# Spades: Screw vs. Crimp vs. Locking



## perritterd (Mar 11, 2010)

Hi. I am attempting to make my own speaker cables and thinking about spades for the long runs I have to my surround speakers vs. bare wire. The backs of these speakers are exposed to anyone looking at them and so I would like to dress them up nicely. My question, is screw termination of the spade better than crimp on? I am kind of afraid of the way the crushed (crimped) spade would look. I have also seen locking spades...not sure how these work, though. Also, would you use heat shrink on the wire/terminal after finishing with the termination? I do plan on running 3/8" sleeve over 12awg wire. 

I would appreciate any ideas or suggestions as to what kind of spades to use and where to find them. I'm going to need 4/pr. 

Bob.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

perritterd said:


> Hi. I am attempting to make my own speaker cables and thinking about spades for the long runs I have to my surround speakers vs. bare wire. The backs of these speakers are exposed to anyone looking at them and so I would like to dress them up nicely. My question, is screw termination of the spade better than crimp on? I am kind of afraid of the way the crushed (crimped) spade would look. I have also seen locking spades...not sure how these work, though. Also, would you use heat shrink on the wire/terminal after finishing with the termination? I do plan on running 3/8" sleeve over 12awg wire.
> 
> I would appreciate any ideas or suggestions as to what kind of spades to use and where to find them. I'm going to need 4/pr.
> 
> Bob.


Why not use Bananna connectors? IMO they look much nicer. I would look at Parts Expess or Monoprice for your connectors to come up with some ideas on what to use. I like the idea of useing sleeve over the wire, that will dress them up nicely as will shrink wrapping the ends.:T


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## perritterd (Mar 11, 2010)

bambino said:


> Why not use Bananna connectors? IMO they look much nicer. I would look at Parts Expess or Monoprice for your connectors to come up with some ideas on what to use. I like the idea of useing sleeve over the wire, that will dress them up nicely as will shrink wrapping the ends.:T


Thanks for the reply bambino. I can only use banana's on the AVR side, which I intend to do. The spades are for the speaker side, which will not accept banana plugs-only bare wire or spades. Any opinion about the crimp vs. screw on type spade connector? 

Bob


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

perritterd said:


> Thanks for the reply bambino. I can only use banana's on the AVR side, which I intend to do. The spades are for the speaker side, which will not accept banana plugs-only bare wire or spades. Any opinion about the crimp vs. screw on type spade connector?
> 
> Bob


I have heard "Myths" on both styles. IMO since spades are your only option i'd go for the screw on style, they will look better and sonically you surely won't hear a differance. Otherwise your idea of making a fine looking cable is right on track.:T


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

I've used the F-conn crimp series that screw on a spade (or banana) after you get the base set on the wire.

They are a bit pricey, but you can change from pin to spade to banana easily and once you have the tooling (you don't have to buy F-conn's $100 crimper), they are easy to do.

I also like double-set-screw units like these locking bananas:
http://www.speakerrepair.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=locking

They also have screw style spades with some good graphics on how they assemble:
http://www.speakerrepair.com/mm5/me...de=genem&Product_Code=SR4&Category_Code=spade

I don't work for them  I promise. I have just bought their products a lot in the past and been pleased.

Parts express and monoprice also have good selections on spade lugs of different types and I know Parts Express sells the F-conn stuff I mentioned earlier.

Good luck.


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## gsmollin (Apr 25, 2006)

Crimped lugs are smaller than screw type, they can be bought with insulation on them, and they have a more professional look than screw-ons. They also have lower resistance then screw-ons, but this is not important for speaker connections because that is a low-power connection anyway.

Having said that, you can use crimps, screw-ons, bananas or bare wires and not hear any difference.


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## koyaan (Mar 2, 2010)

You might want to visit the Blue Jeans Cable website. Their connectors are more expensive than Monoprice, but they're good looking and substantial. They also have some very good instructions for terminating cable.


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