So, that’s the question in a nut shell. Can spade connections at the speaker end of the cable be changed to bananas without compromising performance (and without sending them to the factory, as I’m in New Zealand).
The longer story is I have a 3m pair and can get a 5m pair that would give me a tidier setup as one of the 3m leads has to run in front of a cabinet, 5m would enable me to hide it and future proof for a different room. But the 5m ones have spades at the speaker end and I’m using spade-spade SL jumpers with bananas on the speaker cable on my Totems and the terminals are really close together. So, for it to work, I’d need to change the speaker ends from spade to banana. Can it be done without compromising performance?
No the Naim plugs are only factory fitted. While banana plugs are superior, it’s not the case that spades are rubbish. I expect you’d lose more by soldering on after market banana plugs than using the Naim spades.
Not to mention, making the cables virtually unsellable if you ever want to change.
Thanks, that’s good to know. Looks like I’ll stick with the 3m leads, which isn’t an issue. It was more a “nice to do” to go 5m, as a used pair was available.
I’d leave the speakers supplied link bars in place and simply wire diagonal like shown.
What a compromise to have all that jumper mess and all the extra connectivity that will be more of a hindrance than not.
Well, only in that I found that the speakers had quite a bit more slam with the jumpers. Though I have changed from the 250 DR to the 300 DR since I added the jumpers.
If it works for you then spend and enjoy.
I’ve always found the opposite but I now have speakers with one set of connectors so I’m past that carry on.
I wonder what it’s like on the inside.
