Has anybody ever actually tested the difference between these methods of connecting speaker terminal plugs to speaker cables? I am leaning towards a combination of crimp or screw AND solder, but am unclear whether that is really the best way, or if any of these methods make a discernible difference at all.
I have come across a variety of opinions when perusing some old threads here, and while some make sense, some others don't. I found this one interesting:
personaly i dont solder,i like the idea of having copper on copper,silver on silver.rather then having it sitting in a pool of tin thats not very connductive
I don't agree with the logic here because I can't see how the higher resistance of tin can really have an impact the overall resistance of that connection. Resistance becomes a function of both: the length of the conductor and its cross-sectional area. I think that, in a solder joint, the effective
length is minimal (compared to the length of the wire itself). It also makes sense to me that we could talk about an
effective cross-sectional area of the surface contact between the copper in the wire and the terminal plug/spade. I think the effective area would be maximized in a soldered connection, but with a slight increase to the
effective length of the connection. Granted, it's a tall order to model the effective length and cross-section of a connection be they soldered or crimped; however, maybe we could just optimize BOTH by crimping AND soldering?
I realize this is all engineering minutia, but does anybody know if there any reports or tests on this published somewhere, or does anybody have any experience in comparing these methods?
-Dave