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Speaker wire pre-terminated with banana plugs? (1 Viewer)

Sam Posten

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I'm hooking up my 5.1 again and wishing i had a set of 5 10-foot cables pre terminated with banana plugs. Even monoprice seems to charge an outrageous $30+ for them (for the cable type I selected).... Anyone have leads on cheaper ones or a cable type at monoprice that is not so crazy?
 

Martino

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I usually take a 1/2 hour and put the cables together myself - not sure why you want the pre-terminated ones. Have you had issues in the past where your cables stopped working for some reason?
For all 5 - 10 ft cables - getting a monoprice total of $31.72 (12 AWG) or $27.59 (14 AWG) for the do it yourself ones - (before shipping)
-- I agree if $30.00 plus per cable is a little steep - but the whole system for $30.00 does not seem that steep of a price.
50ft 12AWG CL2 Rated 2-Conductor Loud Speaker Cable (For In-Wall Installation) - $16.42
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023901&p_id=2816&seq=1&format=2
50ft 14AWG CL2 Rated 2-Conductor Loud Speaker Cable (For In-Wall Installation) - $12.29
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023902&p_id=2819&seq=1&format=2
10 pairs - OF High-Quality Copper Speaker Banana Plugs - Closed Screw Type [JX-74043] - $1.53/pair - $15.30
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10401&cs_id=1040115&p_id=2801&seq=1&format=2
-- Total price - 12 AWG - $31.72 -- for 14 AWG - $27.59 (before shipping)
 

John Garcia

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Outrageous? That's kind of cheap for terminated wires if it is at least a pair. Anyway, it only takes a few minutes to put bananas on wire yourself. I prefer these (top obviously):
bananaspade.jpg

Except that the price has gone up about 2X in the last few years, making them a bit more expensive. They include the "slug" inside that prevents "sawing" of the wire while tightening. They are less expensive here: http://bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/bananaspade.jpg
 

JohnRice

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Sam, I like these the best of any banana plugs I've ever seen. They have the most solid connection system and best contact. They do require heavier gauge wire, probably at least 14 and up to original Monster Cable size.
http://www.amazon.com/Sewell-Silverback-Banana-Plugs-Pieces/dp/B005BT2KJE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334641265&sr=8-1
 

Sam Posten

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Dang John, I already went the Monoprice route or I'd have jumped on those based on your recommendation. When I build out my basement theater will give them a shot!
 

JohnRice

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Sam, those plugs really are excellent and reasonably priced. They require a bit of dexterity to get them "just right" but then the contact is far better than other ones I've seen. They also have a very tight fit in the posts, almost seeming like they won't fit sometimes the first time you use them. Someone complained that it took him an hour to attach 24 of them, which seems pretty reasonable to me, though I don't think it would take that long.
 

John Garcia

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I am using these now because my speakers use odd binding posts:
eKs-BP1.JPG

ee9aaae1.jpg

http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=eKs-BP
And on on the Amp side, I use the locking plugs from Bluejeans (WBT copies, GLS and others offer similar ones). I had one banana come loose on my receiver and I thought bad things had happened so I started troubleshooting. Then I got back there and found the one loose. These don't work in the binding posts on my speakers and they are MUCH longer than most other bananas if space behind is a concern.
lockingbananas.jpg
 

Sam Posten

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JohnRice said:
Sam, those plugs really are excellent and reasonably priced. They require a bit of dexterity to get them "just right" but then the contact is far better than other ones I've seen. They also have a very tight fit in the posts, almost seeming like they won't fit sometimes the first time you use them. Someone complained that it took him an hour to attach 24 of them, which seems pretty reasonable to me, though I don't think it would take that long.
Holy cow you aren't kidding about that. I just about ripped the skin off my fingers getting them in there, and a few are still a bit loose due to the tight fit around the 'fanned' twist of speaker wire, but I got it working,
Wanna know how big a dummy I am? Didn't notice the plugs were sold in pairs so I bought twice as many as I needed, guess I am set for my basement after all!
 

gene c

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Hey John. Those Sewell's look just like the ever popular Nakamichi plugs sold by the ton on ebay. You can get 30 for $19.99 shipped. That's 30 plugs, not 30 pairs Sam ;) . I've used those before. They are pretty good.
I've also used these popular ones by GLS. http://www.speakerrepair.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=genem&Product_Code=BR4&Category_Code=safe_connect But they're too expensive and even though they have a high quality feel to them there isn't much tension on the post so the slip out too easily. I prefer spades on the speaker end but again, their pretty expensive and the choices are limited..
 

Sam Posten

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JohnRice said:
Sam, didn't you get the Monoprice ones?
Yes, were you talking about the other ones? Your description matched my experience with the monoprice ones, a pita to get on and ripped up my thumbs, but easy to do once you tried a few.
 

John Garcia

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gene c said:
Hey John. Those Sewell's look just like the ever popular Nakamichi plugs sold by the ton on ebay. You can get 30 for $19.99 shipped. That's 30 plugs, not 30 pairs Sam ;) . I've used those before. They are pretty good.
I've seen the Nak plugs, but didn't know they had a BFA version also or I would have bought those :)
As soon as those things are made overseas in large quantities, it will be no time at all before there are knock offs out at half the price. GLS are the same thing - all their variants are copies of other designs. I've used a few different ones and they do the job the same.
 

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