About The AudioQuest 1000 Series Spade Connectors
AudioQuest don't just make high quality speaker cable, but also a range of matching connectors that can be used on most brands of quality cable with ease. By using AudioQuest or other high-quality Banana Plugs you are ensuring that your speaker wire is terminated in the best possible way.
We just thought it would be a good idea to write a little about our experience with speaker cable and terminations which dates back to the mid 1960s as well as the reasons why connectors like Banana Plugs and Spade Terminals are no longer considered a luxury.
Of course, speaker wire or cable has been and will continue to be an important part of the audio video chain for the foreseeable future. You need speaker cable to connect between your Amplifier or A/V Home Theatre Receiver and your speakers. You can use bare wire, but this is the # 1 enemy to causing expensive damage to your Amplifier/Receiver. How so?
Up until the mid 1980's, most Amplifiers had a spring-clip connector and speaker cable was simple 18AWG to 24AWG (thin) stranded cable. It wasn't difficult to get it right although many did get it horribly wrong. Note: AWG stands for American Wire Gauge a USA standard for cable thickness.
We've seen plenty of people strip back even 50mm (should only be 8-12mm) of the insulation thus exposing lots of bare wire and danger! When the positive and negative "touch" disaster is only micro seconds away as well as a nasty burning smell from your precious Amplifier/Receiver!
As speaker cable came under the spotlight as a way of improving sound - Bill Low from AudioQuest was one of the first - and thicker cable was the first theory, a better way had to be found for connecting this thicker speaker cable. The first idea was thin brass pins that were crimped to the cable, and although an improvement, were tricky and often popped out of the spring connector - voice of experience here!
Spade Connectors: These had been around for many years in the electronics world and so the "smarties" among us started using these, particularly at the speaker end which often had thumb screws. However, these still only suited thin cable. So, not long after the brass pins came to market, so did some decent Spade Connectors.
Main Features & Specifications
- AudioQuest – BFA/Banana Gold Plated 1000 Series Plugs - Pack of 4
- One pack of 4 plugs is required for one speaker cable lengths if you wish to have plugs at both the amplifier and the speaker ends
- Direct contact between wire and Beryllium Copper Banana, no intermediary inferior brass
- Direct-Gold Plating, no distortion causing nickel underneath
- Two-Screw fixing via included Allen/Hex key
- 5 Years Warranty. Does not cover misuse
Note: Features & Specifications Subject To Change Without Notice. E&OE