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Wall plate behind the entertainment center: Binding posts vs. banana plugs vs. etc.

post #1 of 4
12/8/09 at 11:39am
Thread Starter 
So I'm finally getting surround speakers installed.  I pre-wired the house for 5.1 when it was being built.  Right now behind the entertainment center it's a blank plate with all the wires tucked away.

I was shopping around for wall plates and see there are a bunch of different styles.  I don't have experience with this, so I'm hoping for recommendations on what tends to work the best back there. 

Right now I only need to use the in-wall wiring for the rears and for the sub (the sub has a coax cable ran to a couple different locations in the room).

What has worked best for you guys?  The plate will be hidden, so it doesn't have to look awesome.  Just want something that works well.
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post #2 of 4
12/8/09 at 12:08pm
I haven't set up anything but a good place to look is with one of our vendors RAM Electronics http://www.ramelectronics.net. They have a great selection and good pricing with fast shipping.
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post #3 of 4
12/9/09 at 6:34am
I'm a big fan of using wallplates for a nice, finished, professional look.  The connectors I've used (from Leviton, I believe) are regular binding posts that can take a banana plug, too.

In terms of connection quality, there's no advantage to using one over the other.  Both work well.  For cables that get connected/disconnected frequently, banana plugs offer an advantage in convenience.  However, banana plugs are expensive.  When you consider how many you'll need (patch cables from the receiver to the wall, and patch cables at the wall to the speaker) for a 5, or 7 speaker system, it's a significant investment.

Personally, I prefer using banana plugs at the receiver end.  Nothing frustrates me more than trying to pinch my fingers between the tightly bunched binding posts on the back of the receiver, while trying to hold a flashlight and contort my body to see which way is up only to discover I completely missed threading the bare speaker wire into the little side hole that is ALWAYS out of direct view.

In my theater, I also made some nice looking patch cables to run from the wall plates to the speakers.  Heavy gauge speaker wire, tech flex mesh on the outside, shrink-wrap tubing near the ends and banana plugs to round them out.  Completely unnecessary from a functional standpoint, but really nice looking.

PartsExpress.com is a good resource for wallplates and connectors, but I picked up everything I needed from Home Depot.

Good luck!
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post #4 of 4
12/9/09 at 6:33pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys!  :)
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