Terminations (1 Viewer)

[Michael S]

Am in need of opinions regarding terminations for speaker wire--both at the amplifier end and the speaker ends--use none but bare wires, use ones in which a set screw tightens the wire into the connector (spade or banana), use the Monsters that pinch the wire as the connector is screwed together, or use soldered terminations using 2% silver solder, or ...?

I realize that using the bare strand speaker wire without a termination will eventually oxidize and need to be either cut off and new wire stripped or some kind of cleaner used--say once a year. Since a number of terminations (both spade and banana) use set screws, it would seem that the copper strands in that case would also eventually oxidize. Are soldered terminations better--and if so, is 2% silver solder the ideal solder or should a different solder be used.

My goal here is to make my own biwire speaker cables using Canare 4S11 or Tributary CS124 wire or ???

Opinions welcome.

Michael S.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Hi Michael. Welcome to HTF!

The Audiophile view is that bare-wire is the best. Less breaks to come loose, etc. I have also read some of the more active wire sites that you should NEVER solder your wires.

I love how easy banana plugs are to use. The Dual Bananas from Radio Shack (2xx-308) are great for behind the speakers and the single-bananas (2xx-306) work well behind the receiver or if your equipment does not match the spacing for the duals.

They have over-sized holes so I think they will work fine for your biwire project.

I did a "cleaning" about 18 months after installing them and found little oxidization. (I cut and re-trimmed anyway).

Keep in mind: I have never heard anybody claim that any of the different connectors make any audible difference. And when wire issues are claimed to have an effect, it was with a music system. Home theater sound is ... rather different: very compressed, dialog heavy, more about impact than accuracy.

In other words: for a HT system; ignore most of the 'audio myths'.

Hope this helps.

 

[Saul R]

I use banana plugs from Radio shack for my receiver connection and 3/5" Audio Quest spades for the speakers. First I crimpled the terminals and further secured the connection with WTB solder. Mainly, I'm using this setup for convenience and durability. As far as I can tell, from my experience using bare/terminated wires, there's no audible difference between the two.