Newbie question

[rs1026]

Hi,
Is it a good preactise to solder wires directly to the drivers or do we need to use speaker lugs.Please give your inputs.

[Nuuk]

A soldered connection has some advantages but must be done with extreme care.

Tweeters especially have very fine wire running from the terminals to the coil and it is easy to damage that wire if you are not very careful.

So, it's really about how confident you are to do the job. If you have any doubts, stick with some terminals!

[rs1026]

Thanks Nuuk,what are the advantages of soldering directly.One thing that I can think of is the chnaces of connection coming loose due to vibration is less if soldered directly.Am I right?

I am quite confident of my soldering capability but i may have to repeat soldering and desoldering few times with different drivers for experimenting. I think lugs would better if this is the case right?

[BillFitzmaurice]

Lugs are fine for the experimentation stage but solder when your done with that for both prevention of vibration and elimination of potential corrosion of the lug/spade connection.

[Nuuk]

Thanks Nuuk,what are the advantages of soldering directly.

As Bill says, the advantage of a soldered joint is that it is sealed and doesn't allow the build-up of oxidization which can eventually make for a very poor (or even non-existant) connection.

My caution is based on stories of people who have damaged drivers (mainly tweeters) by soldering, especially when they have been developing the speakers and changed the connections on many occassions.

As ever, common sense should prevail!

[Kittle]

Like Nuuk and Bill say...
Spade connections for the testing phase, then solder to the lugs when your done testing.

Especially important when you have expensive or irreplaceable drivers

[Hornlover]

I have soldered to the terminals thousands of times, and have never had a failure from doing so. I agree with Bill. A soldered connection is more permanent, and oxidation will not be a problem. A loose connection from a poor fitting lug can be a real pain to fix. Its often not easy to get back inside of an enclosure, since there may not be any removable panels. If that is the case, you usually have to go in through the woofer hole. Working blind on a tweeter through the woofer hole can be quite tedious.

[bilorn]

The method I use to solder to speaker terminals.
I lay the bared wire on the terminal and hold in place at the base of the terminal with a pair of hemostats, i then solder the wire to the terminal, the hemos keep the heat away from the voice coil leads. Good luck
Bill Horn