We all need our escapes from the seemingly never ending existential dread that surrounds us these days, and Anubis knows I have mine. I've never escaped via illicit drugs or alcohol (no, really!), but as you've surmised if you've followed me here for any length of time, you know I do have my…obsessions.
Today I did a thing. I brought my 1984 Yamaha amplifier into the 21st century by swapping out the existing speaker binding posts with the newer style 5-way binding posts that accept so-called "banana plugs." These also don't balk at the thicker, 14-gauge wire I currently have running to my speakers.
It really wasn't something I'd previously considered because the amount of work involved in swapping these posts out individually was well beyond what I ever wanted to do on my own. But one day I stumbled upon a link in an audio discussion forum to a guy who builds plug-n-play assemblies that simply replace the existing part. Done and done.
It took me the better part of an hour to swap out the part—mainly because I have the soldering skills of a 6-year old and the eyes of a 66-year old—but once I got everything put back together I was pleasantly surprised how easy it really was…and I was even more surprised that I did it without blowing anything up!
Does it make the amp sound any different? No, of course not. But I like the look and the future ease of using those banana plug connectors.