Gainclone Connectors (split from electrical safety)

[OliverD]

Neutrik Speakon connectors are insulated and mechanically rugged. Also the contact resistance is quite low compared to other solutions

[Peter Daniel]

IMO, Cardas patented posts are probably one of the better posts available presently. They might not look the best, and only work with spades, but certain properties are hard to match by other designs.

I'm not sure if that qualifies for completely insulated, but I suspect North American regulations are not as strict in that matter as European.

Jeff Rowland is using them extensively.

[Upupa Epops]

To Peter : " ... you take away fun ... " - how do you mean this ? And wrong direction ? Here you have thruth, 'cos here is showed " instead solutions " of output terminals - cheap trash. High quality ones are made for industry or military using, but have one disadvantage : they are not cheap. Industry binding posts are different to " pseudohighend " and some manufacturers are using this - look for example at ML, Krell or Burmester, where you can see it. By the way, how do you recognize realy high quality binding post ?

[Peter Daniel]

Originally posted by Upupa Epops
By the way, how do you recognize realy high quality binding post ?

In binding posts, I like the minimum amount of metal, good contact area and no force on conducting parts.

Cardas patented posts provide all that. All other posts look only fancy by comparison.

[carlosfm]

Originally posted by Mr Evil
And they make a very satisfying *click*

Talking about *click* (sorry, OT), I found some very nice mini XLR plugs (chassis mount male and cable female), that make a very good PSU connection for preamps, phono stages, Dacs, etc.
They also make a very positive click.
Like these ones:
http://www.cybermarket.co.uk/ishop/923/shopscr2031.html

Small and beautiful.

[Upupa Epops]

To Peter : How you can to get good contact with minimum amount of metal and no force on conducting parts ? Look at binding post for welding machine - they are robust, big and have fine turns with small tolerances ( not such as brass high end trash ones ).

[Peter Daniel]

Originally posted by Upupa Epops
To Peter : How you can to get good contact with minimum amount of metal and no force on conducting parts ? Look at binding post for welding machine - they are robust, big and have fine turns with small tolerances ( not such as brass high end trash ones ).

I said a minimum amount of metal, I didn't say in contact area. As you look closely at Cardas patented posts, you'll notice that all metal they use is actually only in the contact area, nothing else. Also, those metal parts are not affected by pulling/stretching forces (from a nut) as the nut only proveds pressure to bring both contact areas close together, but none of the conducting elements is affected by the pulling force (as it's usually the case with other designs).

Of course those posts are not good for welding machines, but for average power amps they are more than enough.

[Upupa Epops]

I don't know, what is claim of this solution, maybe that force to both contact is logical the same and you have sure thruth, that contact are only pushed, not screwed, but change welder contacts again and again after welding ?

[carlosfm]

Originally posted by Peter Daniel
That's what I was actually curious about: are those patented posts OK with strict European regulations, where no exposed parts of posts to be present?

Maby more OK than welding machine binding posts.


Are we gonna use car battery terminals on audio amps?

Let's talk about audio.
I sure prefer Neutrik RCA plugs than some heavy-metal "high-end" ones that populate around.
Kimber RCA plugs are good too.
But some people buy what looks impressive, substantial, like a Buick.

[carlmart]

Originally posted by carlosfm


Talking about *click* (sorry, OT), I found some very nice mini XLR plugs (chassis mount male and cable female), that make a very good PSU connection for preamps, phono stages, Dacs, etc.
They also make a very positive click.
Like these ones:
http://www.cybermarket.co.uk/ishop/923/shopscr2031.html

Small and beautiful.

They certainly are small and beautiful, but not so good for hi-end audio applications.

All the connectors in my Lectrosonics radio microphones use mini-XLR types, which are better than others (Lemo) but not as good as they could be. Dealing with them for more than 10 years, let me tell you that they are really a pain.

1) Materials used are not that good. No teflon dielectric, no silver or gold plate on contacts. It's all nickel-plated brass.

2) Construction puts the terminals quite close to each other, which makes soldering quite difficult.

3) You can only use thin cables with them, as the cable clamp is small. Very much like 1/8"jacks.

4) The unlock button sometimes does not unlock the connector as it should.

As I said: in my application is fine, because it improves on the Lemo and 1/8" connectors. But if you have space, which we usually have, and want a good locking connector, use a regular XLR. For the money there's no better locking connector.




Carlos