I was just browsing the Interweb and found this.

Speakon In-Line Socket

I know at least one person on here has been looking for these in the past and thought it might be useful for future reference.

Josh

A quick look on neutrik.com would have found this as well

Course it would. But would you look just on spec? I'm glad it has been flagged up as FINALLY available, as I've been wanting some for years!

Why would you need to? Why not http://www.neutrik.com/content/technicalsu...gistration.aspx

Many people will appreciate the fact that it is metal bodied also....

Although, having said that - I haven't had any problems with the plastic connectors, but have certainly spoken to users that have.

What is your experience?

Why such hostility to somebody just posting a helpful link?

Thanks Josh, while not something I need right now, I'm certainly going to want one soon!

Bit of an exaggeration there, don't you think?
No hostility was directed at Josh, just a pointer.

could anyone explain to me how this version might be superior to the usual ones? Is it just the casing or does it handle higher loads as well?

They've been available for some time. The 2007 CPC book has them marked "reduced price", so presumably they were in the 2006 book too....

Neutrik's website can explain how this version might be superior to the usual ones:
NLT4FX:

* Current rating 40 Amp continuous, 50 Amp audio with 50% duty cycle
* Robust and durable all metal housing
* Sealing ring provides weatherproof IP54 rating
* Reinforced metal quick lock system for ease and precise locking
* Extra large solder contacts for up to 6mm² (AWG10) wires
* Mate with all available Speakon products

NL4FC:

* Up to 30 A rms current rating
* Reliable and robust, easy and fast to assemble
* Cable strain relief for 5 - 15 mm cable O.D.
* Accurate and dependable twist lock latching system "Quick Lock"
* Glass reinforced material for insert and housing, long-lasting and dependable
* User friendly latch design for easy handling
* Unique Neutrik chuck type strain relief
* Branded with unique hologram - guarantees genuine and authentic Neutrik product

It took me less than a minute to find that information out, you can do the same easily!

Edited to make the pictures clickable.

Not quite sure what you mean there. What 'usual ones'?
This is the only 4-pole male cable mount Speakon connector available, albeit in both 'silver' and black-chrome. The whole STX range has a higher current rating than the 'standard' Speakon range, and are rated at IP54, but then it's only the STX range that actually has the cable mount male: http://www.neutrik.com/uk/en/audio/204_672...roductlist.aspx

What we've all called the "inline socket" is called "cable male" by Neutrik, and what I (and probably all of us) have always called "Speakon plugs" are actually "cable females" in the STX range. The inclusion of "chassis females" (ie opposite to what's normally on chassis') is interesting. Unfortunately it isn't D Type cutout though, which makes things harder for mounting in prebought patch boxes etc.

Grizzly makes a good point, 'usual' could mean anything; NL4FX's (ones with coloured boots), NL4FC Mk1 or Mk2.

The cutout for the 4-pole chassis mount STX range appears to be the same as the 8-pole chassis mount in the 'standard' range.

The inline socket mentioned in the first post uses solder joints which through me off when I first got my hands on some of these as they're not as quickly repairable (although arguably are less prone to failure in the first place). Remarkably expensive compared to the normal plastic units too.

Argh... these! They are awful! We bought a few hundred.... and then during a speaker test discovered that the sound quality between them and the standard plastic bodied Speakon was amazing, the NTL4FX reduced the audio quality (quite possibly due to its need for soldered connectors rather than the standard screw connector).

I recommend you don't waste money on these and buy the standard ones! But we have a few hundred for sale if your interested!

Sorry?
You're saying that there's a huge difference in sound quality between a screw-term'd connector and a soldered connector??

To same I'm sceptical is an understatement.

Buy yourself one of each, get a decent quality sound system and try it - honestly, It was an obvious difference! If your using a lower range sound system you wouldn't really want to spend that much on a connector anyway...

Please tell me what the physics involved in this are? I can see NO reason that a proper soldr connection can be any worse than a proper screw connection. It defies belief!

I'd even go as far as to say that a (properly) soldered connection is almost ALWAYS going to give you a more reliable signal path - less susceptible to noise problems, certainly.
But a properly soldered joint vs a properly screw-term'd joint....
I really CANNOT see that you're going to get ANY noticeable difference between the two, even on a top-drawer hi-fi....

So I'm with Andrew - science or hearsay...?

Opus Amp, Speakers, Meridian CD, Allen and heath DJ console with Van-Damm cable. There was a difference in quality between the two connectors! Solder adds an additional part to the signal path, plain screw terminals are simple copper on copper and therefore are obviously going to be better at giving a good connection.

I am talking about high end audio systems here. But as I said previously, if you have a low end system, why on earth would you buy a more expensive connector anyway? And if you can afford it, then it really is worth testing out!

Don't mock it til you've tried it!

PM me if you want a demo in London, I may be able to sort it!

Certainly doesn't sound too scientific to me.
Maybe their soldering just wasn't very good



Surely a (well) soldered contact would exhibit less contact resistance than a copper-on-copper one?

I think a quick course on 'How to solder' plus a good wash down with IPA to get rid of the snake oil is all that is required!

If this bunk was true, we'd all be using screw terminal XLRs & jacks.

Don't believe that because everybody else does it one way, then that way must be the best.

As I say, test it before you make any further suggestions of bad soldering!

The material you're listening to was probably recorded using a mic containing soldered connections, connected to a soldered-up mic lead, plugged into a wall box with the wires soldered on the back, which runs back to a soldered jack field in the control room, via a patch cord with soldered connections, through the input on the desk which is probably soldered to the PCB, and then through numerous solder joints in the desk before leaving the desk via an output cable with soldered joints and into some sort of recording hardware with even more solder for the signal to pass through. And then there's all the soldered joints within your reproduction equipment to think about. Are you really telling us that, after that lot, you can tell the difference between solder and screw connections in your speaker leads?!

Yes - and to repeat myself again - try it.

But it's not copper on copper... The cable may be (mainly) copper but the NL4 screw block is brass (CuZn39Pb3) and the contacts have a 4 micrometre silver plating.

Well, I'm afraid that I'm going out on a limb here and will say that if what you were hearing were true (and I'm giving you the benefit and will accept that you did indeed hear a difference) then it was NOT going to be down to just the different plugs.
There MUST have been something else in the mix that caused your vastly different aural experience.

What do I base that on?
30 years of working in the am-dram arena aside, I have 30 years of actual work and education in the telecommunications business, the vast majority of which has been spent in the provision or maintenance of transmission systems large and small.
And I have to state quite clearly that in my professional (day job) opinion a properly soldered joint is going to be a FAR better joint that one using crimps or screw terminals, although I'd pretty much guarantee that if I did have two of the different connectors here now and I made up the relevant cables, I KNOW that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference!

Sorry but I have no desire to come to London for a demonstration, but I would definitely suggest you have someone else make up your cables and try your own tests again, because I think you are wrong!

I have used the 'standard' plastic bodied screw speakons for 12 years with no problems at all.

I think the only advantage of the 'new' connectors is that they can take a larger gauge of cable, maybe more suitable for powercons.

John Denim.

This reminds me of a time (WAY too many years ago for me to admit to) when I got involved in an argument about what to use for the "Main Distribution Frame" in a large TV installation. For many years, the standard blocks for an MDF were solder tags but, back in 83 (there, I admitted it) a couple of new systems were coming out: a "wire wrap" system that wound the core tightly around the block and the now-ubiquitous IDC/Krone block system.

The thing was, various audio specialists were convinced there would be a sonic difference if we moved away from solder. In the end, I organised a true blind test and guess what? Not an iota of difference. Nothing. Nada. Rien. Admittedly, this was at line level, not speaker level but I join the brigade of posters saying that, IF there is a quality difference, it is down to a specific reason, not an inherent fault with solder connectors. Just a thought, but have you considered how much solder your signal goes through before it gets out of the amp and into the Speakon?

Bob

Is it experience or being a blind, easily-led consumer that tells me to trust Neutrik with connectors? A bit of both I suspect.