TMB has the best cable on the market for their ProCable
line. Avoid the lesser
line of plugs and cable. For sure do 12/14 if spending the money with any brand. And TMB can also do the molded I'm belive, Lex where I work for normally buys from, but we have also had serious quality control issues with - even on the molded. Bulk rush orders no doubt. Lex has as with all others good quality overall and in bulk, I seem to get lot number issues with them. Lot number problems - this even if I was primary mover for their specification for quality.
Never ever had a problem
thru TMB, and all brands warranty their cable.
Molded plugs seemingly the way to go, but once one fails due to an arc spark or what ever, it has to be cut off in making the cable shorter. I'm not a fan of solder connections in that it might be that the person doing it is properly trained and has the proper tools for doing so - at least a 40
watt iron and assuming soldering ability, but after that, it's liquid electricity within the phases of the
plug at some
point in the future - and without any way of knowing when. Who knows when it might fail. I'm more a fan of an overall investment of like $500 worth of pinning and
crimp tools, but still soldering a grounding ring with copper foil from a Cam Loc
plug. There is no brand of
Soco plug on the market that has figured out how to provide a grounding ring which won't fail. Endless discussions with Lex in improving their's but still on the fence. Molded plugs at least in theory solve grounding ring problems.
Recently bought some
Soco cable from ACT when the other two brands were too busy. Their cable is also well respected and they used the
Veam connector also well trusted. Good end results, and Creative
Stage Lighting has good stuff as another source. Samples of Star Cable have never been good for any of their cable - sorry in many samples sent over the years - as with Kupo cable/plugs.s
My guys like stainless steel for all
plug and
panel mount tyes. Very expensive but never wear out other than if spun heads of the
plug. I like them also but it's a huge investment. Spun inserts for the pins is a huge problem and one that becomes systemically bad as a
system gets older. Watch that keyway especially on the keyway of the panel mounts for getting stripped. Bad keyway will quickly become a huge problem for the furture in spun insert heads and in general constant replacements.
Soco is a huge investment over time in needing watching and replacement - also not helped by the "spin the dial" types that try to
line up a keyway for it by way of not looking just twisting.