GLS Audio Safe-Connect Generation 4" Gold Connector Spade Plugs - 8 Pack (4 Reds & 4 Blacks)

I have to post a review noting how pleased I am when it comes to utilising these Y clips. The clips are very well made and easy to configure. I’m actually amazed at how ingenious these are and wonder where they were during the many decades in the past when I was configuring my audio equipment!A word of caution. Size matters. These are not small when it comes to the size of the “Y”. Consequently, when it comes to audio equipment, especially the very popular vintage equipment, be aware you must get smaller clips! For example, these are too large for the screw system used with the bare wire wrap arounds employed by most older speakers. To substitute Y clips for simply wrapping bare wire around a pole and securing with a screw as in old Dynacos, AR’s, Advents, EPI’s, etc., make sure to find smaller Y clips. As great as these are in theory if the clips are not small enough to fit with the screw on the back of, e.g., a pair of old Dynaco A-25’s, you will have to fall back on a bare wire connection.

If you have really large gauge speaker wire and audiophile size binding posts on your speakers these are excellent. I used with Kimber Kable KWIK 12 in wall 12 gauge cable. That 4 wire cable has separate high and low frequency wires for each side. You twist each high and low pair together at the termination. That makes a huge end that requires a big connector. 99% of connectors out there won't accommodate large speaker cable. I have unsuccessfuly tried several connector models from multiple sources, including the biggest ones from Monster. This GLS connector takes the KWIK 12 easily and is rock solid when you screw it home. The angled spade allows the wire to lie much flatter behind your speakers than a banana plug (banana plugs work best on the amplifier end). The spade is likewise huge so you will want to use them only if you have large binding posts like you find on high quality speakers. If you are spending the money on 10 or 12 gague speaker wire you probably also have audiophile quality speakers with big binding posts.

Be aware that these are large spade lugs. Very good build quality and performance but they will not fit 1/4 inch posts with an insulation barrier between the + and - terminals. If you have a lot of space around each lug these will be fine. If you don't, measure it and be sure they fit. I ended up cutting on "leg" of the spade off and it mounted and worked just fine. Just be sure they will fit on your terminals. I didn't see the dimensions in the description and bought them anyway. They work great even with one leg cut off but if you care the dimensions from the outside of each leg to the outside of the other is about 9/16 of an inch.

I was using bare Canare 4S11 cable to connect to my speakers. Swapping between my AV receiver and stereo became a bit difficult because the wire started to frey and bunch up from being screwed down on the speaker post. I picked these up to make swapping cable easier.It took a little time to fit the 11 ga wire in there... I had to use a bit of force. Once i got it pushed through it screws together easy. The connection seems as good as crimped spades.They are pretty thick. Maybe 1/8 in. Might be too big for some equipment. These are made of gold plated brass. I wish it was made of thinner gold plated copper, but I do not notice any sound quality difference between the bare wire and these so I guess I can deal with it.

These things are very well made.Just take your wire ends, strip some insulation off, feed it into the receptacle, and screw it on to tighten the wire down. Works wonderfully and you can reuse them as many times as needed because there's no crimping involved. The contacts themselves are sturdy (have some thickness to them) and also have some grooves cut in to give some grip on binding posts.My only gripe is that sometimes the O-rings will catch on the thread, but you just back it out and retighten it carefully.

OK - here's the result of my promise to "report back". I ordered a different brand of these connectors because I had problems with the quality of some of these GLS connectors - they were simply defective and would not screw together. Based on that experience and my experience with the new connectors (Media Bridge), I recommend the Media Bridge for better overall fit and finish and usability plus zero defects. Here is a link the Media Bridge connectors if you're interested. They are bit more money than the GLS but worth it from my experience.Mediabridge Ultra Series Fast-Lock 45° Spade Plugs - 12 Pair Per Package - (Part# SPC-ST2-12)I had given these connectors a 5 star review. Then I bought 2 sets and on the LAST 2 connections of the LAST 2 wires, the FINAL 2 connectors were defective - would not thread. Ugh. I'll order another brand and see how they stack up and report back.Original reviewI've got a 7.1.2 home theater/Atmos setup and I have 9 total speakers. My L/R/C speaker wires are 10 gauge shielded low oxygen copper and my surrounds are 14 gauge shielded low oxygen copper. Using the terminal product photos on Amazon as guidance, I stripped the 10G and 12G wires so that 1/4" of the wire was exposed. I found I got better "grip" on the wire by bending the exposed wire down around the terminal housing with my fingers and then screwing on the terminal clip.Pro:-Heavy duty-Gold plated-Simple design-Hold really well on large gauge wire-Clamp in tight to audio equipmentCon:-Not the best for 18 gauge wire. I tried it on some 18 gauge lamp wire just to see if it would work and I had a hard time getting the wire to grip tight but it might be technique and wire length - you need to make sure both are spot on.There are a wide array of mega-expensive speaker wire and cable connectors in the market place and you can spend stupid money on many of them. I've played the McIntosh deal showroom "interconnect game" at my dealer with a wide variety of high end cables (some north of $1000 for a 3 meter set of speaker cables) and I'm convinced that "diminishing returns" arrive quickly with those products.Unless you literally have "dog ears" or you're the reincarnation of Leonard Bernstein, what you're wearing in the listening room has a greater audio impact for music and especially a home theater setup than the sonic difference between 10 gauge low oxygen copper speaker wire with these properly installed terminals and the $1000 three meter money makers for the cable companies. This review comes from an audio head with 4+ decades of annoying his neighbors with his sound system.