My question is quite simply...why in 2007 do we still have bare-wire speaker connections? Why don't we have 1/8th inch or even 1/4inch connections on both the receivers and the speakers? Instead of having to figure out what is positive and what is negative, this would make it a lot easier for everyone.

Is it cost? or does the 'bare wire' somehow produce a better quality sound then a 1/4 inch or 1/8th inch connection? I've been wondering this for years....and I hope someone here knows the reason why.

Why would it matter? The majority of speaker wire mfg's assume the speaker wire is going to be implemented in a custom installation. If they came with pre attached ends it would certainly hinder a lot of installation options. This is why they are marked with a + or -. So after you pull the wire you can attach you banana plugs to the appropriate ends and then push them into the back of your receiver (which also have banana terminals as well). ;)

Instead of having to figure out what is positive and what is negative, this would make it a lot easier for everyone.
Is it really that hard?




I've been wondering this for years....and I hope someone here knows the reason why.
Wondering this for years? Gee.

Bare wire still works fine for connecting speaker wire and offers the most direct connection. As bass addict pointed out, how would you arrive at custom lengths if speaker wire was already terminated? I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 1/8" or 1/4" connectors, but as it is currently supplied, as bare wire, the consumer is free to attach whatever ends he/she prefers for their speaker wire termination. You CAN easily buy pre-terminated speaker wire if that's your preference.

My question is quite simply...why in 2007 do we still have bare-wire speaker connections? Why don't we have 1/8th inch or even 1/4inch connections on both the receivers and the speakers? Instead of having to figure out what is positive and what is negative, this would make it a lot easier for everyone.

Is it cost? or does the 'bare wire' somehow produce a better quality sound then a 1/4 inch or 1/8th inch connection? I've been wondering this for years....and I hope someone here knows the reason why.

Then you'd have to worry about the manufacturer terminating the cables correctly. :p

1/4" phone plug connectors are pretty common in pro sound and so are Speakon connectors. Many (most?) pro sound gigs are set up and torn down on a regular basis. If you had to constantly connect and disconnect your rig then perhaps different styles of connectors and pre-terminated cables would make more sense.

As others have pointed out, you can get cables pre-terminated with banana plugs and the matching banana jacks are very common on amps, receivers, and speakers. You still have to plug them in with proper polarity orientation though.

Non-speaker connections (low level audio and video connections) use much more fragile wires and shielding needs to be maintained, thus plugs are pre-attached (preferably soldered) to the cables.

Speaker connections are rugged and do not have critical shielding so letting the user attach the wires one at a time manually is not a problem other than avoiding short circuits from stray strands of wire.

Banana plugs and other "terminations" require additional joints, namely between themselves and the wires, and if these joints are not soldered, there are additional places where oxidation can occur and where the quality of the connection can be compromised.

Video hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm