Speakon Cable

[cgworkman]

Can some explain the pro's and con's of using Speakon cables? What's the advantage, etc.?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Aussie Mark]

Pros:

* Very secure (locking) connection
* Easy to wire up - no soldering (they have screw connections)
* Is the new industry standard
* Will take heavy gauge speaker cable easily (eg. try wiring an XLR connector to take 12 gauge speaker cable)
* 4 post version can be easily wired for biamping

Cons:

* Relatively expensive
* You will need to buy or make up adapters for connection to non-Speakon equipment

 

[cgworkman]

Are there any advantages as far as sound quality?

 

[oldbluebassman]

Larger contact area which means less contact resistance

= more power to the speaker and less dissipated in the connector.

 

[Aussie Mark]

Thanks Dave, I forgot that one. If you're using 1/4" jacks for speaker connections, the point of contact is only the tip of the plug, which is not very efficient if you're trying to pump large wattage to your speaker.

 

[cgworkman]

So then the answer as far as sound quality would be yes.... At least as far as clarity when delaing with high wattage/peak power...... at least on paper that is ;-)

 

[NorM]

There is a safety issue here too. There is a lot of current coming out of power amps. You can't shock yourself with the speakon connectors. It was that issue that inspired their development. I think that banana jacks have been banned in some places for that reason.