Cable architecture also plays a significant role in cable performance, as I have recently learned.
Examples of cable architecture are
- Coax
- balanced pair (shielded) e.g. Van den Hul DL102 mkiii
- twisted pair - e.g. Stager Silver Solids
For DIYers - one of the simplest and most effective architectures I've used is braiding the conductors, which I have found to improve performance considerably of both interconnect and power cables.
Then you get into the really specialized architectures like the Essence
gZero range of products from KLE Innovations that uses conductors of
difeerent gauges and metals together with their own proprietary
architecture where they twist the neutral conductor(s) around the signal
conductor and excellent RCA connectors to significantly improve
performance.
Another company that uses a similar approach is Anti cables, which I have also heard many good things about.
On the RCA front, I started a couple of years ago looking at one of the more unusual designs, the Eichman Silver Bullet. I then tried the entire Harmony line of RCA's and have settled on the Pure Harmony.
Their unconventional design/architecture and choice of conductor materials provides for exceptional performance to the point where I now regard connectors as one of the more significant elements in cable
construction.
Regards