soldering to driver terminals

[daveinva]

Has anyone tried soldering wires from the crossover to the terminals on the drivers? If so:

A: Could you hear any difference?

B: Have you melted any voice coil wires?

[Sydney]

Yes I have
No to A:
No to B:

[martyh]

It's generally not recommended. It becomes a hassle to remove the drivers and the constant soldering and re-soldering can lead to cosmetic damage of the frame...or worse.

[LouC]

Rarely use anything but spade connectors. Too easy to fry tinsel leads, melt the insulator board. On some tiny tweeters, I've soldered leads (with heatsinks and trepidation) just cause the mounts were so fragile.

Sound wise, I doubt that I could hear any difference. But some claim they can hear a flea fart when they make changes...

[jeff_free69]

Yes
No
No

Once the design is pretty firmed up I solder. Connectors are more of a pain for me. I've had them get pulled / slip off after the speaker is screwed in.
That I know I can hear
Removing a driver scares me more than soldering the terminals.

[Sydney]

Too easy to fry tinsel leads, melt the insulator board.

Hopefully you are not relating a bad past experience.
I can honestly say that I've never damaged a driver from soldering.

[jinjuku]

I use 16 (18 on tweets) AWG to wire internally with so it's no big deal for me to unsolder/resolder. Not like I am doing this 20-30 times.

That small of gauge (with a bit of practice if you haven't soldered before) you are on and off the leads quick as to not cause a problem.

16AWG is good for 9 amps. So not a problem by a long shot.

[johnnyrichards]

I soldered a tweeter to death once, it was NLA. Ever since, I use push terminals almost exclusively. Sometimes I have to slightly modify them, they are generally to loose or too tight. Either a slight prying open with a small, flat tip screwdriver or a slight pinch from a needle nose pliers.

Sometimes you can slide heat shrink tubing over the connection, for a little added peace of mind.

[PWR RYD]

Sometimes I have to slightly modify them, they are generally to loose or too tight. Either a slight prying open with a small, flat tip screwdriver or a slight pinch from a needle nose pliers.

Sometimes you can slide heat shrink tubing over the connection, for a little added peace of mind.

+1

They generally are too loose and I have to give them a little squeeze with pliers.

[dthomas]

Has anyone tried soldering wires from the crossover to the terminals on the drivers? If so:

A: Could you hear any difference?

B: Have you melted any voice coil wires?

I guess it boils down to how good you are with a solder gun. I have soldered to hundreds of drivers over the years and to be honest don't ever recall any real issue. Tweeter terminals are most sensitive and require you have an appropriate gun. Of course I have seen what someone with little experience with a solder iron can do so simply ask yourself "are you comfortable with a soldering gun next to your new driver"?

Also I just tin the connector on the driver then tin the wire I am going to connect and lightly tack them. Works great and contrary to a few examples in this post, it is very simple and non-destructive to remove if you need to. Plus I can't imagine why you would remove the wires from a driver multiple times even if you are tweaking the crossover values there would be no need to solder and resolder the wires on the driver. So not sure why so many people find the need to connect and reconnect wires to their drivers.

It won't create an audible difference between a well connected spade connector.

[Sidi]

Another factor is the quality of the soldering iron and solder you use.

I use a Metcal Smartheat rework station and 1%cored tin-lead solder. Less chance of overheating because you are in and out in under 2 seconds.

[djg]

I solder. A little wet rolled up piece of paper towel will act as a heat sink to protect tiny tweeter connections. Per dthomas, tin the wire and terminal, quickly touch the iron to complete. No mechanical twisting or putting wire through hole in terminal. The holes in speaker terminals are for locking the mechanical spade connectors.

[John_Frum]

Either way requires experience and patience or you can cause damage. I have accidentally de-soldered tinsel leads and I have pulled terminal pads off the frame while trying to remove tight spades. It really boils down to doing what you are more comfortable/have more experience doing. I have improved my soldering skills (and equipment) a lot in the last decade, so I usually solder mine.

[Leroy R]

I do both depending on the driver. On drivers with tabs big enough to get a good connection with a push on terminal, I go that route. If the tabs are too small and short to make a good reliable connection with a push on terminal, I solder the leads to the terminals. As others have said, melt a drop of solder onto the terminal and tin the wire. Hold the wire against the terminal and apply the iron to the wire until the solder melts. This should only take a couple seconds. Remove the iron while holding the wire very still until the solder cools. If you move the wire before the solder cools, you will most likely have a bad connection. 3 - 6 seconds should be adequate cooling time. I haven't noticed any difference in sound quality with either connection type. I have pulled terminals off poorly manufactured drivers while trying to pull off a tight fitting push on terminal before. It's only happened a couple times and due to the terminal being poorly attached to the insulator. I try to get a good grip on the the insulator and the terminal now when pulling these apart to help prevent that from happening.

[rpb]

I've soldered many, but what I sometimes do is put the wire through the hole, and twist it snuggly around the tab. I only recently started using spade connectors, and I'm amazed at how poorly they seem to fit most times. Opening up one with a screw driver is just asking to stab myself with the tool. I tried removing one that originally was loose, and had been tightened with pliers, and I nearly ripped the thing apart pulling it off.

[Brewski]

I tend not to trust the spade connections to not fall off of my drivers. What I've been doing is soldiering wire to the speaker leads and then adding a spade connection about 6" t0 9" away from the driver. That way I can still disconnect the speaker if I need to plus I get a better male to female connector connection than I would if i was attaching them to the drivers.

Take it easy
Jay

[KiwiListener]

Rarely use anything but spade connectors. Too easy to fry tinsel leads, melt the insulator board. On some tiny tweeters, I've soldered leads (with heatsinks and trepidation) just cause the mounts were so fragile.

Sound wise, I doubt that I could hear any difference. But some claim they can hear a flea fart when they make changes...

Damn but that would have to be one big flea

[WernerM]

I tend not to trust the spade connections to not fall off of my drivers. What I've been doing is soldiering wire to the speaker leads and then adding a spade connection about 6" t0 9" away from the driver. That way I can still disconnect the speaker if I need to plus I get a better male to female connector connection than I would if i was attaching them to the drivers.

Take it easy
Jay

+1
I like that idea and may have to try it myself...