Round pin plugs/sockets
 

Fwom:The Natural Philosopher )
sPONiX wrote:
On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 18:46:02 GMT, "brugnospamsia"
wrote:

I've heard tell they may well be technically superior to
square pins.

Yes, they are better...they exhibit far less resistance than square
pinned sockets and (Gold plated ones) are much loved by
audiophiles.

They are often much worse. The square pinnded ones allow the use of
contacts that are flat and springy. Anyone who used the old round
ones
knows that after a while they worked loose, started arcing and were a
definite hazard.


Yes, there was a funadmental problem with the round pin design: it was
the solid plug pin itself that was meant to be sprung, courtesy of
nothing more than a slot in the pin, and the socket tubes were often
unsprung. A recipe for poor contact and arcing.

So much old round pin kit was not well designed, and not meeting
modern safety standards. Later round pin kit was very much better.

Round pins have another fundamental problem: the fact that you can
insert them at an angle so the N pin goes in the L hole, and your hand
goes on the plug's uncovered L pin.

But rounds very much win on one point: style. There is such a wide
range of them about, and some really do look excellant. I dont think
one could ever say that of the square pin monsters.


NT