Featured Sponsor Listings

Speaker connectors

Jul 7, 2005 at 11:01 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 114
rickcr42

rickcr42

Are YOU talkin' to me?
Joined
Jun 21, 2001
Posts
13,874
Likes
16
I hate spring clips with a passion usually reserved for someone who p*ssed me off and refuse to pay high cost for such a simple connection being both a chaep bast*rd and a realist so my terminal of choice has been the barries strip of heavy duty (generic) binding post for more years than I can remember.

but this looks as interesting in the speaker connection area as the Bullet Plug is in the RCA arena.

http://www.stax.co.jp/JP/ACC-GBP-J.html

no doubt though it will cost a small fortune so off my list but still a very smart design in a lot of ways
 
Jul 7, 2005 at 11:13 PM Post #2 of 114
There are some creative things being done all round lately with termination, like WBT's Nextgen RCA plugs or eichmann bullets (although this is old rather then lately).

It's good to see some re-invention of the wheel, especially when the wheel was a flawed design to begin with (RCA)
 
Jul 8, 2005 at 1:54 AM Post #3 of 114
RCA jacks just flat out suck as an audio connector and never should have become the standard for consumer grade gear.#2 on my hit list after the spring clip
tongue.gif
 
Jul 8, 2005 at 5:16 AM Post #5 of 114
That design looks like a good idea, but then you're locked into using bare ends. I don't like that idea much. Personally, I can live with RCAs and the like. If I really cared that much about termination, I'd just hardwire everything together with high quality silver solder and never take it apart.
 
Jul 8, 2005 at 5:38 AM Post #6 of 114
bare wire is precisely where this is a superior (maybe) connector.By using a cam action and the large area of contact this connection would be as secure as any but being a large opening allow a far larger guage cable to be inserted where bananas require either a spade lug or pin tip to be used with larger guage cables-another connection which is always to be avoided whenever possible.

the RCA jack was never conceived as a high fidelity standard but as a cheap and simple connection to replace the balanced phone jack.Far far better would be a Lemo or CAMAC or even a Mini-XLR with a non metallic barrel .All of which have some actual contact integrity while maintainng low metal content and low mass.What passes for serious audio connectors are really no more than audio jewelry with each manufacturer trying to "out pretty" the ohter guy while telling you why theirs is audibly superior.Common sense and simple physics/mechanics/eletrical will tell you this is a deception meant only to take money from suckers.
There is no mystery to me why more and more of the most highly regarded interconnects use exotic wood or plastic in the barrel construction and smaller guage wiring internally than the norm.Common sense and good science
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Jul 8, 2005 at 5:42 AM Post #7 of 114
Decent RCAs make good enough contact, so what's the problem? Yeah maybe they aren't the best design, they don't lock, sometimes they can be too tight or too loose, but if the plugs are mating well I don't see what the problem is. I mean it's for audio equipment, which you take good care of (I hope), it's not an aerospace craft.

Now if I was building a system and I could choose any connectors I wanted, I probably wouldn't choose RCA (unless I wanted the cables to be easily replacable) - but most of the time they do get the job done.
 
Jul 8, 2005 at 5:55 AM Post #8 of 114
No worries of oxidation with bare wires? If I had my way, I'd use rhodium plated spades on everything, but that would require me to hack apart all my components to mount new connectors (which I may do someday). RCA's are standard and so I use them. I hardly think they limit audio fidelity very much.
 
Jul 8, 2005 at 7:12 AM Post #9 of 114
TakeFiveAudio has nice gold-on-copper spades, and PercyAudio has reasonably priced bare copper binding posts. The two make a nice combination.

Speaking of PercyAudio, anyone know of another source of Roederstein MK3 resistors? Percy's stock is running down, and I'm having trouble finding them, given that they are not being made any more. I use Caddock MK132 for the directly in series with signal path Rs, but too expensive to use in other places. The Roedersteins are supposed to sound almost as good, and are far, far cheaper. Any other audiophile-approved alternatives? From a technical perspective, any low tempco, low inductance ones should be good, but that still leaves too big a selection, so I figure might as well add the subjective criteria.

OK, sorry for the threadjacking... :P
 
Jul 8, 2005 at 7:22 AM Post #10 of 114
I've recently put in spades rather then using straight cable in a clamping post because i was ripping strands of cable out. The spades were cheap and worked flawlessly, amongst other things because the spade connection is at the bottom of the WBT topline connectors and the clamp on the top there's proabably less stress on the cable. All in all audibly slightly better but that's most likely because I lopped a metre of speaker cable off.

IIRC the RCAs were inferior because of some interaction between the ground and the signal pin on the socket or plug, and this is apparently where DIN connectors and XLR are far superior. Lets not forget that DIN and XLR are also self cleaning so no gold needed. But lets leave this for a new thread if it warrents discussion.

Thoes binding posts won't ever reach mass production in common equipment for the simple reason is that it doesn't give people choice. No spades, no bananas. I know they are inferior to bare wire but lets face it from an economic point of view a speaker manufacturer wont release a speaker which can't be used with 99% of high-end cables out there.
 
Jul 8, 2005 at 5:55 PM Post #12 of 114
I still use spades to barrier strip for speaker connections and the barriers are not gold but nickel plated
biggrin.gif

works great-very secure

but the best connection is always no connection and ALL other methods of connecting a bare speaker wire of a large guage require and intermediate connector of some type be it spade lug,pin tip,banana,whatever.You think this is accidental ?
Same with the piss poor RCA.The limitations are both well documented and well known so the manbufacturers have after market "fixes" to give you a superior connector for a premium price.This was never intended as a top quality audio connector from the start but somehow (like the spring clip in speaker connectors) became the established "norm" in consumer level equipment here.
Europe had the right idea with the DIN plug/jack which is superior in every way to the RCA but we being the largest consumers on the planet demanded equipment must be compatible with ours so Europe and asia for that matter conformed to our needs even though a step back.Ever wonder why you never see RCA jacks in pro gear even when it is unbalanced ?

I personally like to go with Mini-XLR,LEMO Connectors and Redel.I have no need to worry about being compatible with other audio equipment because other than the actual source all my gear is custom build to suit me.

LEMOS can be seen in aerospace and the medical industry where absolute signal integrity is a must.Many (close to most) modern advances in audio have come from the medical research area and aerospace including the AC area where the first use of high quality AC plugs were called "Hospital Plugs".Superior because of the contact integrity again in a field where any mistakes can cause fatalities.High temp ceramics,special capacitor dielectrics,fine solid wire in new geometries,Balanced lines to prevent false information or glitches,quality wiring to transmit everything,accurate,postive self wiping contacts as gas tight as is possible within the limitations of being a connection...........and all aerospace/medical translated later to high end audio

EMG Connection is ?

http://www.emgsrus.com/pinouts.htm

more :

http://www.emgsrus.com/pinouts.htm
http://autom8.com/shop/index.php?cPath=17_21
http://www.norsonic.com/ProductsAndU...e=1004&nivaa=3

Many more including from SHURE but would just be wasting bandwidth

My personal fav for both power supply and audio connections :

http://www.lemousa.com/pdfs/catalog/...es_catalog.pdf

for those who must have metal (they are sexy looking devils
cool.gif
) :

http://www.lemousa.com/pdfs/catalog/...es_catalog.pdf

more "mainstream" and also top notch is the mini XLR from Nuetrik.i use them a lot and have always been totally satisfied with the results

even the BNC Connector is superior for audio to the RCA but that is what most are stuck with.
Mark Levinson tried to make a move to the CAMAC back in the -70s/early '80s but no one follwed their lead or things would be very different now :

http://marklev.com/camac/index.html

Just because we always do something one way does not mean it is the best way and if these things are so "perfect" then way are there sooo many after market companies willing to charge you so much for the "fix" ?

Just won't do to have common sense audio guys.That does not pay as well
rolleyes.gif
 
Jul 8, 2005 at 6:46 PM Post #13 of 114
 
Jul 9, 2005 at 6:32 AM Post #14 of 114
hahahah you have the whole internet linked on your hdd somewhere. I sure know where to come whenever I need any hookup help.

ALso Nixie the XLR connectors and DIN connectors are self wiping as a result of the plugging / unplugging action. As such silver connectors don't tarnish and don't need any special treatment. AFAIK RCAs don't do this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top