Hi,

I have been re arranging my hifi system today & at the same time tidying up all the cables.

It shocked me to discover that most of the connections on my equipment were loosely fitting.

All of my interconnects are of a decent sort, none are the 'more expensive' variety, all of them make a really good connection.

My gripe lies with the 'banana' plugs on my speaker cables & the 3 pin mains connections into the equipment itself, the IEC sockets, the plugs at this end of the power cable just 'sag' with the weight.

When I worked in the Chemical industry some of our instrumentation had cables that you pushed in & twisted to lock them into place.

So why can't we have something similar on ALL hifi connections & equipment, or am I really being 'NAIVE'.

What is the point in expensive hifi, interconnects, mains cables, etc, if they DONT make a solid & firm connection,

Sorry, but it has made me MAD!

Or is that just MADDER.

My gripe for today.

willie

Some ICs RCAs have locks you screw.

Yup, that's a GRIPE!

I think a lot of us fiddle with our cables every couple months or so, not only for looseness, but cleanliness, seems to make a bit of difference in the sound.

elroy

I'm baffled at the range of fitting of cables- from extremely difficult to sloppy loose. I'd have figured many companies Gould aim for a more universal fit.

But what do I know. I'm just a guy with a bunch of sloppy cables.

I bought some banana plugs the have a pin in the center, after inserting the plug into the socket you screw them down pushing the pin into the center and expanding the outer part of the banana plug till it fits very tightly.

Jim

BNC connectors would make a more consistent connection, but would be more expensive to implement. There's your answer.

my speaker wires are like that, and they do loosen a bit, and that reminds me to tighten them today

elroy

The Tara Labs I got from speakerman1 fit very tightly, nice cables.

Jim

barkin mad I say willie garvn!!

I do like the twistlocks idea

Some guys spend a lot of money in their speaker cables and than put a piece of shitty brass - like a banana plug - to plug them in their expencive speakers....i find very hard to understand this....

Hi all,

Clint e,

With reference to this quote of yours...............

'Some guys spend a lot of money in their speaker cables and than put a piece of shitty brass - like a banana plug - to plug them in their expencive speakers....i find very hard to understand this....'

Being a relevant newbie to this site & only having just got back into 'HiFi' please can you tell me & others as to what else there is available to us other than 'banana plugs' or 'bare wires' when connecting speaker cables to speakers.

One of the reasons that I like ST is that people go out of their way to help you when you ask a question or advice.

My 'wizz kid' friend has in the past told me that some people 'by pass' the speakers binding posts & solder the wires directly to the 'relevant' parts inside the speaker cabinet!!

Cheers,

willie

some prefer bare wire, other spades and still other banana plugs. i've used each with my speakers and cannot discern any difference between them. in terms of a reliable connection i prefer the spades only because they are easier to work with than bare wire and more secure than bananas. as for the quality of connectors that is an entire discussion in itself. my speaker wire cost $0.80 per foot so i use connectors that are in line with the cost of the wire.

Hi all,

Dingus,

Thanks for this, I had forgot about spade connections, but like you, I have tried all three & I concur, I cannot hear any difference at all.

What I have learnt though sites like ST & reading as many articles as possible, looking at each side of the 'wire/cable' debate, is that spending vast amounts on speaker wire & interconnects is absolutely foolish.

IMHOP it's all 'hype' by the hifi industry & it works because I was once 'fooled' into thinking that better cables = better sound.................but it really means better cables = snake oil = empty wallet!!!!!

Cheers,

willie

i have heard significant differences from different ic's and speaker wires. in my experience they can improve or degrade the sound of a system. now when it comes to high priced cables, i lean towards the theory of diminishing returns, as the costs grow the improvements shrink. i think a better cable can give you better sound, though component synergy can also be the overriding factor here, but a higher price doesnt mean its a better cable.