My First DIY Power Cable

I'm the same way about Furutech.  Rhodium connectors are one of the worst conductors, you might as well uses nickel. The difference is nickel/lead RCAs need to be cleaned but is a lot softer. Rhodium is for severe enviro conditions, and it looks pretty. It's WAY to hard on non Rhodium connectors. Red copper or silver over copper. I'd use gold plating over red copper as a 3rd pick. The rest has it's place but never in audio use..

Automotive or heavy equipment, yes.. It's part of my job making cable (s) for just about any mobile or trackable equipment. We use Rhodium around salt or brackish water.

BTW their is a direction on the cable, you have to look at it under a 100-1000x. You'll see how it was pushed through the extrusion dies. That is the single best thing you can do to build your cable. Get the direction right, don't touch the exposed wire with your hands/fingers and use contact enhancers before you tighten the securement screws. Get the thinnest shrink tube you can find and use braided armor. There is a conductive armor that be used in a grounding / shield app. I personally don't use that type of mumbo jumbo. I've used battery packs to check the nulls in cable when it's buried in lattice or 100 feet in the air. It proves there are NO leaks for the lack of a better term. Other than that it's a worthless test as far a sound goes..

Cables are easy to make. Follow the rules and you'll build a BETTER cable than you can buy for 10X the money..

@jbuhl - Since it is your first DIY Power Cable and you are on a budget I would recomment the following

1. SonarQuest Silver plated Copper mains connectors
   • they sell on Ebay for around $40/pair and the IEC connector grips like a vice
2. for the live and neutral conductors use 12 (or 14) gauge Neotech Stranded UP-OCC wire with teflon insulation
3. for the ground wire, 12 (or 14) gauge stranded copper wire from Home Depot sill suffice
4. Braid the three wires together to form the cable
5. use cheap spades from any suto supply store on all wires
6. you can use the nylon expandable sleeve to finish the cable off

This will get you a very good power cable with the minimal of effort.

The UP-OCC stranded copper wire is very good because it can take a lot of bending/handling and still provide excellent performance

The solid UP-OCC copper wire with Teflon insulation is better, but it is more dificult to handle

The cables in DIY Helix Cables Website are among the very best out there, but are a little more complex to build.

• But if you choose to go that route I can answer any questions you may have
• because it is my web site 😎

Hope that helps - Steve

Regardless of brand, Rhodium is a terrible surface plating for electrical conductors. It's just too hard a material for a good grip, and not that good a conductor.  It is however very shiny and pretty to look at. 

And I'm going to gripe about Furutech forever. :)

Rhodium connectors are one of the worst conductors, you might as well uses nickel.

Have you ever tried a rhodium plated connector?!?! (after 300 hour burn in, that is).  I do understand that rhodium is very low down on the list with regards to conductivity, but that is only part of the story.  You really need to listen to how rhodium plated elements sound.  In many many experiments, rhodium plated connectors is the only way to get the highest amount of resolution and transparency.  Gold plated connectors have a warmer sound and you lose high frequencies as well as deep tight bass.  Silver/silver-plated will be bright because they tend to push the upper mids, but they do not have very good ultra-high frequencies and the bass is typically weak.

One approach is to use silver/silver-plated wires with unplated or gold-plated connectors.  However, the best result is using pure copper conductors with rhodium plated connectors.

Have you ever tried a rhodium plated connector?!?! (after 300 hour burn in, that is). I do understand that rhodium is very low down on the list with regards to conductivity, but that is only part of the story. You really need to listen to how rhodium plated elements sound.

Good Lord, it’s break-in NOT burn-in. These are not Valves or Tubes, they BREAK IN. I learned that from one of my Journeyman. What you say shows what you know..

I have tested rhodium and MANY of the cable and cable connectors. That is WHY I recommended copper, red copper, silver or silver clad over copper. Just like what Erik said, and I mentioned. Rhodium is WAY to hard and a poor conductor for audiophile use. It’s a total sham and VERY cheap to cover base materials like brass and iron. I would choose LEAD over rhodium.

It’s also what Erik experienced with Furutech. A cheap clad over a CHEAP base alloy, with a whopping price tag.

As I said rhodium is for very harsh enviro conditions. It was NEVER intended for HiFi use. They use it because it’s shinny. Some people like shinny thing. If they work well, I like shinny thing also. Rhodium isn’t one of them.. LOL

Gold over copper or silver is a much better and easier construct to BREAK-IN, not burn in..

Rhodium over copper NEVER, total junk.. It’s shinny though.. LOL

Next question, "Which end of the RCA do I plug in". 

Enjoy your build. Listen to williewonka, he really does make the absolute best cable out their. Hands down.. UP-OCC is all the rage even in HD applications. That's what I build and do for a LIVING.. Build industrial ENVIRO cables for heavy duty applications and equipment..