What's the advantage of Speakon connectors vs. standard 1/4 " ends? Is it worth buying new cables or replacing the ends of my cables?
Speakons have positive locking so they can't be pulled out by accident. They also have wiping contacts so that they tend to be self-cleaning when used. They have a larger contact area which means, as someone else pointed out, they can handle larger currents. Some of my speaker cables have Speakons on each end, others have a Speakon on one end, and a ¼" TS on the other - by using a Speakon->Speakon barrel coupler, I can not only extend my Speakon cables, but I can extend the ¼" TS cables also. - Wil
Bah! I don't buy that. Show me some specs and then we'll talk. I like 'em just because they lock in place.