Benfits of upgraded connectors

Well Schipo, I am speechless! 'cause all of us we have so many vivid memories about testing especially speaker cables.
Maybe what this guy said is true about some McIntosh or perhaps a few more set-ups, or as I'm about to suspect, the whole thing depends of electrical charachteristics between components. But everything has a different idiosyncrasy because of this ! So, we have to explore it's matching abilities, trying to control them & bring some balance.
I really appreciate your thought about "changing the guide" and I'm greatful that you remind me this !
Thank you & I have to say that your post somehow acts as a break to my will to purchase some Oyaide 004 unless I can manage to A/B test them with the stock connectors.

A friend of mine just upgraded. He has $500 spades on his $200 cables and it changed everything. His CD's now sound like vinyl and the sound stage is in the other room out into the garage. BTW, he is also using the cable elevators, so that may play some part in it.

A sonic benefit? Depends on the quality of your System.
The AES (Audio Eng. Society) has made the Standards for the ability of signal transfer
100=copper
90.4= Gold
106=Silver
...and so on, there are also some very low numbers available.
Anyway, no matter what you like or hate, Silver can carry 6% more information than any other material.
When you use gold connectors (pure wire or similar) your loss only based on this will be more than 15%.
When we check the materials in most High End units, in general there is very low number material used (=cheap, like mixtures with brass for example, these will be "improved" with Gold plating). Based on this, it is pretty normal, that most users can't hear any difference when they do a "comparison". the reason is found mainly in these inferior parts which are used. When only AES Standard from 60 is used, what do you expect?
A Signal can't be improved, all you can do is to keep it as good as possible.
Is this the secret to get better sound?
Who knows? I think, Yes, but only when done right.

I confess: I was laughing because it is all like (IMO) counting how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
YES connectors can make a difference, and perhaps for those obssessive individuals who spend thier lives listening for minute diferences in sound quality (instead of actually listening to music) it can and does mean something. But, for the many who do not it does not matter much. If a cable can be had made by the manufacturer with better ends or silver vs gold etc, by all means go for it if it matters to you. Obsessing about the rhodium over gold copper/pure gold/silver etc is for those individuals who love to obsess...
Feel free to dispute this opinion over and over.
I for one wonder if as many devils can dance on the underside of that same pin? after all they have shrivelled wings, and take up less space. And are probably not as worried about being crowded, dancing to Rock and Roll, or Jazz instead of some regal, heavenly (boring if beautiful) dance.. after all... and have the pin shank in the way..??? Curious minds want to know. (i would guess the same number as angels.)
(8^Q...

I take no position on sonic differences among rca connectors. However, some technical misconceptions have been expressed above that should be corrected. Resistance in a connection path will only matter if it becomes a significant fraction of the impedance that is being driven. Also, resistance will be proportional to length, and obviously connectors are very short.

The resistance through any pair of connectors making reasonable contact with each other will be a tiny fraction of an ohm. Component input impedances are usually in the range of 10,000 to 200,000 ohms.

If different metals sound different when used in rca connectors on line-level interconnects, it is not because they have different resistances or conductivities.

Regards,
-- Al