WBT Speaker Binding Posts

[Face]

Bare wire is good, but then there's the problem of oxidation.

Crimped bare wire(with or without solder) covered in heat shrink directly connected to the crossover would be best, but is far from practical.

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by rnrmf1971

Where does bare wire (or tinned with your preferred solder) fit in to this discussion?
I've had cheap banana connectors and bare wire was better when I bypassed the connectors.

I was using bare stranded wire with my old JBL twist-lock terminals and found that to be so-so in the reliability department. Bare (or tinned) wire with a quality binding post is okay with me, but I would prefer a quality connector of some sort if I am investing in everything else.

Then there is the issue of oxidation, as Face points out.


Pete

[Masterlu]

[rnrmf1971]

But does the bare wire sound better than a high quality connector? Mine are tinned with silver solder, I think. There have been no reliability issues and I imagine that the oxidation issue is solved with tinning. It doesn't seem to make sense that a connector could IMPROVE the sound. There's certainly a lot of money to be made in selling connectors... It seems to me that the best case scenario is minimizing or eliminating any signal loss caused by a connector.
In any case, in the near future, I'll be demoing new speaker wire, without the option for bare wire. I'm not brave enough to cut connectors off, although it is tempting.

[Josquin des Prez]

Originally Posted by rnrmf1971

But does the bare wire sound better than a high quality connector? Mine are tinned with silver solder, I think. There have been no reliability issues and I imagine that the oxidation issue is solved with tinning. It doesn't seem to make sense that a connector could IMPROVE the sound. There's certainly a lot of money to be made in selling connectors... It seems to me that the best case scenario is minimizing or eliminating any signal loss caused by a connector.
In any case, in the near future, I'll be demoing new speaker wire, without the option for bare wire. I'm not brave enough to cut connectors off, although it is tempting.

Compression crimped bare wire -- done properly -- does not have oxidation issues and makes a better connection than wire that has been soldered, according to WBT and others.

[chops-tube]

I'm in the BFA banana camp. They make very secure, solid contact in proper binding posts. The binding posts on both my amp and speakers leave roughly 0.25" of the banana NOT making contact, but it's so tight and secure in the posts, I'm not too worried about it. They're definitely not going to fall out anytime soon.

[redm]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

Pete... Spades are standard; Silver-Clad Copper Alloy Banana's are $28 for four; Silver Locking Banana's are $100 for four.

Looking at my WW SE 6 spades it does not seem like they are user serviceable. Is it possible to swap out the spades for the banana yourself or is that from the factory only.

My big problem with spades is the angle they enter the speaker on the 802D, it causes you either have to raise the speaker up higher or bury the leads in the carpet. Banana's would resolve this problem for me.

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by redm

Looking at my WW SE 6 spades it does not seem like they are user serviceable. Is it possible to swap out the spades for the banana yourself or is that from the factory only.

My big problem with spades is the angle they enter the speaker on the 802D, it causes you either have to raise the speaker up higher or bury the leads in the carpet. Banana's would resolve this problem for me.

Derek... If they are the older style and don't unscrew, only the factory can re-terminate them. Pretty inexpensive, PM me for details if you wish.