[kennyt]

Gold is also not the greatest conductor, it is however resistant to corrosion which makes it more consistant than say silver (a better conductor) connections would be as they would tarnish over time and dgrade the transfer far more than gold plating.

Gold does have the benefit of being able to be extremely pure, which also helps minimize signal change in a IC, look into the Stealth PGS IC's if you want to try some. They are a bit dear for me, but I have never heard anyone be unhappy with them.