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134.67.6.3
Are there any sonic advantages to using spade connectors vs tinned bare wire for speaker connections?
Follow Ups:
I know people have done away with the binding post and solder the speaker cable directly onto the speaker. The drawhack with that, as many have noted, is that changing cables is a big hassle.
I wonder if anyone has tried a halfway measure. Join the wire from the speaker with the cable. Wrap the joint with teflon tape and tighten with a clamp. Would that make sense?
and is not an ideal way to shield the connection from degredation. The seepage of gas is slow, but occurs nonetheless.Additionally, clamped wires can be unstable and may have varying degrees of resistance along the length of the clamp. Properly soldered and varnished would be more stable over time. The keys are the proper solder joint and the composition of the solder.
Thanks. I take the point that proper soldering would be the best solution.
But assuming one wants flexibility, doesn't clamping has the same effect as using bare wires with a binding post, as far as varying degrees of resistance is concerned?
doesn't clamping has the same effect as using bare wires with a binding post, as far as varying degrees of resistance is concerned?
A binding post clamps a round (I am assuming here) wire to a flat, stable surface. Clamping two wires is clamping two round, unstable surfaces together. Though the differences may be minor they will exist. The question is whether or not you can hear them with your ears on your system.
Seems like that would work.I know some people who use binding post to accomplish the same thing as the clamp you are discussing...so the quality of the post doesn't matter.
The idea of using teflon tape is to not introduce extra metal, the whole point of a direct connection without the binding post.
I didn't quite explain it well. The binding post is not connected to anything!The wires are joined together and the post acts as a clamp.
Nothing should be flowing through it because the connection is direct.
Theoretical perfection
- Bare wire freshly "de-ox"d is a better conductor that a spade
- a spade is a better conductor than any solder (the reason to use solder is to fasten two conductors together and seal them from air and contaminants, not to conduct. Tinning a speaker termination defeats the purpose unless one applies the iron to the speaker post to create a good connection . . . not a good idea with a many of speakers)
Reality
- there is no way to prevent oxides/sulfides forming with bare wire to binding post.
- there is no way to keep oxides/sulfides forming in a crimped spade connection
- there is no way to ensure that a solder joint is done correctly, with the proper time to set when normal DIY folk make the joint (even professionals only "do good" about 80% of the time)
I believe Jon Risch prefers spades, or at least I believe he once did. I concur, though only freshly "de-ox"d (spade too) crimped and sealed from contaminants at the joint (I use a natural varnish or lacquer).
Of course, the spade and the cable should be out of the same material. There are some who like to avoid the mass of the spade, especially in low power SET configurations. One may "de-ox" the wire end (if a ribbon or single strand), seat it directly to the speaker terminus, tighten and then seal with varnish or lacquer. Messy when you want to change, but to my ears, awfully good.
The less fuss there is in the nexus, i.e., the more it is like a wire without connections, the more pure it will sound. That doesn't mean better (bad ingredients will be revealed more blatantly) but more directly.
IMHO, etc.
I use R-C networks to load the ends of my cables (see my posts below for details on parts). I found that Alpha-Core silver spades make them work much better at the binding post terminals of my power amps than the tinned leads of the resistor and capacitor. This may be because my speaker cables have spades, and capturing the wire leads under the binding post nuts led to a weak mechanical connection.However, before I went with the Alpha-Core spades, I tried cheap automotive spades with the same networks, and these made the sound worse. I used WBT silver-bearing solder with the cheap spades, but Wako lead-free solder with the Alpha-Core spades. Perhaps the solder composition was the cause.
Not in my opinion. But I wouldn't tin it either. Use Caig Pro Gold and tighten it down firmly. I use spades and bananas only where convenience is more important than sound quality, but many will differ.
Re: your recommendation not to tin?Do you feel the sonic effects of tinning outweigh the benefits of avoiding oxidation?
Just curious....
-Pete
BTW - the HD-14 I've been using for speaker cables is now naked. The jacket was actually pretty easy to peel off, but I learned something in the process - the first cord I bought was a 25 footer, and the second a 50 footer. The jacket on the 50' was much softer and more pliable than the jacket on the 25'. Given the cost of the cords, I wouldn't be surprised if the materials change all the time (these cords looked identical). Anyhoo, if you ever get the urge to strip the jacket off these cords, it may be worth stopping by HD to determine if your jacket is the soft variety - the soft jacket is significantly easier to peel than the stiffer one. With the softer jacket, once you start peeling it, you can peel all if it in your bare hands just by pulling on the wires. Does it sound any different w/o the jacket? It's impossible for me to say, because peeling the jacket also allowed me to use a more appropriate geometry (two separate twisted pairs in a biwire config). I'm still not convinced this wire beats the Monster (ugh) cable it replaced (M1.4 if I remember right). When I finish with some other tweaks, I'll concentrate on swapping the Monster in/out to see who the winner is to my ears (they do seem to sound different).
To be honest, my anti-tinning stand is not based on anything I've tested myself but on the comments of others here who argue against tinning bare wires used as speaker cables. Why use bare wires in the first place if you're going to coat them with solder? Frankly, I just think it unnecessary from an oxidation standpoint after removing bare-wire cables that have been been in place for years and were tightly screwed down in the first place and discovering noting but shine -- not a hint of oxidation.Your HD-14 experiments are intriguing. I've used only the 50-footers and noticed nothing different about their jackets. After first using only two of the three wires, I've started using all three -- think it sounds better. I've got the black one going to the speakers and the green and white ones in the return link. But one of these days I will try "nuding" them. Sounds easier than I figured it would be. :-)
I think the thing that compelled me most to tin the bare wires of my HD-14 speaker cables was how much easier it made it to connect to both the speaker and amp binding posts, especially given I had every intention of swaping the cables in/out several times. It also greatly, greatly decreases the likelihood that I'll miss a strand on the nth swap and cause a short (I know I should perform a quick test with the ohmmeter after each cable swap, but I'm too lazy).You make a good point about the solder only adding a different metal to the signal path. I have had some bare wire cables oxidize quite badly on me, despite proper care, though. This problem is easily solved so long as you allowed some slack in the cable for such 'adjustments' when you set it up. I'm not gonna claim that particular cable wasn't a cheap one, but it looked like copper initially :-)
Do let us know what happens if you strip the orange snakes. They are a lot prettier naked, although still not pretty.
I've domesticated the orange snakes with black Techflex. It's kinda fun to use and makes the HD stuff look like "real" cable. Frankly, I've been employing so much of the HD-14 -- as power cables as well as speaker cables -- that it was REALLY looking like Halloween here.One point I failed to mention earlier. Using two of the three wires as the return link really creates a bare-wire connection challenge. Luckily my speaker binding posts have a large enough hole to accommodate them, but I have reluctantly had to resort to spades on the amp end's barrier strips.
I think that I'm fortunate in not having environmental conditions conducive to oxidation. I'm sure others aren't as lucky.
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