Hey all just wondering what the pros and cons are of soldering vs spade plugs for attaching the speaker and connection plates within a speaker enclosure.
This will be for my passive DIY Subs, so no crossovers or amp units, just connecting the two drivers to the back of terminal plate.
Soldering the entire lot could be a PITA and require extra cable.
Will spades offer sufficient contact area?
Maybe solder the connector plates and plug the speakers? or just plug it all?
This will be for my passive DIY Subs, so no crossovers or amp units, just connecting the two drivers to the back of terminal plate.
Soldering the entire lot could be a PITA and require extra cable.
Will spades offer sufficient contact area?
Maybe solder the connector plates and plug the speakers? or just plug it all?
Solder inside the speaker, and take out the connection from inside to a spring loaded connector or plain screw type wire terminals.
Crimped connectors are more reliable in a high vibration environment - when a wire is soldered the interface between the dry and soldered part of the wire is a stress concentration. Properly crimped wires have strain relief.
Thank you,
For what to do, and the why to do it that way.
Makes sence one of my drivers was a second hand unit and the previous owner had soldered the wires on and heat shrinked it.
One was sttached...
The other was only just sitting there, very lirtle of the solder was combining yhe wire to the terminal, the heat shrink was holding it on more!
For what to do, and the why to do it that way.
Makes sence one of my drivers was a second hand unit and the previous owner had soldered the wires on and heat shrinked it.
One was sttached...
The other was only just sitting there, very lirtle of the solder was combining yhe wire to the terminal, the heat shrink was holding it on more!
Crimping on to drivers can cause problems of corrosion, and loose contacts if moved around.
Use crimp/lug connectors of the best quality, and crimp, not solder the wires. Use heat shrink on the exposed conductor to reduce corrosion.
If the drivers have some sort of support for the wire, common in car units, use those to relieve stress on the wires.
If you can, put spray before sliding on lugs, insurance against corrosion.
Properly done, solder works, but if the speakers are portable and moving from gig to gig, crimping is better.
Use crimp/lug connectors of the best quality, and crimp, not solder the wires. Use heat shrink on the exposed conductor to reduce corrosion.
If the drivers have some sort of support for the wire, common in car units, use those to relieve stress on the wires.
If you can, put spray before sliding on lugs, insurance against corrosion.
Properly done, solder works, but if the speakers are portable and moving from gig to gig, crimping is better.
These are just home speakers. Very limited moving.
They do have 3 and ,5mm gold plated lugs to attach to.
They do have 3 and ,5mm gold plated lugs to attach to.
There is some convention in car speakers : if the lugs are of different sizes on the same speaker, the larger is positive and the smaller is used for the negative wire.
That’s surprising. I would have thought just the opposite, but your rationale makes some sense.
You must support crimped joints using a sleeve, as a mechanical support, so the conductors do not break at the gap between wire outer and crimp connector / lug.
This is common in cars, a sleeve is there to cover the crimp, and the wire.
Which was why I suggested heat shrink, as a support...... for those kind of connectors, with sleeves, you need to go a car parts shop.
You might have heat shrink handy.
You can use that if you solder too, extra support.
Most ready made speakers use soldered joints here, no problem in domestic speakers.
This is common in cars, a sleeve is there to cover the crimp, and the wire.
Which was why I suggested heat shrink, as a support...... for those kind of connectors, with sleeves, you need to go a car parts shop.
You might have heat shrink handy.
You can use that if you solder too, extra support.
Most ready made speakers use soldered joints here, no problem in domestic speakers.
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+1
The key with crimp connections is to get a good and gas tight crimp. So get a good tool. I use a Molex 0640160041. You can find them at Digikey and elsewhere.
Tom
I usually solder to speakers then let wire pair hang down to take the stress off.
Or cable tie wires to speaker basket to stop them vibrating or moving around.
I have used jack plug/socket connectors for speakers for 40 years with very few problems. I sometimes trip over the speaker cables so flying out instead of breaking the wire is ok so long as it doesnt short on way out.
Or cable tie wires to speaker basket to stop them vibrating or moving around.
I have used jack plug/socket connectors for speakers for 40 years with very few problems. I sometimes trip over the speaker cables so flying out instead of breaking the wire is ok so long as it doesnt short on way out.
For me, I solder flow the crimp joint internally for 100% bonding - extra insurance in high current situations. Do it all the time.
Think about cheap car jumper leads, the weakest current points are at the crimped handles and tend to overheat. You will know a good lead set from a bad one.
Reviving this thread…
Even reasonable people agree that spending a little extra on speaker cables can be good idea. Some say even the speaker terminals and connectors can make a huge difference. A speaker terminal needs to have qualities like being gold plated, or made of pure silver, or copper and be non-magnetic. Actually many speaker terminals have terrible choice of screws that are in fact made of cheap magnetic materials. GR research avoids this by placing a simple tube of high quality with female connectors in each end. One inside the speaker cabinet and one outside. Then you can use a good quality banana plug with screw connectors. No solder or magnetic
I think the big question is, if metal against metal has better sound (better conductivity?) than solder, when should it start? Inside the speaker cabinet at the speaker terminals? What abojt the wires coming from the voice coil, they are always soldered!
There is some logic missing!
Even reasonable people agree that spending a little extra on speaker cables can be good idea. Some say even the speaker terminals and connectors can make a huge difference. A speaker terminal needs to have qualities like being gold plated, or made of pure silver, or copper and be non-magnetic. Actually many speaker terminals have terrible choice of screws that are in fact made of cheap magnetic materials. GR research avoids this by placing a simple tube of high quality with female connectors in each end. One inside the speaker cabinet and one outside. Then you can use a good quality banana plug with screw connectors. No solder or magnetic
I think the big question is, if metal against metal has better sound (better conductivity?) than solder, when should it start? Inside the speaker cabinet at the speaker terminals? What abojt the wires coming from the voice coil, they are always soldered!
There is some logic missing!
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I found this about connectors: https://www.lhecn.com/blogs/what-are-the-factors-that-affect-the-performance-of-terminal-crimping/
Gold plating: Good, but expensive, so the manufacturer usually screw you over by using a very thin layer, which can cause microporous corrosion.
Silver plating: Good, but oxidizes, which decreases electrical conductivity.
Copper: Same as silver.
Tin plating: Good and soft, which survives the many in and outs in the life of a connector.
Nickel plating: When there is only a thin layer, nickel can have more pores. Difficult to solder due to "passivation".
Chrome plating: Mostly for decorative purposes.
Tin plated is good for that crimping part, and gold/silver/copper is good for the connection surface.
Overall, tin plating seems pretty good to me, despite lower electrical conductivity. And guess what solder is mostly made of? Tin is more likely to survice the tooth of time, as we say in the North.
As long as the surface is large, the conductivity of the material should not matter. But maybe a difference can be heard by some expert listeners.
I ended up using silver-plated copper wire crimped to tin-plated brass cable lugs on the speaker cabinet terminals, and 2% silver solder on the speaker driver terminals.
Gold plating: Good, but expensive, so the manufacturer usually screw you over by using a very thin layer, which can cause microporous corrosion.
Silver plating: Good, but oxidizes, which decreases electrical conductivity.
Copper: Same as silver.
Tin plating: Good and soft, which survives the many in and outs in the life of a connector.
Nickel plating: When there is only a thin layer, nickel can have more pores. Difficult to solder due to "passivation".
Chrome plating: Mostly for decorative purposes.
Tin plated is good for that crimping part, and gold/silver/copper is good for the connection surface.
Overall, tin plating seems pretty good to me, despite lower electrical conductivity. And guess what solder is mostly made of? Tin is more likely to survice the tooth of time, as we say in the North.
As long as the surface is large, the conductivity of the material should not matter. But maybe a difference can be heard by some expert listeners.
I ended up using silver-plated copper wire crimped to tin-plated brass cable lugs on the speaker cabinet terminals, and 2% silver solder on the speaker driver terminals.
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When soldering to connectors the wires should be mechanically held first then soldered.
This is to stop wire moving around and eventually fracturing.
This is to stop wire moving around and eventually fracturing.
It is very much stuck there and they don’t move much inside the cabinet. But will consider it next time.
Silver corrosion does NOT degrade conductivity to an extent it would matter much (other than looks) and this is one of the reasons why it is used in the first place.
Copper is a completely different animal and corrosion is a problem.
