Are corroded monoprice banana plugs still good?

[egellings]

Could it be that the Au flash on the Monoprice plugs is so thin that the underlying metal corrosion leaks through? That way they get to claim Au plating & charging a premium for it without putting enough on to provide real corrosion resistance. It's like a food advertising a vitamin as an ingredient, and yes, it's there, but is such small amount as to have no effect at all. Put in one molecule of the stuff and then brag a dump truck full.

 

[Katji]

Quite likely. Cheap crap, I dunno why ASR forum tends to - apparently - be so keen on Monoprice. ....and,hhhh, imagine paying international shipping. Banana plugs? Local electronics shop has those plain simple generic ones with red and black plastic covers.

 

[egellings]

Since Au is so soft, I suspect that when connectors plated with it are engaged and disengaged, the Au rubs off the contacting surfaces and you're left with the base metal making the contact.

 

[Katji]

Can hardly call it gold. The ring on my finger is 22 carat, it's hard, doesn't bend, it's quite thick, been there for years and I don't take care of it. 9 carat gold, quite inexpensive, the "cheap gold jewellery." haha, when we got these wedding rings, I had to ask, the jeweller said No, 24 carat is too soft. So the 9 carat is more brass, in the mix, I suppose.
This is crap, probably some tin alloy underneath, or maybe it is actually nickel. Nickel is quite hard, lasts for years on coins.

 

[Wes]

Acid Hands. It’s a thing. Ask any gun collector

or ask a dermatologist

 

[Katji]

Yes but decent quality likely to cope with individual skin...perspiration/acidity/whatever.

 

[Katji]

Acid Hands. It’s a thing. Ask any gun collector

I'm not a collector, but mine cannot have any such problem.

 

[uwotm8]

>monoprice
>good
You can only choose one option.

That "gold" can be titanium nitride or such imitation; doesn't look like clear brass to me (it would be weathered otherwise before you touch it).
I had some trashy noname banana plugs what acted similarly. At the same time, none of even dirt cheap branded ones did.
Send this garbage back and make it public.

 

[escksu]

These gold plating on the plugs are nothing more than "look good".... Just use some brasso and polish the plugs and they are good to go.

Btw, most of these plugs arent even made of brass, brass is too expensive. Most are steel or aluminum alloy.

 

[Katji]

What will go is the plating stuff.
Those are made as cheaply as possible. Nickel would be better.

 

[escksu]

What will go is the plating stuff.
Those are made as cheaply as possible. Nickel would be better.

Frankly, I prefer full copper plugs.

Having said that, I also want to advice everyone not to go too crazy over the plugs. This is because you will find that the some of the terminals on your speakers and amps arent full copper ones (you can't tell because they are nicely plated by gold). So, you spend alot of $$$ on high quality plugs but the terminals doesnt match up.

 

[Katji]

Plenty not too expensive on Ebay. Solder or grub screw.

Many on Ebay say copper but it's actually reddish high copper content brass, it's good.

 

[uwotm8]

I prefer crimp banana plugs - true audiofool solderless contact for better sound Bought some to bananize Audioquest speaker cable made of few THICK wires, these are hard to screw and soldering may be a problem as well with casual trashy iron and skills. All crimped perfectly.

For a typical multistrand wire screwing ones are nice I believe.

 

[AudioKnob]

where has that thing been?

 

[Katji]

I prefer crimp banana plugs - true audiofool solderless contact for better sound Bought some to bananize Audioquest speaker cable made of few THICK wires, these are hard to screw and soldering may be a problem as well with casual trashy iron and skills. All crimped perfectly.

For a typical multistrand wire screwing ones are nice I believe.

100% / "could not agree more."
I have very little experience with soldering, I don't like doing it. Would definitely need to be hidden. I have crimp dies for bike wiring, I would make that work if I was doing speaker cables.

 

[AdamG]

Yes but decent quality likely to cope with individual skin...perspiration/acidity/whatever.

Not in some circumstances. I have seen some acid hands eat right through a professional gun protection finish in a single night. He said he played with it for about an hour, I think. It’s just micrometers thin plating. Hours of acid hand rubbing will do this and more.

Op, conduct a test. Take out 2 new plugs. Inspect both of ensure they look fine out of box. Mark one with a dot/mark that will indicate the untouched one. Then set one in a test area, wipe it down to remove any hand oils/film and let it sit exposed to the room environment. Take the other and play with it again about as long as you did the first time. Then let them both sit overnight. Inspect the next morning. Note changes if any.

 

[ironhorse128]

Op, conduct a test. Take out 2 new plugs. Inspect both of ensure they look fine out of box. Mark one with a dot/mark that will indicate the untouched one. Then set one in a test area, wipe it down to remove any hand oils/film and let it sit exposed to the room environment. Take the other and play with it again about as long as you did the first time. Then let them both sit overnight. Inspect the next morning. Note changes if any.

Nice idea. But this is exacly what I did with the two monoprice plugs in the first place. I do not see the benefit of doing it again as the effect is not subtile at all.

 

[AdamG]

Nice idea. But this is exacly what I did with the two monoprice plugs in the first place. I do not see the benefit of doing it again as the effect is not subtile at all.

OK if you already did this what was the result of the untouched plug? We need to eliminate that the plug was in good visual condition before you started touching it.

 

[ironhorse128]

I wrote monoprice support and complained about the missing gold plating. I also induced the link to this thread.

They wrote back and offered a refund. But I do not think they even read my mail in detail as the answer did not address my comments on the bad quality and the missing gold plating at all.

 

[ironhorse128]

OK if you already did this what was the result of the untouched plug? We need to eliminate that the plug was in good visual condition before you started touching it.

The untouched plug is the left (red) on in the picture of the first post. It may not be completely untouched, but almost untouched. When I got the out of the plastic back, they both looked very clean and shiny. But this changed very rapidly after handling it in my hand.