Simple copper speaker terminal jumpers? Lost my originals.
Can anybody recommend simple, but good quality, copper jumpers that bridge the bi-wire terminals? I mean just the little piece of copper with the openings on each end. I see the Cardas ones, but I don't understand how you can adjust them for the distance between the terminals, as they seem to be a solid piece. Can they be bent a bit to make them fit? Any other suggestions?
The reason I'm asking is that I seem to have misplaced the original jumpers for my speakers and I found a set lying around the house that seem to have been from different speakers and don't really fit completely onto the terminal posts. Also, they look more like brass than copper. So, I'd like to try a different jumper.
Also, I currently have the cables connected to the HF terminals, but I saw on some threads here that people were connecting the cables to the LF terminals and jumping to the HF. Which do you think is better, audio-wise?
The reason I'm asking is that I seem to have misplaced the original jumpers for my speakers and I found a set lying around the house that seem to have been from different speakers and don't really fit completely onto the terminal posts. Also, they look more like brass than copper. So, I'd like to try a different jumper.
Also, I currently have the cables connected to the HF terminals, but I saw on some threads here that people were connecting the cables to the LF terminals and jumping to the HF. Which do you think is better, audio-wise?
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mtrot, Sometimes your speaker manufacturer will offer to send you replacements if they have them. Klipsch once mailed me a crossover and a set of binding posts at no expense. The Cardas Jumpers "plates" you refrenced cannot be adjusted. I use Clear Day Cable custom 4 wire Silver Jumpers and Cardas Clear Jumpers when not biwiring. (I have a Cardas price catalog) These will fit your speakers: The Cardas 11.5 awg jumpers are $150.00 The Cardas 9.5 awg jumpers are $210.00 The Cardas Clear jumpers are $350.00 Audioquest has some very inexpensive jumpers for $25.00 - see link https://www.crutchfield.com/p_703PSCBIWR/AudioQuest-PSC-BiWire-Jumpers.html?tp=61599&awkw=756439... Audioquest also makes offers these- see link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W4AK2K2/ref=asc_df_B00W4AK2K25311029/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=395033... If you decide to use the metal/brass "plates" for jumpers, I would suggest hooking your speaker wire to the high frequency posts and "jump down" to the low frequency posts. Your results may vary. Good luck, I hope this helps. N |
mtrot - Here’s some info about "single-wiring" options for bi-wireable speakers. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/AQ%20vs%20Nordost%20Diagonal%20speaker%20connections%20%20link%20to%20Agon%20discussion.pdf See these from Audioquest & Nordost Scroll through the AQ pdf to find... Using Full Range Cables On BiWire Capable Speakers: http://www.audioquest.com/resource_tools/downloads/literature/learning_modules/Understanding-BiWiring.pdfhttp://www.nordost.com/dealer%20downloads/NorseJumperinstructions_Eng52016.pdf |
6 inches of Copper is 6 inches of copper, nothing more nothing less, no matter how much you pay for them. The key is to minimize the resistance between the posts. So... nothing can be better than making jumpers out of 12awg or 14awg copper wires. As someone mentioned above, audioquest as some silver links for $25, it's expensive and only 16awg, but silver is a good conductor.and it is an easy fit in your posts' holes. Ask any engineers (not sales & marketing) working for reputable speaker manufacturers and they will confirm that the jumpers do not degrade their speaker performance. Start with Harbeth, They're not deaf, and they have very revealing equipment to listen and tune their speakers. A little fun does not hurt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UQDTZcpsDE |
Thanks, all. I'm going to call Legacy Audio and see if they have any jumpers that will fit the posts on my speakers. The only reason I'm concerned about my current jumpers is that, as I said above, the binding posts are too large diameter for the jumpers to fit over them, and they look sort of like brass, not copper. It may just be that they sat in a drawer for a decade or so and they tarnished. So, in addition to them not fitting well, I'm not sure of their conductivity. |
@ waterzlife Thanks. Actually I ran these speakers bi-wired for years, but when I bought some new cables that were not bi-wire type, I found that the sound, including bass, was far superior. The sound is so much better that I regret having bi-wired them for all those years. Perhaps it's something to do with Legacy's crossover implementation in these speakers. I'm currently connected to the HF terminals and jumping to the LF terminals. The reason for that is that I want to get the best highs and mids, and considering that these jumpers are not very confidence inspiring, I want the cables directly connected to the HF terminals. |
Assuming that one's working with a fixed budget, and assuming that there's not a very special crossover that requires bi-wiring, it seems to me that single wire + jumper of same wire makes the most sense. I'd rather have one pair of $600 cables running to the speakers, rather than two pairs of $300 cables. |
You can also look here: Speaker jumper cables from Maze, or JPS Labs speaker cables, or DH Labs Silver Sonic 8 inch Speaker Jumper Cables with Silver Spades | eBay. All the best, Nonoise |
@mtrot I'm going to be looking for jumpers as well with my next set of speakers as I'm going to ditch the metal jumpers on them ASAP. Since my speaker cables are a mix of large strands of copper and smaller strands of silver plated copper, I'm leaning towards the DH Labs jumpers. The combination of copper and silver in the cables with silver spades and the short distance should guarantee that nothing will be left behind. And since the speaker make recommends using the bass inputs when using jumpers, that's the way I'd go. All the best, Nonoise |
To add to the uncertainty about which terminals to connect the speaker cables to, there is a third possibility, which a number of members have indicated they prefer. That would be to connect one of the two wires in the cable to the low frequency terminals, and the other to the high frequency terminals. That is commonly referred to as a "diagonal" configuration. Although some of the links Ghosthouse provided in his post above don’t work, I suspect the first one was intended to go to the following thread: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/speaker-jumpers-and-hook-up-choices-question Regarding the diagonal connection possibility, I stated as follows in that thread: The diagonal configuration ... results in low frequency currents and high frequency currents each having to go through one jumper during their round-trip from the amp to the speaker and back. While when connecting both conductors to either the bottom or the top ... one of those currents would be going through two jumpers, and the other through none.Good luck. Regards, -- Al |
I believe that the main difference between jumpers lie in the contact resistance. I use Nordost teminals http://wheelstips.com/best-car-audio-battery-terminals with banana in one end and spades in the other. My speaker cables are spade terminated. That way, I avoid spade-to-spade connection which is difficult to "get rigth". Before testing new cables/jumoers, it is very important to cut back some of the old acbles and make a "fresh" connection. Otherwise the new vs. old connection will drown out any cable difference. And regarding cables, ALWAYS!!!! make the basic calculations of resistance, impedance and capacitance first, model them with the highly reactive load of our speakers and make sure that the cable is electrically suitable and doesn’t act like a filter. Even very expensive cables can do that, and then our brain can be fooled into believing that rolled-down treble equals more relaxed |
I ended up purchasing these Mogami jumpers. With the jumpers in place, I seem to have better bass impact and weight than with those cheap metal jumpers I had been using. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pair-Mogami-Audiophile-Spade-Spade-Speaker-Jumper-Bridge-Wires-Cables-Bi-Wi... |
I think jumpers are like anything else in audio. A change may be better or worse, meaning more to your taste or less so. On my Harbeths, the Audience AU24 jumpers cleaned up a somewhat congested lower midrange sound so it was "better". But on my Opera Callas monitors, the speakers sounded less full and unsatisfying, so it was "worse" than the metal jumpers that came from the factory. It always comes back to your own ears. |
