Leaning slightly closer to the original topic, I've been pretty happy with the HobbyCity ribbed imitations in low-power setups, but I'm also perfectly willing to believe they're not quite as good as the originals.

What really bothers me about genuine Dean's plugs isn't the price, although I'd like to see it come down - it's the availability. Why won't the sell the things in bulk? That was what convinced me to try the HobbyCity imitations in the first place. When we routinely use quite a large number of these connectors, buying them a set at a time is a pointless irritation.