Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Help with Spade Terminals

I am planning to swap out my banana plugs for spades on my M3Ti's. I would like to know what the right spade size is (i.e. gauge, spade diameter, etc.).

Also, is there any reason not to buy them from Radio Shack, as long as they are gold-plated?

Hi Cgilker,

The inside of the spade lug measures 3/8" (9.6mm); the outside, 1/2" (13mm). Buy them from Radio Shack. They're fine. The ones I've been using on one pair of Axioms are freebies, model SL-8, that I got from Tributaries ("The Big Lug"). But you can use any gold-plated spade lugs that make a secure mechanical connection. Nickel plating is okay as well, but it will tarnish in time.

Regards,

The ones I picked up at Radio shack don't fit actually. Do they carry multiple sizes?

Hi,

I don't know if they carry multiple sizes. What I meant was you can get spade lugs from any source you want, so long as they are the aforementioned dimensions. They don't have to be gold-plated to make a good electical connection. It's just that gold doesn't tarnish over time. If you are worried that one type of connector "sounds" better than another, don't be concerned by such voodoo. There are no audible differences.

Regards,

Regards,

Oddly enough I came looking to the Axiom message board tonight with the same problem. I bought a bunch of spades from Parts Express (http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7) and they don't fit. I'm going to call them tomorrow to see what gives, but the bottom line is they won't ever fit and I have to send them back.

I've otherwise been very happy with what I've ordered so far from Parts Express, but this item needs a footnote to alert the user that it won't fit a standard 5-way binding post.

I guess the price was too good to be true...

There is a place on the west coast that I found, they had good selection of parts, all types of connectors. I bought a number of the gold banana plugs and RCA connectors from them. I believe it is called RP Electronics. I will check tomorrow once I get into the office and post the web site url.

The web site is http://www.rpelectronics.com

Thanks for the recommendation and link. I ended up ordering these Ultralink angled compression-type spades:

http://www.accomponents.com/11-30ULPSPADE.html

Price was $14.50 US per 2-pair pack, or $12.50 in quantities of 10 packs or more. Much cheaper than similar Monster angled spades.

I'll post again when I've confirmed that they fit.

For anyone who may care, I'm sad to say I'm disappointed with the Ultralink spades. It is a nice product, but doesn't meet my needs very well. The spades don't fit inside the rear cup of the QS8 so as to allow flush wall mounting. (A posting elsewhere on the msg board had suggested only a spade connector (or bare wire) would work on a wall-mounted QS8.) They are also much too big to fit on the 2-pair binding post wall plates I have, without coming in contact with its neighbors. Another strange thing is that the fit is very very tight on the M22ti and VP150, because the binding posts are threaded all the way down. The binding posts on the QS8s, on the other hand, are smooth at the base, and would accomodate the spade with no problem (aside from the fact that they would protrude from the back surface of the speaker).

After a lot of grief and wasted shipping costs, I think I'm ready to stick with bare wire.

I got the same issue with spades for my QS4. I got wires made with spades on one end and bananas on the other. I never realized that the posts on the QS4 are very thick. I will have to get the wires back to the store and purchase bigger spades. And those gold plated spades I got were not cheap. I bought the wires in a different store than where I got my speakers.