Can I use 4-pin Molex connector as speaker connector?

[MikeHunt79]

I was thinking about using those 4-pin Molex connectors like you see on computer hard drives as a speaker connector.

Is this possible? I won't be running very high power, it's a TA2020 t-amp that will be putting around 20W rms into a 4ohm speaker, I guess the current won't be more than 1 or 2 amps...

Any disadvantages or reasons not to do this?

I was going to have the amp in my car, and I want it to be easily removable, and I thought using molex connectors would be ideal for quick and easy connection.

I guess speakon is also an option but it seems overkill for such low powered speakers...

 

[riktw]

yes you can, molex connectors can handle lots of power.

 

[MikeHunt79]

Excellent, thanks for the info.

 

[dangus]

My concern would be that it's bad practice to use what is nearly always a DC power connector for anything else.

Cutting down an AT style power supply connector would be a safer way to go. Insertion force is less, too, which means less risk of damaging pads if you've built a single-sided board.

 

[Steerpike]

You can 'customise' molex plugs & sockets to make them unique and impossible to cross-plug, by mixing and varying the number and sequence of male/female pins in a male/female shell.

This applies to the inline and panel mount types; I'm not sure if the PCB variants come with loose pins.

 

[thoriated]

My concern would be that it's bad practice to use what is nearly always a DC power connector for anything else.

I hear you. One of my earliest self taught lessons in electronics came when I was 12 years old and had the bright idea of using a 1/4" phone plug as a power connector for a tape recorder I was modifying. One detail I overlooked was that the hot tip and sleeve would be momentarily shorted while inserting into the jack. The result was a charred plug and jack, hole burned in the carpet and upset parents.