An IEC with grip

@zlone - I use Silver plated Copper Sonarquest from Ebay

They grip like a vice

SonarQuest C25-Ag(T) Aluminum Alloy CRYO AG Silver Plated Audio Grade IEC AC Power Plug Connector

When you compare them to other plugs you wil see that the clamping contacts are much thicker

These are the best IEC’s I have ever used in over 10 years of making my own cables

Also, you might be interested in a couple of my other posts...

• What Makes A Good Cable
• Helix DIY Cables

I have tried many other brands, but Sonar Quest are the best mains connectors I have used and they are affordable

Regards - Steve

@zlone - one thing I forgot to mention - the Sonar Quest has an excellent internal wire clamping design.

I use small spades on the ends of the wire and the Sonarquest allows you to easily insert the spade into the clamp - so there is lots of room.

Spades make for a much more secure attachment making the cable very safe to use and they actually improve performance.

• I use a simple, very affordable spade that I buy from any hobby electronics or Auto parts store You can see s picture here
• THE HELIX IMAGE Power Cable

Regards - Steve

@zlone re: crimp, solder or bare wire...

There are several discussions in the forums around these options so a few years back I figured it was worth trying all three

My preferences are...

1. Crimped and soldered spade terminals provided a distinct advantage, with Improved clarity, details and dexterity over the other two approaches
2. Crimped only spades provided noticeable benefits compared to bare wire, but lacked the clarity an dexterity of the crimped and soldered cable
3. Bare wire proved to be the least desirable results, plus the screw terminals had to be re-tightened a few times as the stranded wire compressed

The cable I used was a 13 gauge stranded from Furutech, but I have since used it on both stranded and multi strand solid conductor with great success.

The other advantage is that using this approach provides very secure fastening method, preventing possible cable failure.

Unfortunately, i only had my ears to judge the differences.

So it’s just another opinion amongst the many🤔

PS, I did also try tinning the bare wire but this proved to be the least desirable of all the options

Regards, steve

@zlone - I've tried solders with different silver content, which are better than normal solder, but I've found that eutectic solder performs better. It has a single constant melting point and solidifies very fast, which makes for a much better electrical path.

Regards

@zlone - another good iec connector is Viborg.

Available on Amazon

Very close to Sonar Quest. They also have silver plated copper versions.

So, You can probably tell I am a fan of silver played copper. I have tried other materials but have found silver plated copper provides the most dynamic and articulate performance

Regards

@zlone I use these

https://www.amazon.ca/SPEEDWOX-Crimping-Electrical-Terminals-Connectors/dp/B0C6Q96CZC?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A3TX3Z5Z5OFI4X

Hope that helps