How important speaker termination is?

[CLEARCUT]

Very recently I had a good experience which I would like to share here. My Dali mentor 2 is biwirable. My belconto evo 200.2 does not have biwirable options. All of my speaker cables like nordost bh kimber and one more very hi end cables are terminated with original company spades. So I had to fix two cable one for hf and another for lf carefuly in my belconto amp. I felt a risk in fixing. More over I thought good banana would be more helpful. Recently I got 4 pairs of banana pins of profigold. I fixed the banana pins to one of cable Nd bh which drove the mid bass driver of the mentor 2 but for hf I used the kimber original spade termination only. I was shocked to hear some loss in hifidelity. I heard some more time thinking it will take time to break in like But I cannot tolerate the loss of quality. So simply reconnected the both spade wire as if they were previously directly spade to amp. THen I got relaxed with the original quality. Go for good company termination other wise bare wire itself more than enough. cheers

 

[koushik]

Go for good company termination other wise bare wire itself more than enough. cheers

I 2nd that ...

 

[dinyaar]

Hi Clearcut
Everything in the chain is important. Some more , some to a lesser degree.
Finally the contact is the connector not the cable so if its a poor connector (metal, contact pressure, fit etc) u are bound to degrade the performance.

Kimber SBAN is a NO FRILLS, CHEAP banana which is of some quality. Try them
The WBTs are superb but at a price

I see that the Kimber 8TC is your speaker cable. If possible hear the 12 TC. I sold my 8 TC locally in Bombay & bought the 12 TC from NY at about the same price!!!!! Better in every way IMO
Rgds

 

[Shivam]

I use bare wire terminations with very delicately removed sleeve taking care not to break any strands. The strands are then twisted around themselves and then on the speaker's contacts. I don't biwire. I use small pieces of the same wire instead of jumpers to connect the terminals.

Now the important part- I have seen that the bare ends of the speaker wire tend to become dark with time. I disconnect them then I dip them in iso-propyl alcohol once in every six months or so and then reconnect them back after they are dry. This is a small tweak that keeps my speakers singing all the year round.

(I do clean the interconnects too but that should be in another thread)

 

[Ashenden]

I use bare wire terminations with very delicately removed sleeve taking care not to break any strands. The strands are then twisted around themselves and then on the speaker's contacts. I don't biwire. I use small pieces of the same wire instead of jumpers to connect the terminals.

Now the important part- I have seen that the bare ends of the speaker wire tend to become dark with time. I disconnect them then I dip them in iso-propyl alcohol once in every six months or so and then reconnect them back after they are dry. This is a small tweak that keeps my speakers singing all the year round.

(I do clean the interconnects too but that should be in another thread)

Any specific reason why you are don't bi wire your speakers? Will it degrade the performance?

 

[Shivam]

Any specific reason why you are don't bi wire your speakers? Will it degrade the performance?

Biwiring costs !
I find that it gives better sound with a wire that costs 'X' amount than two runs of wire that cost 'X/2' amount or for that matter wire having double conductors in a single sheath.

Even if cost was not a factor, I still prefer single wiring. The soundstage appears very clear. With biwiring I feel a smearing of soundstage and a false sense of space that in the long hearing sessions tends to spoil the experience.

For me biwiring is useful only with biamping.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I think you are right --- although I also think that thickness is the main thing about speaker wire (doh! so maybe twice the wire is good!)

Now the important part- I have seen that the bare ends of the speaker wire tend to become dark with time. I disconnect them then I dip them in iso-propyl alcohol once in every six months or so and then reconnect them back after they are dry. This is a small tweak that keeps my speakers singing all the year round.

Does this work? Does it remove the blackness? If so, have you tried it on other copper/brass components such as plug prongs?

The blackness is going to be oxidation. I would have thought that only an acidic solution would get rid of it. a gentler "solution" would be nice.

 

[Shivam]

Instead of highjacking this thread, I've sent a pm.

 

[Decibel]

Does this work? Does it remove the blackness? If so, have you tried it on other copper/brass components such as plug prongs?

The blackness is going to be oxidation. I would have thought that only an acidic solution would get rid of it. a gentler "solution" would be nice.

There is a particular solution for this. Please visit http://www.deoxit.com