David K.

Im interested in buying some banana plugs, i like the these
from Vampire wire

but they are a bit expenive for me, i think that many companies find a major distributor and have their names printed on the products, so i googled for some vampire #558 clones

and came across these



http://ww1.onecall.com/PID_3256.htm



but the discription for these plugs do not mention whether or not they are gold plated, which has me concered, if these are indeed fake gold what are the consequences in the long run?

BTW, i did some more research

http://www.cinemasource.com/products...aker_wire.html



and this site said the plugs are gold plated, hard gold or 24 k i do not know.


But ya, the plugs look the same, in the pics, but i dont know what materials are used in the liberty plugs..

but the prices differences are astounding,

vampire $20 for 2 pairs
liberty $8 for 2 pairs

could this be an example of name branding, or are these different plugs....

any how, ya, the main point is what are the consequences if i use fake gold plugs? will they damage my terminals over time? are then bad for my speakers? thanks a bunch.

Rutgar

Here, Check these out.

http://www.speakerrepair.com/Merchan...ode=AHH_Banana

These are the best banannas I've ever used. Very high quality, and you can't beat the price.

- Rutgar

David K.

i ordered the non locking ones from that site, and those werent very good quality, they fall out, and the bananas were crooked.

the locking ones you linked are the same ones on ebay sold be various vendors, its mass produced and sellers use stickers and stick the logo names on it.

theyre all over ebay.

Rutgar

Well, I can't comment on the non-locking one's you ordered. But, I bought 4 sets of the locking one's and they are very high quality, and don't fall out. Moreover, the site states that these are true GLS connectors, and not the cheap knock-offs found at places like E-Bay.

- Rutgar

David K.

im not familiar with GLS audio, but im 90% sure that the other locking plugs that look similar are probably exactly the same, possibly purchased from the same vendor and then name branded. which is a very common practice.

the previous plugs i purchased were "GLS" too, what made them official "GLS", was a string sticker that came off while i was trying to twist the banana cap on. So this "GLS" brand doesnt impress me. you will also notice that on the so called "knock offs" where it says gls on the plug(same exact location btw), its "insert brand name here" with the exact same string sticker but different text.

Jed M

I will second Rutgar up on this one. Those are excellent banana plugs for the price. I've never had one fall out or any problems at all for that matter. They seem much better made than my previous boutique banana plugs.

Long you live and high you fly
And smiles you\'ll give and tears you\'ll cry
And all you touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be.
-R. Waters

David K.

no brand sticker



sticky brand sticker



there was also another one that was far cheaper up for auction, but ended on ebay, where the sticker said GLS, it was the same sticker and font that said "Power Pro"

i assume that these are probably purchased overseas like hong kong or taiwan.

David K.

btw, can anyone explain to me the consequences of using non-gold plated plugs? or fake gold plugs?

David K.

i found a major over seas distributor, that sells banans that coincidentally look similar to the vampire wire and liberty bananas.

http://www.globalsources.com/gsol/In...0000003844?a=b

are they the same i do not know.

but i did order 8 pairs of the vampire wire and 8 pairs of the liberty plugs, ill compare the two and see if they are identical.

Rutgar

David, those look like just regular "spring compression" type banannas to me. Like I said (as well as another poster), those GLS banannas are good. But, it's your decision.

As far as "fake" gold plugs, I don't know what you mean.

- Rutgar

Jed M

David, I don't think you are going to find many banana plugs that are unique to only one company if you look hard enough. The majority of these things (connectors and cables) are mass produced overseas and licensed out to different company's which may jazz it up a bit and sell it for 10x the amount somebody else is. If you really want the best connection, just use bare wire. If you want a nice solid banana plug don't waste your time with high price Vampires, get the locking GLS Audio. I can't speak for the quality of the non-locking ones so I will take your word for it. Also, I don't find it a big deal that clones are sold on Ebay, so is a lot of stuff, including Vampire.

Long you live and high you fly
And smiles you\'ll give and tears you\'ll cry
And all you touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be.
-R. Waters

David K.

ill look into GLS thanks!

regarding the fake gold plugs,

arent there two types? Hard gold and 24k gold, some plugs use gold that is tainted with other minerals to make it look shinier. I think thats when magnetic interference may come into play?