How to Preserve New Shiny Banana Speaker Ends?

Strange because my MIT cables are 6 years old and have shiny gold on them with no sign of oxidation anywhere. And I haven't seen any other of my cables go black. Besides, it is very tough to oxidize gold - in fact, it has the lowest tendency to react with air to form oxides of any element on earth.

Are you sure that the black isn't actually muck encrusted 'on' the ends rather that 'in' the gold? Maybe rubbing alcohol would remove it (or acetone) although I assume the Progold should have taken care of it. Hmmm...keep us posted.

Arthur

Maybe my description does not convey the message across clearly. I'll try again, and sorry for the lack of terminology.

It doesn't sound as serious like the plugs have gone entirely black. It's still gold but there is a slight hint of discolouration towards blackish gold. There isn't any extra layer on the plugs. It's just that the gold somehow doesn't look as new as they were during the first time I've got them. I've taken for granted I didn't clean them for a single time in 5 years that may have caused them to lose the shine. This not only apply for the speaker ends but also to the speaker terminals of my old pair of speakers.

Well, I guess there is a reason why NEW is good. Or maybe I've not taken enough care to preserve the condition? I don't think I can get back the shine to the plugs as new but guess I'll have to use Progold more often on not only the speaker ends but also to all my electrical connections of my equipment.

Try one of the least abrasive Scotch Brite pads or some 400 grit sand paper. If you don't like the idea of abrasives you might try a Mr. Clean magic erasure. They have cleaned almost every thing I have thrown at them.