Cable strategies

[Hugh]

On plating, when the manufacturer gets it right it can work out very well. WTB's platinum plating works great for RCA plugs, Furutech's rhodium plated copper connectors are also great. Rhodium can be balanced out with gold. I really don't like the idea of having my cable connectors corrode and have them degrade in performance over time. Sure, some folks will clean them but the fact is many will not, and most probably won't do it often enough. Corrosion can also get into the grain of the metal, penetrating into it. That can;t be cleaned. Now, I'd rather use unplated brass receptacles than nickle plated ones when choosing an economical solution, but unplated male power plugs go downhill pretty quick and if you have the cash for plated connectors I feel it's well worth it and makes for a much longer lasting connector.

I will take a high copper content brass connector that has been properly cryogenically treated over any of the cheaper rhodium or platinum plated connectors. In my experience, very good brass improves dramatically and is the ideal candidate for cryogenic treatment. Pure good bare copper (with cryogenic treatment) is better as long as it's had a corrosion prevention treatment during manufacture such as acid washing or burnishing, etc. When done right, it does not corrode in audio environments and is far superior sonically.

My $0.02,
Pete

Ditto.

[DaveC]

It's all tradeoffs that need to be made one way or another, and hopefully done so the final product is well balanced and neutral.

On Furutech's rhodium plating, I really think they do a great job with rhodium plated copper in all their connectors, not just the CF series... and I do not feel it adds any harshness, it just doesn't smooth out the sound like gold does. I do not like rhodium in some of their connectors, like the RCAs with the filament center pins. Unplated brass or bronze can have a midrange hardness/harshness too, so I do not think it is a superior solution to plated connectors... more different than better imo.

I think with WBT platinum plated silver connectors the platinum actually enhances the connector and is a positive contribution.

When considering long term value, my personal opinion is that well made, plated pure copper or upocc copper connectors are worth the higher initial expense. I believe they will both outperform and outlast unplated connectors so that's what I go with. All of Furutech's high end connectors are rhodium, and all WBTs high end are platinum, which is similar to rhodium. I think there is a good reason neither high end connector manufacturer offers their highest end connectors unplated.

[Triode Pete]

Tradeoffs are compromises...

Different plating materials are currently being used for audio purposes, the superiority of which is often being claimed by the respective supplier/manufacturer, a lot of HYPE marketing – sometimes without words, just by charging super high prices!.  With Conductivity, the specific resistance of the materials, the better a metal’s conductivity, the more suitable it is typically for audio purposes, since there is less loss of current or signal with a highly conductive material, such as pure copper or silver (not plated).

Gold is ~ 40% less conductive than copper... Rhodium & platinum are very expensive precious metals but horrendous electrical conductors... only half as good as Gold! Why would you use them for audio??? They have their place in harsh, super hot and acid prone environments (like foundries with blast furnaces)...

You need a very resolving system to hear these differences as well as test and evaluate. Measurements alone should not determine the final product. The final product should be accurate, neutral, natural & balanced sounding, which leads to musicality & proper tonality.

[DaveC]

I do agree with your last paragraph! 

But not the 2nd one, I really like the sound of platinum and rhodium plating despite the fact they are not as good at conducting electricity. This is one area where the subjective sound of the plating trumps the measurements for me.

I will certainly use unplated brass receptacles for a lower cost alternative, the high end rhodium/platinum stuff is way over on the expensive end of things... and of course there is a lot of hype surrounding them to justify the prices. But hype has a connotation that it's not worth the price or is a poor value, which I don't agree with. Yes, the top of the line Furutech and WBT connectors are very expensive... to the point people who aren't acquainted with high end audio would think it's INSANE... but I think they are worth it. Those FI-50 AC connectors you mentioned and all the Furutech CF series are really amazing pieces of audio jewelry, but they also sound great and will last forever.

And of course there is more than one way to skin the cat, lots of different systems and lots of room for subjective preferences so it is good there are lots of options for us to choose from even though it can seem overwhelming to folks that are not audio geeks! 

[Werd]

I think its annoying and predatory how furutech automatically assigns this bloated price on everything they sell. Like every thing they sell is so awesome they get to overprice everything.

[DaveC]

Hi Werd, yup, I thought that about the high end Furutech connectors.

But now I have actually used almost all of the CF series connectors and I don't feel that way anymore. The amount of effort and design that has been put into these connectors is incredible, the result is a truly amazing cost-no-object connector that actually performs at a higher level vs less expensvie connectors. Of course, getting that last little bit of performance is expensive, but they aren't charging high prices in an attempt to fleece unsuspecting audiophiles, they really are that good.

There are other connectors that make Furutech look cheap btw...  I don't even want to mention the name. 

[richidoo]

If they're still in business this long, then it's not overpriced. Wiki: capitalism.

Pete, I agree with your assessments about coloration of platings, etc. I have found that exotic alloyed conductors can have a far better result than plated. But very few cable mfgs are able to develop a custom alloy for their wire.

wrt copper sounding best, My first upgrade SC and ICs were anticables. They are very pure, single crystal, Oh-NO! magnet wire with polyurethane varnish, iirc. Tin plated copper spades, crimped to the ends, iirc. These were the 2nd worst sounding SCs I have heard, behind RCA brand zip cord 12ga "speaker wire" from Home Depot. Anticables had a resonance that sounded trashy and shrill. Carlman demonstrated the problem to me and I was shocked that the SCs could make such a huge difference. Since then I've had similar experiences with other low cost all copper cables, including cotton thread wrapped old stock solid conductor telegraph or telephone wire.  I also auditioned Harmonic Tech SCs, again all copper, much more expensive and widely loved by audiophiles, these too had a resonant ring, but it was very pleasant, sunny, happy sound. After that I made a blanket judgement that "pure copper rings" and I went to a non-ringing alloy conductor wire. But I am curious about your opinion, and all others' too,  on the matter of ringing sound in the copper or other pure metals. I have read other people speak of silver ringing too, but it is more subtle, but potentially more annoying to those bat-ear types.
Thanks

[DaveC]

Lol, agree about the anti cables. They just didn't work for me. A lot of what you're hearing is a result of using too large a diameter wire but the wire isn't mechanically damped which is also an issue. The ringing was really bad with my digital amp.

As far as conductor metallurgy it's my opinion you'll only get so far with copper. Upocc copper and the vintage WE wire is the best I've used but will not make for an excellent ic cable. It works better for power and speaker cable but still has its limits. Upocc silver is probably the best conductor for audio use in widespread use. Neotech's silver /gold alloy is very special but of course I have a bit of a bias there. I don't think ringing is an issue at all but using the right gauge wire, good insulation and damping all play a role.

[DaveC]

I was thinking about the preference for unplated AC connectors and the high price of the Furutech GTX receptacles, which are not available unplated, and the FPX(Cu) came up, which is Furutech's  unplated phosphor bronze receptacle. It retails for $70, about 2.5x the Leviton MRI unplated brass hospital grade receptacle but still pretty far from the $200+ GTX. Furutech's phosphor bronze sounds very good when used in Furutech's other connectors, and this could be a great receptacle for the money. Has anyone tried these out?

some info:

http://www.partsconnexion.com/prod_pdf/ftech_75940.pdf

 I also like the quote about platings from the info page. It's pretty much perfect imo. I'd copy and paste it but there seem to be formatting issues.

[Werd]

I think its annoying and predatory how furutech automatically assigns this bloated price on everything they sell. Like every thing they sell is so awesome they get to overprice everything.

Ok this was dumb