How often do you clean cables? And which types do you clean most often?

Twice a year usually, but I don't have it marked on the calender; just when I think of it. I use the 2 part deoxit kit. I clean the cable ends and the component inputs and outputs.I used to use alcohol, but I bought the deoxit, and it seems to do a good job so I stay with it.

Annually, if I'm lucky enough to remember.

Never cleaned a cable in my life.

I usually clean once a year, and beyond I/C’s and speaker cables, include power cords and the AC outlet itself. I use Deoxit applied with a pipe cleaner or business card followed with alcohol to remove any Deoxit residue. Deoxit does a great job cleaning, but its residue leads to a very fatiguing, irritating sound if not removed. I really like Kontak as a cleaner, as it cleans as well as Deoxit and doesn't require a "rinse."  It's just too darn expensive for my tastes.

I use Kontak when in cleaning mood.

randy-11, Have you conducted ABX testing on the use of Deoxit?
Have you conducted ABX testing on the use of gold plating on connections? 

I don't think you could pass ABX on Deoxit or gold connections. 

I think you make recommendations based on nothing more than your listening impressions and biases.

My guess is that Deoxit treatment would not pass my Law of Efficacy. But, since I have not done so, 
I would be foolish to condemn it unheard. So, I'm going to get some and see. 

You have to be friggin' kidding me....even the subject of connector cleaning brings the ABX trolls out from under the bridge?

Why do you care?

bcowen, nope, not trolling. Here is some background for you to understand my posts. randy-11and I have an ongoing debate in regards to how to set up systems. He insists that people who recommend aftermarket cables should do ABX testing because he thinks their conclusions are tainted by confirmation bias. I believe he also suspects the motives of reviewers such as myself. I am asking whether he applies his own methods to himself.

I think it would be inconsistent if a person recommended a treatment like Deoxit or construction such as gold terminations based on their listening impressions or received wisdom, not having conducted ABX testing, yet ridiculed others for not doing ABX testing when they offer their listening impressions/conclusions with cables.

BTW, I picked up some contact cleaner, sorry not Deoxit - so I hope the efficacy of cleaning contacts is not reduced to Deoxit brand only - and I will try it. That is the opposite of a troll. I'm showing by my actions that I will not condemn a treatment or method (within reason, of course; I don't want to spent time on sea shells or plastic clocks placed on gear), though I have done many over the years and almost universally the inexpensive tweaks are truly a waste of time and money. At the moment the only cheap tweak I still use consistently is placement of hockey pucks under speakers and subwoofers occasionally. If the contact cleaner is efficacious I will admit it.

I didn't learn how much difference cables make by sitting on my ass and laughing at those who use them. That's what I call trolling. I am showing by example how a person deals with recommendations, even ones which seem laughable; you get off your ass and try it. Imo, the biggest thing stopping half the audiophile community is their death grip on their wallet.

@douglas_schroeder "...the only cheap tweak I still use consistently is placement of hockey pucks under speakers and subwoofers..."

My understanding is that particular tweak is effective only with music from Canadian artists. However, there are so many good to excellent musicians and singers from Canada, it's probably worth it.

@ randy-11 "Golden Retriever slobber will work wonders..."

It would seem, from that comment, that you have little to no experience with Golden Retrievers. I say that for two key reasons:
* Goldens do not tend to "slobber"
* Goldens are friendly to all

Please correct me if I'm wrong. Do you have a Golden Retriever? And if so, do you let him or her near your audio system?

Dave, who says his dogs know not to go near the equipment

I use this, maybe annually.

@douglas_schroeder

Ok.  Put in proper context, I humbly retract my troll accusation.   Thanks for taking the time to explain!

Hello Doug,  The efficacy of contact cleaners is proved quite simply: by the evidence of crud and oxidation on the Q-tip after cleaning. This is one area of the hobby that doesn't require blind testing. I only wish that reviewers of cables would ensure before commenting that all terminations have been cleaned.  Ditto fuses.       

dgarretson, imo the efficacy of contact cleaners would be in the purported sonic change, not the amount of oxidation removed. I suspect that it might not pass my Law of Efficacy. But, rather than simply prejudge I will conduct a comparison between two identical sets of speaker cables, one with cleaned terminations and the other uncleaned.

To the community: How many of you who disdain comparisons of cables have done an A/B test between two sets of identical cables, i.e. one treated with contact cleaner and the other not? If you have not done so, if all you have done is clean the ends and put them back in, I don’t think you have all that much to declare about contact cleaners. Obviously, your impressions could be due to confirmation bias.

I plan on doing that very comparison. I have a temperature controlled, low humidity environment for listening, so would anticipate very little to be lifted from the terminations. We will see...  BTW, my cables are in pretty consistent use, so there is no obvious build up or crud on them. But, I am still willing to try the contact cleaner to see what will transpire. I have asked others to believe that there can be a difference in Ethernet cables, so I should not condemn the use of contact cleaners without trying it.  :) 

It's too bad that both copper and silver , both excellent conductors, oxidize.  I own one cable with a copper termination that doesn't appear to oxidize , so there is hope.

Doug, I suggest that you also clean the amp & speaker binding posts as part of your comparison. I will be amazed if you don’t hear an meaningful improvement. Then work through the entire chain of ICs, fuses, tube pins and sockets, AC prongs and receptacles. I didn’t mean to suggest that dirt or tarnish on a Q-tip is a substitute for close listening or ABX testing. But its evidence will correlate to improvements that you will hear. If I understand your remarks so far, I am frankly surprised to find a pro reviewer who dismisses basic cable hygiene and maintains that the mechanical action of frequent equipment and cable swaps is an adequate alternative. Dirty connections can be the weakest link in a system and can skew an equipment or cable review as one chases equipment to compensate for the lifelessness, creeping malaise, and loss of transparency that accompany oxidation and crud.

silver is unique
 in the sense that when it oxidizes conductivity increases fact!

My suspicion would be that if I have cables that have been used regularly and do not show obvious signs of oxidation they would not sound appreciably different in comparison to an identical cable which has been cleaned. 

Agree or disagree? I do plan on testing it informally. 

randy-11, I could spend more time probing what I see as weaknesses in your latest answer. But, I am not interested in carrying on this indefinitely. 

How about we have a gentleman's agreement; you stop mocking (me and others who have a different perspective)  in your posts and I'll stop needling you about what I see as inconsistencies.  :)  

I am done wasting my time and experience on you, randy-11. 

I have never cleaned cables. Brush my teeth twice a day though. And dust my broom as often as I can.

I recently improved the detail and clarity of my system by simply unplugging all my PC's and then reinserting them. 
And it was no placebo effect.

When I was a kid I was told by friends that if a dog licks a wound it will heal faster. I asked my physician father if that was true. He replied "and pig sh#t is even better!" So perhaps we should get some pig feces and dip our cables in it!

Hi I think the cleaning of cabels,  and all other pfysical contacts by removing oxidations, depends on the invioment they are placed in and the metal the contacts are made of.
The best i have tried so far is defnatly the Swiss Audiotop set. But its expensive. After removing and cleaning the oxidation in 2 processes a third liquid is doing some kind of  preservation.
After this it actually takes about a week before the system is up running full again, so it has to be burned in somehow.
Every time i do, i am amased how well it works. I live on the country side with almost no poluting industries near by but some poulution of ammonia in the air. I try to do it once a year but the tubesoclets and fuses only gets a treatmen every second or third year. Its a huge job but i am very well rewarded and it gives me a good feeling when i maintaine the system to a higher level.
A lasy friend of mine had never done it and when finaly did it, the result was fantastic. Some of his silver plugs were almost black.
Nice lisining.

I will also unplug and reconnect all cables. It's just enough to remove oxidation. Big bump up in sound.

@mechans 

Perhaps a white van...