Been watching the cable debate on this forum as well as elsewhere with interest. Trained years ago as a scientist when we were taught to approach theories with caution (after all, in them there old days, the scientific method was to try your hardest to disprove something, using as operational, not proven, those theories that survived). What I have not seen addressed is the question of termination, something that would seem to me to be much more likely to result in differences than the nature of the iinterconnecting wire. As but two examples, I have a set of quite old Monster banana plugs that suffer from a design flaw inherent in those from other manufacturers as well. With these, the springy “leafs” that compress and grab onto the inner rod when inserted into the outlet. Only when the compression is sufficient is good contact made and these monster plugs don’t do that, at least with more modern outlets. The other example is with my FR20’s where I would prefer to use spade lugs but for the life of me can not get a pair (one from the jumper, the other from the speaker wire) to stay locked unless I use what I consider excessive force (e.g., pliers). I could go on with other examples but my purpose is simple to open a dialogue on the issue.
I agree the “spring” type of banana are not very good for sheer surface area. I use BFA type:
They stretch to fit the flat surface area along the inside of the lugs. lots of surface area to transfer. Just as much as a good spade. Many different manufactures make this type. My new speakers (Acora) use very strange speaker terminals. one big screw in lug so you have to hold both wires at once and tighten. Only accept spade. Then add a sub wire!!! omg 4 wires to hold in place while you tighten..not fun.
I’ve had similar trouble with using spades on my FR10s. I can get them snug, but any movement in the speaker cable and they come loose. Excessive force has worked 
I have also wondered about terminations. What has festered in my mind is the theory that low mass is better. I have no information to back this up even after some casual research. I admit that I subscribe to this point of view nevertheless and it has kept me from purchasing some well reviewed cables due to their use of seemingly oversized brass and copper connectors. Hope others will chime in with some info.
I was told to by Jonny of SRA that he prefers banana connectors over spades; because the various terminations on speakers may not provide the best contact with spades, but will with bananas. He also said banana connectors provide as much surface contact as spades, if not more.
My bi-wired Takshaka have banana plugs at the speaker ends (FR30) because my previous SC had trouble getting tight connection was spades. However, on the amp side I still use spades because Gryphon D333 have these beautifully well-designed terminations, and provided great pressure with spades. They have never come loose yet. I occasionally unplug them to clean the ends, and to apply black snake oil one time. 
Snake oil applications to Snake River Audio speaker cables makes sense.
I’m being facetious about the tie-in between the names but I found stuff from Mad Scientist Audio to work. Granted, the effects could be subtle.
For this exact reason, I have the variety of Fururech terminals with what they refer to as “torque guard”. They essentially ratchet, so you tighten them until they click, ensuring correct consistent contact pressure for each connection. Likely overkill, but provides peace of mind.
I wonder if Mad Science GCE is more effective on older connectors than newer ones. Since all my components are relatively new (two years or younger), and I often clean them anyway. The effect may be less than expected.
There is a subtle positive change on smoothness, but my system is very strong in that area already so the improvement was indeed subtle. Recently I found my banana connectors may absorb too much GCE since they are hollow inside and can be compressed when inserted into terminals. I took them out and there was GCE residue apparent. I cleaned all connectors again and I heard better SQ. But that could be due to cleaning alone too.
You may have hit on something there. Just a guess but older connectors may have more surface imperfections as they age that the GCE fills in and aids the electrical connection? Maybe so.
I think they still sell them but using a pipe cleaner on the inside of the banana plug barrel might help remove the excess. Just a thought.
JKWAustin, your post sure brings up valid points for discussion and is as you state, a seldom discussed topic. A poorly designed or poorly installed connector can absolutely degrade the electrical and sonic performance of even the best cable. Most crimp tools crush the jacket and dielectric effecting impedance and then many times hidden with shrink or banding.
Balanced or single ended IC’s, speaker and coaxial video are all impacted by the quality and installation of the termination. Sometimes the connector itself disallows the user to visually inspect what the connection looks like. Soldering is an art and even great techs have off days. Poorly terminated cables many times still work but can be a significant factor in delivering poor performance of the overall assembly.
For speaker cables, most agree that bananas and spades have their own advantages and disadvantages. I still hear of audiophiles making connections with bare stripped ends. We all have our preferred method of connection.
With spades, there’s no one size fits all (properly.) We think that it’s important to use a high-quality copper body with a decent thickness. We’ve found that rhodium plating over the copper works best and offer 3-sizes of spade forks to enable the audiophile to match the spade connection as close as possible to the diameter of the post on the speaker. Speaker manufacturers didn’t standardize on post diameter. With a properly sized spade for today’s system or application, a change of speakers or components may result in the need to re-terminate. High quality solder with 4%+ silver content should be used when soldering the spades.
A mismatched spade size results in less contact area for the nut to bite down on and is a poor choice. A properly sized spade will find itself seated against the “hopefully present” flat sides on a binding post so that it doesn’t have a tendency to spin as the nut is tightened. This also greatly enhances the retention qualities of the connector to the post. We have 3" x 5" spade sizing cards that can be an easy way to determine the correct size. Completely unscrewing the nut on the binding post allows easy examination of the post for measuring and determining the presence of 2-flat sides for a spade to lock on to. If the post is “completely” round then maybe a spade is not the best choice
When installing spade connectors to 5-way binding posts it’s important to know when to say when. I wonder how many audiophiles have caused a cold solder break as a result of over tightening the nut on the binding posts? Then there’s the opposite problem. If moving your speakers causes your connectors to fall out or off then you might should consider other options. Not that we move our speakers around all the time but it does happen. I have seen amplifiers blown when retention accidents happen.
Lots of discussion here about banana plug problems. We’ve addressed surface area and retention with a design that really works. It’s extremely popular with our customers. The connector body is brass and then gold plated. Close examination will reveal that the prong is not like other designs. The prong is segmented. It doesn’t use springs or non-mechanical tension to increase retention. These designs never work well. BFA and tube connectors are an improvement but can’t always compensate for variations in the female opening and over time and use will compress Most would agree that the quality of the connection and retention of any connector to the receiving port is determined by the method and degree of seizure provided. A long-term solution is desirable. Flexibility and versatility are desirable.
Retention characteristics apply to the connector to cable attachment and the connector to component attachment. Our bananas are “ultrasonically welded” rather than soldered. This link provides a look at the benefits. No snake oil here!
Our “locking” bananas allow the viewing of the weld and connection. The connector body is unscrewed allowing easy insertion of the tip/prong into the binding post port. As the body is once again tightened, it engages a round “horizontal” bar that’s visible on the body behind the tip. This horizontal bar then moves forward as the body is tightened and in turn drives an internal pin/wedge between the sections of the tip forcing them outward and against the walls of the port. The body is textured to provide a firm grip when tightening. This banana provides maximum surface area connection. It has enough range of adjustability to provide a great connection on almost any binding post application.
We value the ability to adjust retention in our RCA connectors as well. The CARDAS SRCA is used on Iconoclast single ended cable assemblies.
This connector too, has complete retention adjustability for your components. Expensive? Pricey little connectors at $100 + EACH. Worth the money? We sure think so.
BNC, F and XLR all have retention built in.
We’ve got your back! EVERY cable assembly is tested before it leaves the building. Every cable assembly has a 30-day no questions asked return for full refund policy. Iconoclast and BAV cable assemblies are “Belden” produced with 124-years of experience in Richmond, IN and were designed by Galen at the Belden Engineering and Design Center with resources that absolutely none of the other have. Iconoclast and BAV bulk cord is produced from in most cases, the drawing of copper from rods or ingots through the incredibly complex manufacturing process and then cut to length, terminated, tested and shipped from the Blue Jeans Cable facilities in Seattle, WA. Customers tell us that we provide improvements at the level of a MAJOR component or speaker upgrade.
Great walk through of connector type properties and ultrasonic weld benefits. Wondering what your understanding is of the impact of connector mass. Some say that reducing mass as much as possible is desirable. I assume since you use Cardas for your RCA connectors with a fundamental brass body construction that you are not convinced that reducing mass is useful. Thoughts?
Thanks Tom! In my 12-years at Belden I supported domestic/national accounts in AV, CATV, broadcast, broadband, data, fiber, satellite and some wireless verticals that included the networks, the NFL, NASCAR, and an almost unlimited variety of contractors, distributors, engineers, integrators and specifiers. I helped wire both House and Senate intranet systems and trained many federal law enforcement technical investigators in covert surveillance wiring and termination technics at the FLETC facilities in Glencoe, GA. I was on a plane 3-weeks of the month for long time.
Out of Belden’s acquisitions of ICM and Thomas and Betts, I was the sole survivor and considered the “signal delivery and connectivity man!” Maybe some of you remember Cable Pro, Digicon, ICM, Snap N Seal and Thomas & Betts. I became all that was left after Belden bought those companies. They no longer exist though some technology remnants exist as Belden Brilliance.
Not to be confused with a design engineer (that’s Galen’s job,) my job was to match the application to the best cable and “connector” for the application. I did have significant Belden resources as support. I had fun making thousands of folks get excited about how to prep and terminate cables “properly.” I often presented lunch and learn, hands-on events on selecting, prepping and terminating all manner of cables and connector types. Coaxial, data, stranded, fiber and twisted pairs for any application was in the bag. My garage at home was largely filled with ready on the fly product samples.
I was joined with Galen on the Iconoclast project during the last year that Galen and I were a part of Belden and only as a result of their discovering my resume as an audiophile, integrator and VP at Legacy Audio. Am I glad they did!!
Analog audio connectors have the “body” that is the ground component. The cable center conductor is what carries the signal. On a run that can be from very short <3’ to >200’ depending on the size of the conductor, the connector represents a very short transition from cord to connection. In the case of an F-connector, the connector body is the ground and the center conductor remains un-interrupted in form. The rest of the connectors in audio whether its a BNC, RCA, XLR, speaker termination still represent a very short transition from cord to connection to the component or speaker. The quality of the connector is of course important but the method of attachment and the “quality of the transition” is equally important. Connectors can only “screw up” the signal, they can never “improve” the signal.
At Iconoclast, most of our connectors are custom built to our specifications by a long-time vendor. Cost always takes a back seat to performance. The Cardas SRCA and Neutrik XLR’s are exceptions since without question they are widely accepted as being superior to that what many times see on most of the “other guys” offerings. The adjustable insertion/retention attributes and sonic performance of the SRCA connector is one we may attempt in the future to emulate but for now it’s the one we will continue to offer.
Galen is the one who would be better able to provide the engineers prospective on metallurgy and mass topic. Not in my sandbox.
Thanks again.
I had never thought about the signal wire vs body before. Very interesting. Thank you for your time.