Speakon connections

[March Audio]

Speakon connectors but with starquad geometry is better idea. Well, with speakon or other connectors. And not only speaker cables.

Star quad, the best geometry to build audio and power cables
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=156793.0

Benchmark cables: speakon + starquad too.
https://benchmarkmedia.com/products/benchmark-speaker-cable-nl2-to-banana-2-pole




If I build a PURIFI amp, that it is my choice, like RME ADI-2 DAC (would be the preamp too).

I agree with most of this apart from the comment about spades. Spades will have a high contact surface area

 

[Burning Sounds]

Yes, without a doubt Speakon connectors are the best in my mind. I use Speakon connectors on the bass units on my LX521s (with Canare star quad cable - should make @maty happy ).

I use locking bananas on the upper baffle 3-way module. I could have used a single Speakon there and in hindsight I wish I had - as Siegfried Linkwitz recommended. I do colour code the tweeter, upper mid and lower mid cables to try to ensure I don't insert the wrong cable - that could be bad news for the tweeters. Using a Speakon connector would have eliminated that error completely.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Pro audio no, but Linn used them on their speakers back in the 70's/80's.

So did Spendor with the BCIII. XLR was commonly used for "pro" speakers in the 60s-70s.

The thing with bananas is that the speaker end is "backwards" for safety. The pins/plugs should be on the speaker and the sockets should be on the cables, to avoid accidental shorts, and I suppose that was the main reason for using XLR for pro use. Is that why we now have BFA and Speakon?

 

[AudioSceptic]

Idiots...

Not at all. XLR was commonly used for pro/studio speakers then.

 

[AudioSceptic]

The worst speaker connection was surely the DIN one. Tiny pins and no room for cables of any thickness. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIN_connector#Loudspeaker_connector>

 

[AudioSceptic]

RCA connectors were, and perhaps still are, used for speaker connections on low-end gear for many years. They take up less space than banana jacks and manufacturers probably have a bunch of them for all the other connectors so economy of scale applies. Not saying it's a good idea...

I am surprised locking banana plugs beat a spade lug, and that Maty's reference calls a spade lug a poor connection. That is not at all my experience but you do have to make sure they are tight. Not surprised SpeakON does best. I suspect the reason they've not caught on is cost and royalties to Neutrik plus customer acceptance since the consumer world revolves around bananas. Another connector I have no fondness for; often poor (high) resistance, tendency to wiggle loose, no positive capture mechanism (aside from the locking variety), manufacturing tolerance varies wildly, etc.

I have said for decades that an RCA is a bad idea. Aside from tolerance (range from fall-out loose to so tight you break the jacks on your equipment getting the @#%$ things on and off) and highly variable build quality (including such ideas as a plastic housing instead of metal so you lose shielding right at the connector), the idea of a connector that makes signal before ground and breaks ground before signal just seems stupid a really, really bad idea to me. Of course, many TRS/TS connections do the same or worse (like shorting signal to ground as you insert or pull the plug...)

But the market has spoken, and consumers pay thousands of dollars for cables with piss-poor (can I say that?) connectors on the ends, all the while hearing vast improvements.

Blah.

Yep. BNC should have been the standard for single-ended.

 

[Frank Dernie]

Spades will have a high contact surface area

Only with super high precision ground parallel surfaces or very soft metals. With normal manufacturing methods the actual metal to metal contact area is probably very small indeed.
The Speakon is much better than any other speaker connection, though bare copper wire well clamped down is good, though it is worth checking tightness from time to time.
Goldmund use an interesting big RF connector chosen for its large contact area (not the frequency obvs).

 

[maty]

Yes, without a doubt Speakon connectors are the best in my mind. I use Speakon connectors on the bass units on my LX521s (with Canare star quad cable - should make @maty happy )...

Canare starquad is used inside of expensive USA loudspeakers have excellent measurements in the Canadian laboratory.

https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=77&Itemid=153

 

[somebodyelse]

So did Spendor with the BCIII. XLR was commonly used for "pro" speakers in the 60s-70s.

The thing with bananas is that the speaker end is "backwards" for safety. The pins/plugs should be on the speaker and the sockets should be on the cables, to avoid accidental shorts, and I suppose that was the main reason for using XLR for pro use. Is that why we now have BFA and Speakon?

The XLRs (at least as Quad used them on the early 520f) were also "backwards" for safety as output was on a 3 pin male connector. At some point Quad changed the 520f outputs to Speakons, as on the one I have. IIRC the Speakon was released in the late '80s, around the time of some new electrical safety regulations in the UK that led to the BFA connectors (according to magazine reports at the time), and the Low Voltage Directive. I don't remember the relative timing though.

 

[The Equalizer]

John Siau explains the objection to spades here (in the comments section below):

https://www.realhd-audio.com/?p=4786

"I recommend locking banana plugs. The non-locking (spring finger) banana plugs do not work well. Spades are OK but they are somewhat inconsistent. The surface of the binding post where the spades connect can become contaminated and this often raises the resistance of the connection. Binding posts often come from the factory with contamination from the manufacturing process and this can affect the quality of the connections made with spade lugs. Contamination can also build up over time. The spades provide very little contact wiping action when they are inserted. In contrast, the locking banana plugs tend the clean the contact area as they are inserted.

"We have seen cases where the distortion across a binding post to spade lug connection exceeds the distortion produced by the entire AHB2 power amplifier. Non-locking banana plugs are worse and they almost always produce more distortion than the AHB2. The locking banana plugs provide a connection that is good enough to measure the performance of the AHB2.

"The SpeakON connectors on the AHB2 provide the best connection. We sell SpeakON to locking banana plug cables and SpeakON to SpeakON cables. We do not sell cables with spade lugs or non-locking banana plugs (due to the performance issues described above)."

 

[andymok]

If you look into their product guide, together with the strain relief and the way to make one
it just can't fail

 

[AudioSceptic]

The XLRs (at least as Quad used them on the early 520f) were also "backwards" for safety as output was on a 3 pin male connector. At some point Quad changed the 520f outputs to Speakons, as on the one I have. IIRC the Speakon was released in the late '80s, around the time of some new electrical safety regulations in the UK that led to the BFA connectors (according to magazine reports at the time), and the Low Voltage Directive. I don't remember the relative timing though.

Yes, having the male as output is not ideal, but at least the pins can't short against one another as bananas on the end of cables can if you're (very) careless. Did there use to be a sort-of-standard in the USA for paired bananas (2 plugs in a common moulding) to prevent this? I think I've read American reviews of UK speakers complaining about the spacing of the banana sockets not matching the spacing of the paired bananas.

I didn't realise that Speakons had been around for that long. I think BFA came in in the 90s, although I don't have anything using them.

 

[sergeauckland]

Yes, having the male as output is not ideal, but at least the pins can't short against one another as bananas on the end of cables can if you're (very) careless. Did there use to be a sort-of-standard in the USA for paired bananas (2 plugs in a common moulding) to prevent this? I think I've read American reviews of UK speakers complaining about the spacing of the banana sockets not matching the spacing of the paired bananas.

I didn't realise that Speakons had been around for that long. I think BFA came in in the 90s, although I don't have anything using them.

As I understand it, the European spacing was 19mm. The US spacing was 3/4" Close enough for most purposes ( 0.05mm) but that's without taking into account manufacturing tolerances, or indeed, manufacturers not keeping to any standard.

S.

 

[AudioSceptic]

As I understand it, the European spacing was 19mm. The US spacing was 3/4" Close enough for most purposes ( 0.05mm) but that's without taking into account manufacturing tolerances, or indeed, manufacturers not keeping to any standard.

S.

I don't think many UK makers used that standard. My Spendor BC1s have sockets about 40 mm apart, for instance.

 

[March Audio]

Only with super high precision ground parallel surfaces or very soft metals. With normal manufacturing methods the actual metal to metal contact area is probably very small indeed.
The Speakon is much better than any other speaker connection, though bare copper wire well clamped down is good, though it is worth checking tightness from time to time.
Goldmund use an interesting big RF connector chosen for its large contact area (not the frequency obvs).

Not sure I agree with your conclusion there, copper is soft.

 

[PaulD]

Not at all. XLR was commonly used for pro/studio speakers then.

If it was such a good idea we'd still be using it - we changed because it was stupid. I'm glad I missed that in the 70s.

 

[Labjr]

I use and have installed SpeakOn connectors on PA equipment, bass guitar amps etc. and love them. So easy to use and relatively inexpensive compared to good binding posts. Be sure to get genuine Neutrik from an authorized reseller. There's a lot of cheap fakes.

 

[DDF]

Apologies if this is a silly question, but is there any real advantage (or indeed, disadvantage) with the Speakon connector?

They've proven 100% reliable in my home-use DIY speakers, since the early 90s (knock on wood). We also used them in our audio lab at work for years with no issues.

They're also rock solid. I find binding posts can loosen with speaker movement or over time. Speakons, never.

 

[restorer-john]

If you are going to use bananas I recommend locking ones just to give that bit better/more secure connection than just normal push in ones.

Personally, I don't like the locking bananas. Conventional 4mm banana plugs offer a decent connection but allow for the inevitable accident or trip to happen without tearing out a jack, pulling over a speaker or yanking an amplifier onto the floor.

Locking RCAs are even worse. They almost always lock on the shield (outer) and I've seen more than my fair share of torn off RCA outers on "Audiophile's" equipment.

What ever happened to the 240V 10A rated two/three-pin XLR style plug/sockets used in the 80s on professional gear for power? What were they called? Red sheathed pins IIRC. I've got some someplace. Made by Cannon I think. Beautiful things.

edit: here I found a pic on the internet

 

[jhaider]

Apologies if this is a silly question, but is there any real advantage (or indeed, disadvantage) with the Speakon connector?

Advantages: cheap, they lock, someone who doesn't give a damn about your system can unplug a speaker cable and plug it back in without the opportunity to reverse polarity.

Disadvantages: Bulkier than bananas; only the cable ends have screw terminals so you need a good open-barrel crimper or soldering skills to install the jacks.

All of our in-wall speaker wiring is terminated in Speakon, as are any speaker or subwoofer cabinets I had a hand in designing. If given a choice, there is no other choice I would prefer.

I learned about Speakon from the late Siegfried Linkwitz. He used 8-core Speakon for his Orions at Axpona.