Bannnana Plugs
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Bronze Member Username: HogwildPost Number: 44 Registered: Aug-05 | I'm finishing off a pretty high end home theatre and need to terminate my 12 gauge speaker cables with appropriate bannana plugs. I understand that there is a lot of hype around name brand stuff especially with audio components. I want good value without being stupid. What are some good choices for these plugs? Are solder-on or screw-on better? |
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Silver Member Username: John_sColumbus, Ohio US Post Number: 928 Registered: Feb-04 | Hogwild, I am currently using plugs like these from Parts Express. They require a very small screwdriver to tighten the double set screws. I found the blister packed pairs under the RCA brand name at Home Depot at $4.99/pr. http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=091-1165 |
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Silver Member Username: PraetorianCanada Post Number: 178 Registered: Dec-05 | Why terminate them at all? Most speaker/receivers that accept plugs can also accept the bare wire. They certainly will not improve connectivity, and if your worried about oxidation, clip them if they turn green... |
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Silver Member Username: John_sColumbus, Ohio US Post Number: 935 Registered: Feb-04 | Of course it is not necessary to terminate with banana plugs, but they do have some advantages. First, it is much easier to hookup speaker output wires to very closely placed 5-way binding posts on most receivers. This unsures against any possibility of any shorts caused by stray strands. And it makes any necessary disconnects/reconnects much easier. Second, banana plugs also ensure against any "slippage" of the connection due to the possible loosening of the screw post. This happened to me once on a suspended center channel speaker, where the weight of the suspended 10 ga. wire slipped loose partially due to a loose speaker post that started tight but grew loose. Thankfully, my receiver shut down when the speaker wire was hanging literally by a thread. It took me some time to track the problem down, but then banana plugs solved that problem. True, banana plugs will not improve performance, but they do improve safety/convenience enough to justify their cost. |
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Bronze Member Username: Dodgedifferent2Windsor, Ontario Canada Post Number: 97 Registered: May-05 | i use the solderless ones from radioshack. I believe they are about 1 buck a pair, but i bought them a year ago. I do know they still carry them. I do not have any complaints about them, but how could i tell? |
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Silver Member Username: PraetorianCanada Post Number: 192 Registered: Dec-05 | Nothing wrong with those, or the ones that Jon recomends, I also terminate my wires. I just like to make sure everyone has their facts straight. Some will tell you that you MUST terminate your wires for (insert stupid audio tweak here)... Without them your losing half your sound quality etc... I went and bought Monster terminations when I bought my first receiver... learn from my mistake. |
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Bronze Member Username: HogwildPost Number: 45 Registered: Aug-05 | I got some gold Phillips banana plugs from Sayal on Victoria Pk in Toronto. Pretty fancy looking screw on ones at $3.99 a pair. They looked like they could handle 8 gauge wire. |
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New member Username: Tj0099Edmonton, Alberta, Your in Oil ... Canada Post Number: 6 Registered: May-06 | actually bare wire to direct connection is best in all honesty(direct path), minus the lampcord theory, yet I also use bananas due to the binding posts I have on my speakers and receiver\amps. I use gold plated, depends on the conductivity of the plug and the quality of the connector. Gold is the best conductor, followed by silver, then bronze, followed with copper and added alloys etc IMO.... Just make sure your cables are worth it also. You may own a Ferrari but what tires do you run it on, Walmart specials replace me once a year or Goodyear\Firestone all season radials....cables do make a difference all round IMO...i spend 15-20% of my system value on cables and connections. I can't afford gold, but silver does a hell of a job....  |
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Silver Member Username: PraetorianCanada Post Number: 219 Registered: Dec-05 | Oilers, your half right, pure gold is better than pure silver copper, etc... However, pure gold is way too soft and malleable to be useful for anything (even jewellery) so you're getting an alloy no matter what. This will lead to degradations in your signal. Therefore, GENERALLY speaking, silver makes a better connector commercially. It's just too expensive to have enough gold in something to make it a better interconnect. As to your cables... to each there own. I do NOT recommend you follow that example Hog. |
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Bronze Member Username: HogwildPost Number: 51 Registered: Aug-05 | Thanks for the replies, I needed to act and the Phillips gold connectors seemed good and were easy to install. Mine is not an industrial application - I probably could have used spade terminals. Thanks for the input - feel free to continue the debate if you desire - but it has become irrelevant to me. |
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New member Username: McgodPost Number: 1 Registered: Jun-06 | Oiler and Michael Cameron, you are both incorrect. Gold is actually the third best metallic conductor of electricity. It goes like this: Silver Copper Gold Aluminum Bronze |
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New member Username: Jmurray853Post Number: 4 Registered: Jun-06 | Just strip the end of the wire and tin the wire with solder, less corosion. Works pretty good. |
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Silver Member Username: John_sColumbus, Ohio US Post Number: 984 Registered: Feb-04 | Agreed, but let's see where did I put my soldering gun? Oh yeah I don't have one. |
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Bronze Member Username: Pauln213Corona, CA USA Post Number: 11 Registered: Jun-06 | This s*** is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S |
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Silver Member Username: PraetorianCanada Post Number: 230 Registered: Dec-05 | reLearn something new everyday. |
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