Noise Stopper Plugs - Do you use them?

It depends on how the switching is done... ideally both the signal and ground inputs are switched but often the grounds are not, in this case the shorting caps can be an advantage.

Johnny,

Totally worthwhile and audible from my experience. Haven't tried on more modest systems.

I have the Cardas caps without shorting plugs.

I have used various shorting caps in the past but do not now. The only time I ever heard or measured a difference was in very poorly-designed equipment* in a high-RF field. Isolation among inputs is usually high to begin with and these would only reduce the impact of input noise coupling (which is normally far, far below a normal signal input). IME noise entry is far greater via other coupling routes than via unconnected inputs.

I have had a few components (preamps especially) that exhibited crosstalk high enough to hear faintly if the unused source was not turned off. Again, this was typically with the volume all the way up to hear a faint signal from another input, not anywhere near normal operation.

YMMV - Don

p.s. One example of a poor design was a phono stage that tended to ring and oscillate in the presence of high EMI/RFI if not terminated.

The aperture is way to small to matter. RFI interference can find many much easier paths into your components.