I have considered doing this at the amp end - taking the sense path from the speaker cable side of the connection to include that contact in the loop. I even made specific plans for how best to do it, but I won't. I'm going to be satisfied with good, gold-plated copper binding posts, connected well, and good speaker cable connections. Which binding posts did you get? I'll be using CMC 858-S-Cu-G.
I'm going to do exactly that. I've already ordered a male to male xlr microphone cable, bannana plugs, and a soldering iron. The only thing I will have to do to the case is drill the holes for the Eval 1. Everything, the Eval 1, the 3m connector, the soldering stuff and wiring, the SMPS and wiring kits, the power cord--it's all ordered. The last thing to arrive will be the SMPS b/c Hypex is out of stock. Everything should be here by June 1.
To get the xlr pins and Xlr wiring. Pins go into xlr on Evla 1, and wire up to Xlr connections on back of Ghent case.
I was actually talking about installing the jacks, not the plugs. However, there are a few tricks about assembling Speakon plugs that make it rather easy: 1) use a four conductor plug but only use two conductor wire. Wire them to 1+ and 1- only. Leave 2+ and 2- disconnected; 2) use a #1 Pozidriv bit. If you use a Phillips head, you won’t be able to get the screws as tight as you need too and you will strip the screw heads and possibly damage the plastic; 3) tighten the screws hand tight only, then wait about 30 seconds until your grip has relaxed and give them one more turn; do not over tighten; 4) put a small drop of Locktite on top of each screw; 5) make sure you use the appropriately sized strain relief—either the white one or the black one—depending on the gauge of your cable. Finally, and I think this goes without saying, only use Neutrik Speakon connectors. The made in China ripoffs are total shite.
I struggled with mine, too, but then I was using all four wires, finely stranded, at the upper limit of the gauge spec, where they say it is acceptable for soldering, but not the screws. I did best by removing the shim, then inserting the carefully twisted wire in part way, then forcing the shim back in with the wire, and finished by re-fitting the screw and tightening it down.
Try Neutrik NL4FX (probably what you were using anyway) and Klotz LY240B twinaxial speaker cable. You can’t go wrong and guaranteed it will be an easy build. 5 minutes to terminate both ends. The thing that will make the job easier (and the end product better) is the #1 Pozidriv screwdriver bit. Also, I wouldn’t solder screw-type Speakon connectors. It is not necessary and will actually make the connection worse and prone to failure. Then again, the last time I soldered anything was 30 years ago in high school shop class.
Also, regarding the inner wires, strip about 1cm of insulation off (that might seem more than necessary but it’s key to getting the wires into the slots) and twist the copper strands together (as I’m sure everyone automatically does). Don’t tin the leads as it is unnecessary and will only make the connection worse, not better. Also, you can completely remove the screws and put the Loctite on the screw threads before reinstalling and tightening if you feel that Loctite only on the head of the screw isn’t good enough.
I get it that people do that. It makes insertion into the screw slots harder and introduces a point of failure, though.
As I do it, the intent, and result, is to make insertion into channels much easier and cleaner - that's why I do it. No fraying, now, or later. And I can't think of any possible degradation of contact quality or reliability, short term, or long, versus not doing it. Note that I said just the tip of the stranded wire, not the whole stripped length.
