Round pin plugs/sockets

>>>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.