Furutech FI-15 Plus Rhodium mounted on Puritan Ultimate replacing a Furutech gold which made sound bit too warm for me. Interesting how much different connectors do to performance. They claim it’s the same connector pin and plating as on the higher end FI-50 (pure copper + rhodium) in a cheap housing. Which doesn’t matter to me since I don’t see it anyway If changing connectors on Ultimate have in mind it quickly gets extremely thick. The clamshell design works well but if using normal design make sure it’s +18mm diameter otherwise it gets bit tricky.
Same experience.
As I mentioned a number of times in here, once you get to a good level of copper, the ends themselves will likely have more impact on sound vs the wire itself, so I too would agree with the connectors having a large impact on sound.
Another interesting aspect is that even though the 15+ uses the same base copper & Rhodium plating, they still don’t perform as well as other models further up the chain. All the other aspects of the connector also have an impact on performance, in general Furutech is pretty good at pricing their components at the level they perform at.
Trying out Neotech Nemoi 1220 with UP-OCC Rhodium plated rca. It’s wildly better than the same cable with the ofc/gold connectors. It’s quite astonishing really. I know it’s an interconnect and has nothing to do with Furutech I just couldn’t not interfere
I think if one enjoy naim and PRAT rhodium/silver is the way to go. At least avoid gold.
Perhaps repeating, but gold/rhodium combo works quite well. All gold is too soft and warm, all rhodium just the opposite of all gold, so power line with gold connectors (the Empire) from wall outlet to distribution box and all rhodium lines to components provides good balance. Silver is bright. If you want slightly bigger soundstage replace the inside of the IEC connecter of the Empire with NCF from the 46 NCF series. The Empire is a very good power line, no loss of detail. I have heart comments that mixing coatings is not a good idea. To prove you wrong look inside any of the connectors, all the nuts and bolts are with different coatings.
It’s Just the color of the screw that is different. Only function is to make it easier to see what is hot, ground and neutral. Source Furutech support.
Thank you for your interest in Furutech products.
The colored screws are to differentiate between L/N poles. The screws are made from brass and color stained.
Kind regards,
Graeme
Furutech Co., Ltd.
Tokyo
All plates are copper (or brass?) where they meet the copper wire. The screws are just painted and all in brass. No function.
Naim found Rhodium matched their Powerline the best.
I am talking about the coating. It is not Rhodium.
It’s the connecting pins that have the coating. Not where it meets the cable in the connector.
It has important function, it makes contact with the spades (R/G) or with the Cu wire.
It’s the plates that are pushed against the wires. Not the screws. The connecting part is on the opposite side of the plate that is pushed down. This is the part that extends to the pins that connect to the other connector.
The silver shiny part is the direct connection with the connector pin that are made of say Rhodium. The other parts are mainly just a clamp to secure the wire.
"Nonmagnetic stainless steel damped parts clamps and housings. Finally, your connector should also have direct rhodium or gold plating, creating a secret plating method that has taken the Furutech design team years to perfect. " from Furutech.
On topic of plating. Found this on Furutech web.
A Guide to Differences in Metal Plating Materials
Rhodium, a member of the exclusive platinum group, is the most costly and rare precious metal. It’s extremely hard and doesn’t corrode. Most people don’t think about it but most of world’s rhodium production goes into the catalytic converters under your car! Furutech chooses rhodium plating for their highest-performance cable lines. Numerous tests with different plating and treatments reveals that durable rhodium plating provides fast, powerful, controlled bass, an open and extremely palpable midrange with detailed and transparent mid- to upper-frequencies and a smooth, nuanced wideband tonal balance. Furutech recommends rhodium as the most refined plating metal.
Gold is a dense, soft, extremely malleable metal that — in pure form – won’t oxidize in air or water. Among gold’s more practical characteristics is its resistance to corrosion – better than nickel or silver – and its superior electrical conductivity. Gold is softer than rhodium and the surface is not molecularly flat. Over time some erosion takes place and a dark build-up occurs that is, in fact, gold dust! Furutech recommends periodically disconnecting and reconnecting gold-plated connectors with all components turned off, of course. Auditioning reveals that gold plating produces a warmer, slightly more plump and romantic midrange, somewhat more powerful but less controlled mid to deep bass, with high frequencies that are either sweeter or less extended than rhodium plating. As always it depends on the connected equipment.
Silver is very malleable and slightly harder than gold. Pure silver distinguishes itself with the highest electrical and thermal conductivity and the lowest contact resistance of any metal. It tarnishes when exposed to air or water with ozone or hydrogen sulfide and that forms the familiar tarnish, silver sulfide. Silver is effective at protecting bare copper heat oxidation and boosting the conductivity of braided shielding. Silver-plated copper conductor’s sound is more detailed and open than gold but slightly less natural than rhodium. It offers a very tight bass and detailed midrange, plus extended high frequencies with a tendency towards detail rather than warmth.
Copper is another very malleable metal and its low hardness is one reason for its high electrical and thermal conductivity, the second highest among pure metals. Copper is a good conductor because there are a lot of “free electrons” that can carry current flow efficiently. These free electrons don’t remain tied with the copper atoms but instead form an electron cloud around the outside of the atom and move through the solid very quickly. Long auditioning reveals that copper plating produces a sound that resembles gold; somewhat warm mid frequencies, a big bottom end, and relatively sweet high frequencies, but not as extended as gold or especially rhodium.
I recently got some MS HD 13A sockets and went for the Silver version as my Chord Co Signature X mains cable MS HD plug is Silver plated.
So I went for a matching pair.
I must admit that the sockets are of a substantial construction compared to standard sockets.
DG…
Dear @Blackbird , thank you for your reply, you convinced me bolts and nuts are having no function! However I am still having good experience with G and R plated lines. I know there are many opinions and to give some credibility I will quote Furutech engineers in a email to me, ask them if you still in doubt. “Our engineer suggests that the gold-plated connectors should offer some balance to the sound presentation. The signature of rhodium provides fast, firm sound with informative mid to high frequencies. Gold plating offers a warmer more powerful mid to low range.”