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Audio Connectors, etc.
The quality of the connector is usually underestimated. But we know from experience how much sonic difference there is between a tight connection and a pair of surfaces that are just "touching." |
| The Eichmann "bayonet" banana |
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| Why
the bayonet name? It's the way the shell fits together, with a simple
twist. The bayonet plug uses minimum metal, to minimize magnetic
effects, and its spring action provides a tight connection in most
binding posts. It can be fastened to a cable by crimping (with an
arropriate crimping tool of course), or by soldering. Then twist on the
blue shell, and tighten the two set screws to provide strain relief. Click here to see inside the plug.. ORDER: EBB set of four Bayonet Bananas, $99.95  |
| Copper spade terminals |
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| Need
basic ready-to solder spade terminals for your cables? We like this one
from ORB in Japan. We already have the narrow one intended for barrier
strips, like those used by McIntosh and Vandersteen, with a full range
of other sizes coming soon. The spade is 8 mm wide, with an
opening 4 mm across. ORDER: OXB set of eight Orb spades for barrier strips. $37 |
| Furutech bananas and spades |
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|
These
beautifully-made connectors for speaker cables are made of copper,
which is silver-plated, and then rhodium-plated over that for
scratch-resistance. The banana tightens under pressure, much like the
WBT-0645, and you connect the wire the same way as you would the WBT
(see below). The space fastens to a cable the same way, and it's the
first affordable spade connector we have seen in a long time. Both are
highly recommended. The connection is best made by using WBT gold
sleeves over the best wire end, crimped with the WBT-0403 crimping tool
(scroll down to see the WBT products). Buy the tool at the same time as
the connectors, and we'll buy it back when you're through.
ORDER: FTB-R set of four Furutech rhodium bananas, $70.00 |
| Eichmann Cable Pods |
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| Eichmann
is now famous for its outstanding connectors using the strict minimum
of metal, and good metal (tellurium copper, 24K gold plated) at that.
Now come the Cable Pods, replacements for the binding posts on speakers
or amplifiers. It mounts in panels with thickness ranging from 1mm to
10mm. The blue panel can be removed if your mounting holes are not the
standard distance apart. A non-rotating washer makes it easy to tighten
them against a spade. They'll take a banana (just pop off the safety
cap), spade or bare wire. You can solder the wire, or -- this is unique
-- you can actually connect to the rear with a banana, and no solder
needed! ORDER ECP, set of 4 binding posts, $119.95 |
| WBT connectors |
 |
|
The banana connectors above are the best we know of. Tighten them, and they'll grip under so much pressure you could lift your speaker by the cable. But now the Nextgen connectors from WBT are way better than we could have imagined. They are made with the minimum of metal, and that metal is pure copper, plated with several layers of gold. In a direct comparison, we found (in UHF No. 85) that the difference in the connector actually swamped differences in cables. There are two variants: a banana (our fave!) and a spade whose business end is a resilient sandwich, so that it connects under pressure. You can buy UHF's own cables with WBT connectors attached (see Cables), or you can buy the connectors and install them yourself. We recommend "crimping" connectors, which require no solder. You buy appropriate gold sleeves, which you must crimp onto the wire end. Sizes shown are the area of the opening in the sleeve.
To crimp a sleeve onto the bare wire, WBT has a special crimping tool, WBT-0403, but it is no longer in production, and WBT's promises to bring it back soon have not been fulfilled.
We also have the solid silver version of both nextgens, recommended if you are using silver cable.
|
| WBT nextgen phono plugs |
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| Just
as the nextgen bananas sound better with a minimum amount of pure
copper, so too the nextgen phono plugs are of superior quality. They
require soldering, not crimping. they are available in either pure
copper or pure silver (for silver cables). It comes with a collar (not
shown) which you turn to connect the plug under pressure. ORDER: WBT-0110, set of four nextgen copper plugs, $160 ORDER: WBT-0110Ag, set of four nextgen silver plugs, $280 |
| Eichmann Bullet Plugs |
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| Built
with the strict minimum of metal, and thus minimum magnetic
interference, the Bullet Plug has become famous, and is being put on a
lot of surprisingly expensive cables. Two easily accessible solder
lugs. Got silver cables? Order the Silver Bullet. ORDER: EBP, set of four Bullet Plugs, $77.95 ORDER: EBPA, set of four Silver Bullet Plugs, $154.95 |
| A two-way adapter |
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| Need
to connect two cables to one jack? You do if you have a subwoofer or a
video system. Or if you want to biamplify. Our FYA adapter, for $20 a
pair, is gold-plated and is insulated with Teflon. ORDER: FYA, pair of Y adapters, $20 |
| ProGold connector treatment |
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| We
know people who use alcohol to clean their connectors. We don't advise
it, because alcohol is corrosive, and so the improvement is
short-lived. We use ProGold, which not only removes oxidation, but
slows its buildup, and actually improves conductivity. ProGold is used
in aerospace and marine applications as well as Audio and video.The PGW
kit is a box of small wipes, which can be used to clean accessible
connector surfaces. We also use the PGS spray can, which squirts
ProGold onto surfaces you cant get at with wipes. ORDER: PGS, ProGold spray bottle, $35 ORDER: PGW, ProGold sipes, $35 ORDER: Both wipes and spray, ordered together, $56 |
| Wako-Tech silver solder |
 |
| If
you plan to solder a critical audio connection, get this
extra-conductive 4% silver-content solder, from the same people who
make the Enacom AC filter and Harmonix components. It's totally
lead-free, with silver of exceptional purity, greater strength than
other "audiophile" solders, and chlorine-free flux to reduce corrosion.
We've been using this solder ourselves for years. ORDER: SR-4N, a 100g roll, $59.95 |
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ALL PRICES SHOWN IN CANADIAN DOLLARS. FOR ORDERING INFORMATION, IN CANADA OR ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, GO BACK TO THE MAIN AUDIOPHILE STORE PAGE. QUERY BY E-MAIL. |
