Q. Isn't the AirLoc termination just a method of crimping?
Answer:
The QED AirLoc system is NOT a crimp, but a proper "cold weld". It's agreed with that a crimped connection would be the last thing that you would want for a speaker cable which must carry high current although it CAN be more tolerable in a low current interconnect especially at radio frequencies. A crimp at best simply folds prongs into the conductor and at worst just captures the outer jacket pressing the conductor against the connector surface. In both instances the conductive surfaces are able to oxidize and the crimp connection will loosen over time and eventually go open circuit. Even a screw lock banana plug is a more preferable system to this.
The process of cold welding that we use takes advantage of a process that was discovered in 1950 by Sowter and Dubilier. It is a process by which two non-ferrous metals with a completely clean de-oxidized surface can be completely welded together at a molecular level simply by squeezing them together so that the surface area of the join is reduced by 30 %. This is exactly what happens in our AirLoc process. The high copper content banana plug and the copper conductors become one homogenous alloy of solid metal around the jointed area with a very smooth and simple boundary going from the copper into the plug. The strength of the welded section is therefore demonstrably higher than the conductor or connector themselves. This is both superior and preferable to a soldered connection which relies on the ingress of a dissimilar high resistance material (mainly tin) which forms many high resistance and complex boundaries between the different strands and the surface of the connector, and in most places completely separates them as it fills the interstices. The AirLoc connection remains the same for the life of the cable as the day it was made, the connection cannot oxidize or loosen because it is a weld. The same is true for the soldered connection, but the heating required causes the copper in and around the joint to become hardened and brittle so, over time these strands will begin to separate and eventually break off.
For further reading please see link to an article from a contemporary magazine from around the time of this discovery. Cold welding is now used throughout industry.