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Introduction

It should come to nobody's surprise that good, clean and strong contacts in audio are a must. The signal travels through so many electronic parts and solder joints and across so many RCA, XLR, spade or banana contacts that keeping the signal as well connected as possible is essential. Welding is arguably the best way to connect two electronic parts. However welding is rarely affordable or practical. Soldering is the next thing one should consider, and it presents a good set of compromises as long as one uses good quality solder and good soldering techniques. Still, soldering (and even more so welding) are "permanent" connections, or ones that cannot be easily remade should it be necessary to connect other components. Enter the RCA, XLR, spade, banana or similar connectors. These connectors all rely on mechanical pressure between current conducting metal parts. With them a degree of ultimate connectivity has been sacrificed in the interest of flexibility. Consequently these connections are more susceptible to contact erosion due to oxidation and surface impurities. It is therefore reasonable to assume that cleaning and maintaining these connections will improve the contact and prevent its further erosion.

If you haven't read our Perspective segment, you may want to do so now as a prelude to this and all other tweaks we review.

Description

Caig Laboratories offer a wide assortment of different products of which many are aimed toward cleaning and maintaining loosely coupled contacts. In the audiophile community ProGold is perhaps the best-known Caig product. It's inherently liquid but readily available in many formats. I've seen it being sold in bottles with applicators, in spray cans, in plastic squeeze tubes, as wipes and as pens. Depending on the format they come in different concentrations. The format I prefer and the one here under review is the Caig ProGold Pen 7 ml, 100% concentration, model no. K-G100P. I've purchased my pen from Sound Art Canada for about CAD $40.00 (US $25.00). They have lots of pro audio stuff but also stock products from Caig Laboratories (you connect the dots). With the purchase of the pen I also received a whole stash of very useful polypropylene lint-free cloth wipes (catalog no. LFC-P/50), and also half dozen lint-free swabs (catalog no. SWP-6). The pen also comes with two replacement tips.

ProGold is a conditioner, preservative and lubricant for plated metal electrical connections. The manufacturer states that it "improves conductivity for greater definition and dynamics, reduces noise and interference, and lowers distortion". It is supposed to stabilize connections between similar and dissimilar metals, including: Gold, silver, rhodium, copper, nickel and other precious metals.

The Caig ProGold Pen