Compact connector system

A connector, comprising:

• a first card slot, the card slot having a first side and a second side;
• a wafer set having a first and second wafer, the first and second wafers being adjacent and each including an insulative frame and a first terminal with a contact, a tail and a body portion extending therebetween, the contacts being positioned in the first card slot on the first side, wherein the first terminals form a first differential pair, the body portions of the first terminals having lengthwise edges and being supported by the insulative frame of each respective terminal along the lengthwise edges of each respective terminal to produce an air channel, the body portions of the first terminals extending in substantial alignment from the contact to the tail of each respective terminal to enable broad-side coupling of the first differential pair across the air channel between the first terminals;
• a first shield adjacent a first side of the wafer set, the first shield electrically coupled to a first ground contact and a first ground tail;
• and
• a second shield adjacent a second side of the wafer set, the second shield electrically coupled to a second ground contact and a second ground tail,
• wherein the first terminals, the first shield and the second shield are configured to enable the first terminals to be preferentially coupled together,
• wherein the wafer set is a first wafer set, the connector further including a second wafer set configured like the first wafer set, the second wafer set having a third shield adjacent a first side and a fourth shield adjacent a second side.