Mic Kaczmarczik's LV Switchcraft vs Neutrik Information

LV Switchcraft vs Neutrik

Do it Yourself

LV Switchcraft vs Neutrik

From: Lord Valve (detritu--(at)--x.netcom.com) Subject: Neutrik vs Switchcraft (wank, wank, wank...) Newsgroups: alt.audio.pro.live-sound Date: 1999/10/22

In <7uns9j$l4i$--(at)--ews1.xs4all.nl> "André Huisman" <newlin--(at)--sa.net>
 delivered another prime example of the Usenet Pedantic Rant, mercifully
 excised: 
 (flush)
 
 Lord Valve Speaketh:
 Yawn...huh?  Oh, are you finished?  OK...Switchcraft
 plugs and jacks are dirt cheap in the US.  I sell the
 most popular model (#280), which is nickel-plated
 solid brass, no plastic on it anywhere, for less 
 than $2 at *retail*.  In hundred-lots, these plugs 
 can be had for less than 90 cents.  The jacks are
 cheap, too.  Most of the speaker cabinets sold in 
 the US are of the 2- or 3-way passive crossover 
 variety, designed for use by bar-bands.  Nearly
 all of the ones in the lower-priced brackets such
 as Peavey, Crate, Yamaha, Audio-Centron, CGM,
 SoundTech, etc. use 1/4" connectors.  Some of these
 (Peavey, for instance) provide access to the individual
 transducers (again, via 1/4" jacks with internal switches
 for bypassing the crossover) for bi- or tri-amp use.
 Many of the more expensive boxes (JBL, Klipsch, EV,
 etc.) also use 1/4" connectors.  Good-quality cables
 featuring Switchcraft 1/4" connectors are by no means
 beyond the budget of most bands, although there are
 always newbies who buy crummy cables which use Chinese 
 knock-offs of the Switchcraft designs.  Unlike the
 cheesy Neutrik stuff, Switchcraft has several models
 (#70, #184, etc.) which are designed with large
 diameter cables in mind.  It is not uncommon to see
 10-gauge twin-core used with these plugs.  As a pro
 bench tech, I see less than a half-dozen failures
 per year which are related to insertion or withdrawal
 of 1/4" connectors while energized with speaker voltage.
 Hardly significant.  Since the Neutrik Speakons are
 fairly reasonable in cost, they will probably become
 the de-facto standard connector for mid- and higher-
 priced boxes.  QSC amps (remember those?) use Speakons
 (in addition to banana plugs, which are better, in
 my unhumble opinion) on most of the models.  The
 Speakon's downfall is poor field serviceability; 
 preparing and properly terminating a 4-conductor
 cable with a Speakon is not something that can be
 accomplished gracefully during a 15-minute break
 in a darkened nightclub.  The termination method
 is also suspect; a 1.5mm-size hex wrench is not
 the best tool I can think of for producing solid
 connections inside a connector subject to constant
 vibration.  Since the copper sleeves that come
 with these are not re-usable, field repairs are
 problematic.  It is nearly impossible to solder
 a (cable-type) Speakon without destroying it, so 
 that method is not viable either.  A few salient 
 points: WD-40 is not a good solvent for beer-removal.
 (Pilsner, either.)  As a matter of fact, unless
 you have a rusty padlock on your equipment truck,
 I have no idea what you'd use it for in an audio
 system.  I cannot imagine spraying this into an
 amplifier.  It's greasy, and it smells bad, too.
 Beer (or soda) needs to be removed with a water-
 based solvent, or with distilled water.  (Actually,
 seltzer works great for this.)  While one certainly
 cannot place an amplifier into an ultrasonic tank,
 cable ends can be so treated with ease, and those
 are *much* more likely to become contaminated
 (during setup and teardown) than the chassis-
 mounted variety.  Amplifiers don't often get
 dropped into mud-puddles, but cables certainly do.
 Beer- (or Pilsner-) puddles too, for that matter.
 As to the contact-resistance of the Z-15J vs
 the Speakon after 5000 cycles, who gives a shit?
 The difference between .01 ohms and .003 ohms is
 only significant to hair-splitters; it's barely
 measurable and certainly inaudible.  This is a 
 non-issue; you are welcome to any wanker-points
 you think you've earned with it.  Lastly, if 
 you don't enjoy my style, I invite you to place
 me into your killfile.  By this simple expedient,
 you need never deal with my jive-ass attitude
 again, junior.  Sorry if you feel that I've taken
 a piss on you; actually, that was NOT piss. 
 Over here we don't have much piss.  We have wee-wee, 
 which only looks and smells somewhat similar.  Give 
 it a little time and it'll evaporate just like the 
 other kind.  Close yer eyes, guys, here comes the Big Sig:
 
 Lord Valve
 
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 Phone orders/tech support after 1:00 PM Denver time at 303-778-1156
 
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 "I'm not an asshole, but I *play* one on the Internet." - Lord Valve