Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Update on receiver. Also, what connectors?

ralderman

Good connectors will in NO WAY decrease the quality of your sound. IF twisting the speaker wire into a tight "rope like" configuration and wrapping it around the post and then tightening down the nuts on the wire (which is exactly what I do - at the receiver AND at my M60s) gives you the willies, then by all means go to Radio Shack or some electronics place, buy some decent quality heavy gold plated spades and solder them on to the wires. (I bet you will swear that the sound is better!) You really don't need banana plugs unless you do plan to disconnect and reconnect them a lot.

Now sit back and ENJOY the music!

Randyman

Just a word of caution regarding the compatibility of soldering and gold-plated terminals...

I found the following paragraph in Dr. Roger Russell's essay "Audio Distortions" that I cited here previously.

Ah, you say gold plating takes care of all that. That isn't always true, particularly if the wire is tinned with solder, which is at least 50% tin, and the connecting post is gold plated. Here's what J. J. Whitley, Research Associate at AMP Incorporated (a well-known connector manufacturer) has to say about mating tin-plated contacts with gold. "In most cases, lubricated tin contacts can be mated with gold-plated contacts. This combination works as long as the conditions of contact force and stability for tin contacts are met."

"There is one major exception -- where the service conditions involve wet or humid environments. Under these conditions, the gold-tin bimetallic junction is subject to galvanic corrosion. Generous application of protective lubrication is one way to alleviate this problem."

So, it may not be such a good idea to solder the ends of wires.

Cheers!

I'm using these Acoustic Research banana plugs: http://accessories4less.com/aless4/Corporate/itemdesc.asp?CartId=12295634SLZ-ACCWARE-EZ25&ic=HT%2D407&cc=&tpc=

No crimping, no soldering, and a nice tight connection.

Randyman, I agree with what your saying, and I intend on keeping the backs of my m80's straight wire. I think it's a very secure connection since I can go through a hole in the binding post. On the amp it has to wrap around, and with 12g wire it just didn't seem to be secure enough to me. I could strip more wire off and wrap it around more, all the way. I bought the AR connectors, and waiting for them.

Rick

Yes sushi..

Perhaps I should have said to solder OR crimp the spades to the speaker wires. I know there are those who think that crimping is the only way to go. Personally, I think its much ado about nothing. Almost anytime you have dissimilar metals in direct contact with each other, you have a potential for galvanic corrosion and such. (although I believe it to be extremely small here) That is why houses that were built with aluminum wiring (and many were in the late 1970s) must have electrical outlets especially designed for alum. wiring - and not the normal ones for copper. But hey, we are talking really really low potentials with speaker wire currents!

Still makes me wonder about copper and gold - and the gold plating on - what type of metal?

How about all the solder inside the components that connect everything?

How about the gold plated RCA (and other) connectors on the back of good quality gear - that are soldered to the circuit boards?

Could go on and on here - and I'm really not trying to start any controversy - just trying to be reasonable, practical and logical.

So I say if you want to use spade (or banana)connectors.... crimp the crap outta them - then melt on some solder for good measure! (if there is a way to do it)

Rman

Randyman, as we both know, i'm a soldering amateur myself.
Several times throughout that learning curve i had cursed for not buying simple crimpables.
But hey, i'm getting the hang of it now, although i really should redo my early attempts. They are really not that nice, too much wire out of the plug is exposed.
I was just so rushed to get the banana plugs on so i could hook up my new system last year that i rushed things. I've got some exposed wire that now in hindsight, i should've covered with a touch of petroleum jelly to keep from oxidizing in the least.

Darn banana plugs don't seem that expensive until you realize you need to buy 4 for each speaker connection times 5 speakers plus a couple extra for really bad soldering bungles.

Randyman,

My post was in response to Rick's post just before yours. My interpretation was that a gold/tin contact is fine as long as the interface is completely sealed, like in the case of soldering onto a gold-plated surface (as long as it is well done). But pressure-securing a soldered tip of wire to a gold-plated terminal might not be a good idea... That was my take.

Cheers!

Yeah, yeah... You reminded me of my own hard and long learning curve towards the never-attained goal of soldering perfection in my youth, which was decorated with a few drops of molten solder directly dropped on my naked lap in several occasions. Ouch!

Seriously, I would be hesitant to use soldering on any place that will later be handled. IMHO, soldering is really secure only inside an amp case or speaker enclosures, etc...

Cheers!

Sushi,
Please no more stories about your soldering in the nude.
I think these might be considered 'family' forums.


The banana connectors i have (or most decent ones for that matter) come with a protective covering that slips on over the plug after the soldering is finished so you should never have to touch the soldered wire/plug again. I used Nitrile gloves during the soldering process to keep any skin oils from coating the surfaces. All surfaces were cleaned with a 99% isopropyl alcohol before starting and i used a non-lead, conductive silver solder. It takes a bit more temp to get the silver solder to melt but the non-lead issue was big with me, i can't imagine why.