Spades or Bananas For Ref 9's?

gostan · « **on:** 28 Sep 2005, 06:52 pm »

Which type of connection does NuForce recommend at the amp end of the Ref 9: spade or banana? Or is it simply a matter of personal preference?

rustydoglim · « **Reply #1 on:** 29 Sep 2005, 11:23 am »

Spade is preferred by many audiophiles because of the larger contact surface and it can make good contact when the binding post is screwed tight. But a good banana plug and well designed banana binding post can provide large contact surface too.
In a tight space and if you have a stack of monoblocks, it is hard to connect the spade connector.

gostan · « **Reply #2 on:** 5 Oct 2005, 12:39 pm »

Jason:

The Eichmann Cable Pods provide a superb point of contact for my spade connectors at the amp end. I have always bi-wired my B&W's with two separate speaker cables (my Aragon has dual inputs at the amp end) so my Question of the day for you is the following: How do I connect two cables at the amp end with the Eichmann Cable Pods without taking the cables apart and soldering one connector to the two ends? Without getting into the bi-wire controversy, the mid-range of my B&W's does sound better to my ears when bi-wired. I know that one alternative is to switch to an internal bi-wired speaker cable, but is there another choice (besides single speaker cable?).

Thanks,
Stan

ps: I am really enjoying the new amps.

rustydoglim · « **Reply #3 on:** 7 Oct 2005, 09:41 am »

I might be missing something here. Can't you insert two spades into the same binding post? Is it too big? Can you terminate one speaker wire with banana and the other with spade? The Eichmann Cable Pod has a banana socket if you remove the plastic at the end (CE rule)

KJ · « **Reply #4 on:** 7 Oct 2005, 02:27 pm »

Jason,

I'm not sure the Eichmann Cable Pod allows you to fit two spades. However, you can use one spade and one banana as you suggested. My new Ref 9s with the ECP arrive today, so I'll see if there is a way to fit two spades when I get a chance.

-KJ

gostan · « **Reply #5 on:** 7 Oct 2005, 08:06 pm »

Two spades do not really work as the existing spades on my speaker cables are pretty thick and the inner sleeve of the cable pod does not really clamp down tight enough with two spades.

I will have to take out my soldering kit and change one spade for a banana and see if that is a workable solution.

Thanks guys.

nuforce-casey · « **Reply #6 on:** 7 Oct 2005, 08:37 pm »

Gostan,

Since you mentioned that you have 2-sets of speaker cables, and not the typical Y-setup (1 pair of spades at the amp side, 2 pairs at the speaker side), we suggest you try with singl pair of speakers, and it could be an improvement.

NuForce takes feedback at the speaker terminal, should minimize the benefit of biwiring. I would think that having a solid single wire is better than the extra soldered 2nd wire.