is it the connector or the wire ?

If that's what you believe, given your track record here, no one is going to change your mind.

I think connectors are as important as any other ingredient in a cable, some of the newer low mass alternatives such as Eichmann and the WBT Nextgens would seem to prove that. However I wouldn't go so far as to be dogmatic about copper with copper or anything else. As they say the proof is in the pudding. Not that I'm really in any mood to do conductor/connector trials. Anyone?

Having spent the last winter testing most every connector on the market, I would agree, and disagree. Yes the connecter plays a part, but the cable layout and material selection proved far more significant in my testing of over 200 designs and wire combinations. If you check out my “DIY Interconnect Review” you can get more detail. I was quite surprised to find the very affordable Eichmann plugs to better (to my ears) many of the very expensive old line connectors. The WBT NextGen are a bit more open than the Eichmann, but the Eichmann proved to my ear to be are neutral as any connector.

I also found the pure silver connectors to be very open and fast, but I am not a huge silver fan. I just recently tried the Furutech Rhodium RCA’s and found they nay be the best yet, very open, fast and transparent, yet seemingly quite neutral.

As for mixing materials, well… I’m not quite as sure about the importance of matching as you sound. I think it’s a taste thing, yes; but more so it’s finding the right combination sonically. It may be that one conductor is best with one material connector, but as I said, my experience is the cable design and conductor material far out weighed the connector.

Jd
Jade Audio

Thanks JD, I was pretty sure that someone out there had very tediously compared many different connector/conductor configurations. I should have remembered you DIY review and figured out that you had done such a comparison. Thanks for sharing!

While my experience is primarily with power cables, I'd have to go along with JD.
Also, JD, I have to say that Furutech really has something special with their Rhodium connectors. You described their traits exactly, whether it's the RCA connectors or the AC connectors. Furutech will be introducing a Rhodium AC duplex next year as well. If that's as good as their other Rhodium products, they may be having a very good year next year.

Jond, If you want to discuss anything about building your own cables, please feel free to write. I can respond either via email, or I will give you my phone number and we can talk. There is so much info I learned last winter, I love to share it.

Tplavas, Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to try the AC duplex, it's been quite a few years since I tried anything new on the outlet front.

Hey, have a great holiday guys,

jd

Also consider to what the connector is connected-ie binding posts.And "bind" the sound is what they do indeed do.Whenever I can I bypass those nasty things and solder directly .Think about it,amplifier speaker binding posts made of?, then speaker wire connector made of?,then speaker binding post made of? no wonder some systems sound so wrong, too many variables.You should be looking at continuity from source to speaker with as little mechanical terminations as possible.

your threads bore me

I agree with with Ellery911.........yawn. Reading JD and his past forums seems to me he has one agenda. Yes, plugging his own agenda. No pun intended. Merry Xmas

"12-26-06: Elizabeth
The insulation on the wire, and the spacing and geometry of the wire are MORE IMPORTANT than the connector (if the connector is any better grade. (IE not nickel plated steel)
(of course, I am an idiot...)"

100% agree. Cables are like good cake recipes, all the ingredients matter.

(of course, I am an idiot...)"

I don't know you, but I'll take your word for it. LOL !
Maybe I'm an idiot too, because I, like Winston Ma( owner of FIM) believe that the ratio of connector to conductor importance is 50/50.