rhodium or Platinum are among the worst metals for plating based on conductivity
- any other type of plating will degrade performance
Making a decision on "sound" for rhodium based on conductivity is incorrect. The "conductivity" of the metal really does not dictate how good it will sound. You need to experiment within your system to decide if rhodium is good or not. For those who have tried rhodium and disliked it, I believe it is from one of 3 reasons:
1. They did not take the time to fully burn in (or break in, whatever) the conductor. Rhodium requires a good 300-350 hours to fully burn in. There are stages during this process where it is extremely painful to listen to. Just be patient. Many have discarded rhodium because they were not patient enough for the full burn-in process.
2. If the rhodium completed burn in, it could be a synergy problem with other components in the system. When a system is built a certain way, rhodium is the most transparent, revealing and realistic sounding result. If you get a bright or harsh or sterile result, it is mostly due to synergy with another component. Gold-plated conductors have a much warmer sound and can mask the "sterile" or "bright" character of some electronics.
3. The person just has a prejudice against rhodium because of the low conductivity.