# Speaker connects



## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

Pardon me if this is a noob question.


when building speaker cabinets and wiring speakers... Should I solder the wires internally to the speaker tabs or should I use Terminal disconnects like these? just wondering about excessive heat when soldering to the speaker tabs.

http://www.zaphaudio.com/ZA5/ZA5.5tt-series-hookup.jpg


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## fusseli (May 1, 2007)

Definitely don't be afraid of using quick disconnects. Depending on the speaker, the leads can be quite tiny (especially on tweeters) and soldering on a wire can easily re melt other stuff that you don't want melted. If it will give you better piece of mind, you can find gold plated disconnects. Long story short a good connection is a good connection and you won't hear a difference if you buy less fancy ones.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Russ has nailed it. But for me personally i like to solder my connections at the crossover and terminal plate but at the speaker end female spades are the way to go.:T


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## Seaxe (Sep 13, 2008)

G,day fschris, my long experience tells me that a soldered joint beats a push on tab, especially over time, as tab connectors will oxidise over time. Learn to use a soldering iron; its a great friend. Cheers , Mike.


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## Zeitgeist (Apr 4, 2009)

Having done both, my preference is good quick disconnects.

Unless it's a speaker you'll never ever take apart or replace a driver, I think quick disconnects are the way to go.

I've read more than one thread about solder vs disconnects, and good quality disconnects are used for connections in aviation avionics all the time for their reliability over solder joints.

I'm skeptical about a tiny bit of oxidation making any difference.


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

If you look at even high end speakers, they usually have the female quick disconnect connectors. Just make sure the one you use is really tight on the tab. You should have to grip hard and yank it to get it off.

And I agree with the tweeter comment. Some of those have tiny tabs with smaller wires behind them, so soldering could melt the internal connection and you might not realize it until you hook everything up for testing. Sometimes finding inline connectors for those can be a bear, too so knowing how to solder without overheating everything is important too.

From an engineering perspective, a good physical connection beats a soldered connection always. Solder is higher resistance than a good metal to metal joint. The best solder joints start as good physical connections and the solder just fills the gaps. You never want solder to be the main electrical path, which can happen from a bad solder joint. And solder should never be used as glue, although that is sometimes unavoidable with certain connectors. Now there are some caveats to the mechanical over solder decision: no corrosion or oxidation on the metals, match metal types whenever possible, and the connection has to be tight. 

At work we deal with signal lines, impedance matching, power distribution, and all sorts of connector types (inline, screw terminal, circular MIL, RF, etc) and we always prefer crimp over solder for wires.


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

Thanks. I think the answer is clear !!


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