DIY solid gold interconnects?


I have an 8wpc amp using el34's connecting to a McIntosh MX130 pre-amp to an Esoteric Z500, Plus some other stuff for HT. I recently read an article about the use of single wire connects. It seems to me that the best connects would be made purely of a single 12-13g rhodium plated solid gold wire that would be encased in something else. What I do for a living would make this quite possible and easy for me to concoct, but I would like some input as to weather or not this would be the way to go.
irishwolf
"Gold is not a very good conductor at all."

That is actually incorrect, though gold isn't quite as good a conductor as copper and silver it actually is a good conductor, not sure why some many people believe otherwise?

12 awg would not be "flimsy" at all but would cost a nice chunk of money. A 1M set of IC's takes 13' of wire, at your stated 12 awg you're looking at aprox. 8 oz of gold. At $1000 an ounce you're looking at $8000 just in metal value for a 1M set. I've done a lot of testing and thicker wire isn't always better, you'd be better off not using such a thick gauge conductor and save yourself quite a bit of dough. Also, I would skip the rhodium plating, it can really make it bright and/or grainy sounding and takes away some of that gold euphoric sound.

You will be able to make a pretty darn nice sounding cable but it takes alot of trial and error to get it sounding exceptional. Good luck and make sure and let us know how it turns out!

Regards,
John
Wow Gents, Thanks so much for you input! I am very new to Audiogon and feel quite blessed to have such great advise just for the asking. I will do some archiving and see weather or not I should even attempt this. It may be more involved than I had anticipated but at least I will know more than I did before! If anyone else has opinions or options, let it roll!
Irishwolf,
Since you are a Jewler you have access to some decent wire to start out with. A few years back when I first started working with gold I started out using 10K, 14K etc. Try using from 22 awg to 28 awg and you'll be able to build a decent sounding cable. Hope this helps you on your quest!

Regards,
John
And in case you didn't know, Johngp happens to be John Prator from KCI. Given that he also makes fantastic cables, you should definitely heed his advice!

Tomer
You are on the right track, I have pure gold interconnects and they are fantastically musical and detailed. I think the Gabriel Golds use an alloy, not pure gold. The ones I know that use pure gold are the Jade, KCI and Antipodes (which are what I use). They all share similar sound qualities.