Hand termination is not automatically better than a well-made factory cable. The advantage is that I can choose the connector for the wire and socket, inspect every joint, strain-relief it properly and test the finished lead as one assembly.
What is actually wrong with a poor moulded plug
A moulded plug can be reliable, and plenty of well-engineered components use them. The cheap sort fails because thin contacts lose pressure, the jacket is not anchored properly, or the cable bends sharply behind the body until a conductor breaks. Once the whole thing is sealed in soft plastic, inspection and repair usually mean cutting it off.
A removable connector changes that. Its contact material, clamp range and conductor attachment are known, and the housing can be opened for inspection. That does not make every expensive plug necessary. It makes a sound mechanical assembly possible.
The socket still decides what belongs on the cable. A C7 figure-8 lead, a C15 mains connector, a 75-ohm BNC and an analogue RCA are not interchangeable parts with different badges.
Solder or screw: follow the connector design
The first decision is made by the connector, not by a preference for solder. On a solder-type RCA or XLR, I cut each conductor to the length the terminal layout needs, keep the shield controlled and avoid leaving a heat-damaged dielectric or a blob that can wick into a flexible conductor. On a screw-type mains or speaker connector, the conductor seats fully in the specified terminal and the screw secures it without stray strands.
Tinning a stranded conductor and then trapping it under a screw is generally poor practice. Solder can creep under pressure and leave a loose joint. Likewise, soldering a terminal designed for a screw clamp is not an upgrade. The right method is the one the hardware was engineered around.
Technique matters more than theatre: clean conductors, correct strip lengths, no whiskers, sound insulation and the right amount of heat. On mains work, the active, neutral and earth must remain correctly identified, and nobody should attempt a mains termination without the competence to do it safely.
The jacket clamp is part of the electrical joint
A connector's strain relief should grip the outer jacket, not the individual conductors. This stops normal cable movement from pulling on the solder cups or screw terminals. The clamp also has to match the cable diameter. Too small and it will not close; too large and the cable can twist inside the housing.
Two current Furutech examples show why connector choice is not one-size-fits-all. The FP-202(R) is a $180 set of four rhodium-plated cast copper alloy bananas with nylon and fibreglass housings. The CF-202-NCF-PLUS(R) is a $380 set of two using rhodium-plated pure copper and an NCF carbon-fibre and stainless housing. The second is better hardware, but it is not compulsory for every speaker.
Behind the plug, the cable still needs a sensible bend radius and enough length to reach without pulling on the socket. A beautifully terminated cable that is too short is a badly specified cable.
What testing and listening can tell you
Before a build leaves the bench, the checks suit its job. Speaker and interconnect leads get continuity, short and polarity checks. Digital and balanced cables need the right conductors on the right pins. Earthed mains leads need correct active, neutral and earth continuity with no unintended connection between them. I also inspect the housing, clamp and connector fit.
Those checks catch the faults that cause silence, hum, reversed channels or an absent safety earth. They do not turn a cable into a calibrated electronic measurement of your system, and they are not a reason to promise a particular sonic transformation.
What you should notice first is mechanical: positive contact, no intermittent noise when the cable moves and no adaptor chain behind the rack. Any audible change after that depends on the cable being replaced and the rest of the system.
Hand termination also means the finished length and both ends can be chosen together. Use the custom order form for an unusual combination, or compare standard options in the speaker cables, analogue interconnects and power cables ranges.