Wrench time. And it’s free!
Securing spade connectors
I’ve just picked up a pair of my favorite speaker cables, Transparent Super, on the used market for a great price. Unlike my old pair, these have spade connectors.
So it took me maybe 30 minutes to get these cables connected, the actual speaker cables and the network boxes etc are so heavy that it’s extremely difficult to prevent the spade from slipping out of the post. So I’d screw down a speaker side and then the amp end would slide out.
And thanks to the design of the Transparent cables, the 2 ends are harder to work with because the positive and negative ends are just about 5” long where they split from the main cable, so they are extremely difficult to position and work with. And my speakers have spade jumpers so I’m double stacking the spades on the speaker side which makes it twice as hard to screw down.
I know I can probably send these back to Transparent to get re-terminated but there must be a way to make the spade connectors work… is there a better way to connect these big bastards - do people actually use wrenches to torque down the binding connector posts or is there some kind of trick to make it easier?
16 responses Add your response
| Post removed |
I carefully use a box wrench to gently snug them. I have one just for my system. You don’t want to crank them down. I have heard over cranking will hurt the sound quality... but I have never substantiated that claim. Also, I use electrical insulators from power lines to support my speaker cables. That helps support the weight of the cables and keep them aligned. You can probably see in my main system photos under my virtual systems.
I own Transparent and have for decades. |
Binding posts are not designed to support weight so there is a possibility those cables can cause the posts to come loose or even damage the speaker cabinet. You could point the spades down, wire tie the two cables above the post and loop down the cable boxes. But that still exerts a force and moment on the post. Best to configure some kind of pedestal behind the speaker to rest the box and relieve all the cable weight. |
Mcintosh provide the plastic wrench it's a short handle as to not over tighten.. I just use black round foam to make the bridge. To take the weight off the binding post..I bought a set of 30 foot the other day used at a great price.happy listening.parts express sells a bananna that has a threaded nut on the end and I sometimes put the spade on that. |
Coincidence - I was about to post about issues connecting spades to Elekit binding posts, the combination of 81 year old, arthritic fingers and slippery plastic circular knobs does not work well with stiff heavy cables. In the dark ages (pre 2014) binding posts had exposed brass nuts that could be tightened with a wrench. The EU mandated insulation in 2014 - EN 60065:2014. It seems rather ridiculous to mandate the insulation of terminals on a 3.5 watt amp! Voltages less than 50 are not dangerous, though 20 volts can be felt with damp fingers. 50 volts into 8 ohms is 50x50/8 = 312.5 watts. The 2A3s would have melted (evaporated!) long before that! Being super cautious the regulation might make sense for amplifiers of 100 watts or greater. I hate to write this but what about the exposed brass connectors on speakers, are they next? If the amp terminals are dangerous what about the other end of the cables? To hold the spades into the binding posts I have to use pliers. Why not have the plastic "nut" hexagonal rather than limply knurled? Kimber's Postmaster spades do click into place, also my Pass Labs amplifier's speaker terminals have greater leverage, there is a a 1" or so handle. I am considering building my own Furutech cables with Postmaster spades. |
I just tried the cables on my Technics SU-R1000 last night and man what a night and day difference versus the Vampire binding posts on my Adcom. But the Technics has big grippy plastic knobs that twist up, revealing a slot on the side of the binding post apparatus. The ends of the spades fit perfectly into that slot and then you just twist the post back down with the grippy knob when you’re done. I am curious though, what is the point of spade connectors on high end cables? The only real purpose I could see for them would be the vintage screw type speaker connectors where it’s literally a screw. |
@winoguy17, I agree! Mike |
Can't go bare wire with RSC cable unless the factory did it. "The TARA Labs RSC Master Gen 2 cable features a unique structure with multiple small, rectangular, individually insulated Consonant Alloy (a proprietary blend) solid-core conductors helically wound around a central air tube or tube". I think cutting the cable would indeed be terminal!
|
@jsqt I have had some Transparent Ultra G5 for a couple years and am currently comparing to some Shunyata. I have swapped them about a dozen times over the past few weeks so definitely feel your pain. I would kill for some bananas haha. I get them snug with my fingers and then hold the cable with the spade as close to vertical as I can while carefully tightening the terminal with a wrench. Be very careful to not over tighten as breaking the terminal off would be a major mess to fix. I do it a little at a time and then test the cable gently to make sure it is secure and then come back a few min later to make sure it didn't loosen. |