B&W DM604 speakers

[flava30]

Yes Ken! I don't have a 3.9mm bit only 4.0mm, but I will go to the hardware store tomorrow and pick one up.

 

[KenM10759]

You don't have to go get a drill. charmerci is correct, I didn't even notice that. Those are brass plugs in the holes that are already there. Why else would there be holes in the caps?

 

[flava30]

Wait, Charmerci, you think that it has gold caps? I will try it.

 

[charmerci]

Yeah, it's like pulling teeth!

 

[flava30]

Nope. Solid.

 

[charmerci]

Oh well.... in the words of Sarah Palin. Drill, baby, drill!

 

[flava30]

Hahaha...yes! Tomorrow's lil project. I hope I find a 3.9 bit. They are usually 4.0 not 3.9 as far as I know.

 

[KenM10759]

You could use a 5/32" or 4mm *if* your banana plugs have plenty of spring in them, or are the Blue Jeans Cable "locking" banana plugs. The difference between 3.9mm and 4mm is only 0.004", about the thickness of two strands of hair (or one really coarse black.)

A 4mm drill is 0.0012" bigger than a 5/32" drill.

 

[flava30]

I got the Nakamichi ones and already using them on my CM 1's sorround and my CM Centre and they are solid. Very good spring to them.

 

[flava30]

One thing thay wasn't mentioned; friction builds up heat. Drilling was taking forever. Definetly not like butter. Managed to get a little burrow but stopped because the post got so hot it almost melted the post cover where the post sits. Luckily I noticed and saved it. Had to whip out the hair dryer to get post out and clean up the area with a sharp knife. The areas that almost melted. This project requires a vise grip to actually hold the post for drilling because it gets too hot. I will purchase the two pairs of post for this project. It should be a smooth straight up swap project. Thanks to everyone for their input and suggestions.

 

[KenM10759]

That shouldn't have gotten to anything more than "warm to the touch". I suspect it wasn't brass substrate beneath the gold electroplate, the drill was dull, or the drill was a brand new piece of junk made "offshore."

Where are you located, by the way?

 

[flava30]

Yeah, I suspect the same thing, not brass. I have a Ryobi drill. The drill was fine as well as the bit. I'm in NYC, Manhattan. At any rate, I placed an order on some post already so no biggie.

 

[flava30]

BTW, I bought the bennic/yung post. They look pretty close to what B&W provides.

 

[flava30]

Everything worked out nice. Is it me or do this speakers sound better with the banana plugs. When I bought the maze jumpers (not previous owner, I purchased them) they already sounded better. They went up a notch with the plugs or is it just mental? Lol...

 

[KenM10759]

Congrats on getting it done! It could be just a bit better connection between the speaker wire and the speaker, though could be as much your mind wanting it to sound better for all the work you put into it. Doesn't matter! As long as it sounds better to you that's all that matters and well worth the effort.

 

[flava30]

Thanks Ken! I'm moving soon. When I do I'll post some pics. I pushing all speakers with my pioneer elite sc 72, but now I got the amp itch. Do I really need one in a NYC apt? That model 5000 is looking sweet and affordable.

 

[KenM10759]

Others here are more versed on the amp question, though you can start with what distance are you from the various speakers, how big is the room and just what kind of volume do you expect?

 

[flava30]

When I move I will jump to the amp section after I get all this data. Thanks again Ken.

 

[Swerd]

BTW, I bought the bennic/yung post. They look pretty close to what B&W provides.

I'm glad they got the job done. When you described how drilling made the old binding post get hot, I knew it couldn't be brass.

I couldn't find any info on the power requirements for your DM604s, but I'd be surprised if your Pioneer, rated at 130 wpc, is inadequate for them.

 

[lovinthehd]

After all this effort, just why was it so important to have banana plugs? You plan on changing connections often? Bare wire ends would be a better connection....