Binding posts - Insulated or not?

[Frosteh]

Are the insulated binding posts worth it? I'm looking at some long ones on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/5Pair-Speaker-Ba...ht_3170wt_1279) and I'm wondering if they're worth it. Madisound also has long binding posts and so does PE, but $9 per pair seems a bit much.

[Conrad Hoffman]

I dunno, those are aimed at the audio crowd and they don't even give a brand name. I'd contact a genuine industrial electronics distributor and see how much some nice Pomona posts go for.

[Andersonix]

Seen this page at Apex Jr?

[DrDyna]

Insulated plugs are a good idea if they're going to be used in an environment where there are lots of other wires or dangers from shorts, however if you're planning on screwing them into the back of a wooden speaker or into a plastic cup on a speaker and you take care that all the strands on your wires are tinned / in a connector it probably doesn't make much difference.

Agreed, Apex Jr has some good deals on these parts.

[chris661]

Why not use SpeakOn?

No danger of shorts, and contact resistance is tiny.

[DrDyna]

Originally Posted by chris661

Why not use SpeakOn?

No danger of shorts, and contact resistance is tiny.

I'd love to use those, but unfortunately they really haven't been adopted widely in home audio.

I suppose we could start a trend for home audio speakers that used them and then just terminate our speaker leads with them.

Edit: Afterthought: How difficult is it to reverse the polarity on these connectors? I do sometimes mess with stuff that required polarity tinkering...OP might as well.

[Pallas]

Originally Posted by chris661

Why not use SpeakOn?

No danger of shorts, and contact resistance is tiny.

My thoughts exactly.

Since I discovered them (not being pro audio guy) I've never considered using anything else in my own projects.

Originally Posted by DrDyna

I'd love to use those, but unfortunately they really haven't been adopted widely in home audio.

Not sure why that's relevant, given that

a) the speakers are being DIY'ed.

b) male connectors are both readily available and easy to use (set screws)

c) they're cheaper, and better (positive locking, gas-tight, more compact).

[DrDyna]

Originally Posted by Pallas

My thoughts exactly.

Since I discovered them (not being pro audio guy) I've never considered using anything else in my own projects.



Not sure why that's relevant, given that

It's relevant due to the fact that you could potentially be dealing with speaker leads that have been terminated already with spade lugs or banana plugs. While I might be willing to re-terminate my leads (and then stop my leads from working with any other speaker) someone else might not be.

[Pallas]

Originally Posted by DrDyna

It's relevant due to the fact that you could potentially be dealing with speaker leads that have been terminated already with spade lugs or banana plugs. While I might be willing to re-terminate my leads (and then stop my leads from working with any other speaker) someone else might not be.

Seriously? Such a person shouldn't be engaging in DIY audio.

And how hard is it to go from a Speakon plug to a banana/spade? Unscrew one set screw, remove wire, insert wire, clamp down set screw. Whoo hoo.

(Yes, there are people who seem to think that things such as solder or whatever can affect the sound. Or that wires generally can. Decorum prevents me from expressing my opinion of such people's hearing acuity.)

[DrDyna]

Originally Posted by Pallas

Seriously? Such a person shouldn't be engaging in DIY audio.

And how hard is it to go from a Speakon plug to a banana/spade? Unscrew one set screw, remove wire, insert wire, clamp down set screw. Whoo hoo.

(Yes, there are people who seem to think that things such as solder or whatever can affect the sound. Or that wires generally can. Decorum prevents me from expressing my opinion of such people's hearing acuity.)

Yeah, I've got my wires terminated - soldered and heat shrunk with banana plugs, due to the fact that they fit into every home audio speaker that I've come across.

I'm not against trying better connectors, or for a better standard being adopted. I'm not attached to bananas and I think the Neutrik connectors might actually be better, however I probably won't re terminate any speaker leads until the consumer audio industry at large does the same thing.