Contact Cleaner

Fatparrot, if Eastman Kodak still manufactures their film cleaner, the formula contains (among other things) 111 trichlorethylene. This is the business end of many designer cleaners.

The Kodak product is a few bucks for a four ounce bottle.

My best results were had by plucking about half the cotton off of a wood Q-Tip brand swab. This makes a great disposable cleaning tool which will enter the male and female RCA jacks as well as around speaker posts.

The only other cleaner I find interesting is Caig Deoxit and Caig Gold, both available in pre saturated pads and in a spray can. I am undecided about the performance change Pro Gold brings to connections, but the Deoxit cleans very well.

I've used shark liver oil a lot. In fact it is it is one of the original contact enhancements and the treatment that I cannot give up in tests against Caig Gold.

For those who think Psychicanimal and I are having a laugh at your expense, the much touted "Tweak" conditioner and other similar clear coatings, including some for CD treatment are exactly that. Shark Liver Oil.

In response to the questions about shark liver oil, supposedly the Japanese are the masters at making the version that works for audio. The tests I have conducted show no signs of mucking up or changing consistency over time. Eventually all audio connections oxidize and the Caig , shark liver oil, Cramalin or whatever must be removed, the connector cleaned and begin all over again.

As for performance, the Deoxit cleaner is great, but I still have not decided between the Caig gold and the shark liver oil as a preservative to slow down the oxidation process. They both have a sound compared to no preservative, and it seems to vary depending on the connection. The connection at a phono stage for instance is always better with shark oil, and speakers are always better with Caig gold. Every other connection seems to be a roll of the dice.

Fatparrot, I think that oxygen in the air does most of the damage although excess moisture certainly does not help.

What all of these products do is remove the layer of oxidized material, ( which is no longer the same metal chemically ), so that conductivity is at it's best again. Probably the best option is to clean and leave nothing behind at all. Problem is, mother nature IMMEDIATELY begins her work on converting the metals to oxides again.

There needs to be a balance between the (negative?) effect of the preventative coating and what it does to the sound, compared to the short lived improvement of simply cleaning the connection and allowing it to degrade.