric oxides might pose.

Having said that, any good binding-post interfacing with a spade will render the junction gas-tight, therefore no distinct oxidation will occur. There may be other potential problems, such as metals migrating (i.e. a pure copper spade on a gold plated binding post is a place to watch for migration or "leeching").