We often get posts about noise, a dead channel or hum that ultimately ends up being caused by a tube socket that is dirty, loose or just not making contact for one reason or another. I'm a fan of the "Insert/remove" method of cleaning and have used it well for years.
I have also known for years that tube sockets could be bought with gold plated pins but only recently saw that they were also available with silver plated pins. Gold is a soft metal and because it is soft it wears easily. Look at gold plated RCA jacks that have been used for several years. Gold also tarnishes. The tarnish causes poor connections so gold needs to be cleaned periodically.
Silver is different from gold in that silver tarnish is easier to see than gold tarnish but silver tarnish is very conductive. So even tarnished silver conducts better than base metals. But tube sockets that are plated with gold and silver are only plated. Plate wears off.
The question in all of this is do any of you guys, and women or two, have opinions for what the best tube socket metal is? The standard socket, even when new, can have some corrosion on it. Gold is soft and tarnishes, silver is a harder metal (than gold), the tarnish is conductive but plating still wears off.
I keep my equipment a very long time, change tubes often enough that they cause wear on the tube sockets.
What do you think?
