Any easy to use banana plug recommendations? (1 Viewer)

[orestes]

I am redoing my wiring now since my receiver got fixed; however, the old banana plug rubber covers (six years old) are in such a bad shape that I have to replace them. I only have to replace 3 pairs; thus, I need to get some recommendations on banana plugs. I like what I have, but I cannot find them any more. I bought a pair for radioshack, but they were not what I expected.

The ones that I still have can be easily set up without any soldering whatsoever. I just remember that I stripped my speaker wires and screw in inside the plug and the wire gets securely tied in the plug.

I will be buying them tomorrow if I can find the 3 pairs I need at Circuit City or Best Buy.

Thanks.

Regards,
orestes

 

[Jed M]

doubt you can get them locally but I am a big fan of these:

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

 

[orestes]

Jed

Have you had any experience with that web site? Anyone?

BTW, I've been using 16 gauge wire for my speakers for more than 6 years, and I have no problems. However, I'd like to hear some recommendations on speaker wire since I will be adding two more speakers to the system to make it 7.1.

Thanks.

Regards,
orestes

 

[Sunil*N]

I have recently set up my HT and I used the banana plugs from RadioShack. They worked very well for. It was easy as end of the speaker wire goes in the plug and then the metal cap fits nicely on that.

It was very very easy. They gave me 10% off since I bought more than six of those...

 

[Jed M]

Yeah, I always buy from them. There is a big thread over at AV123.com about these banana connectors. A lot of us have ordered them over the years.

Here is a picture of mine after I finished my cables:

 

[Jeff_A]

Those are freakin' beautiful bananas, Jed. I may have to redo my generics from Parts Express.

 

[kurtZoom]

Jed
Do you have experience with the locking vs. non-locking plugs from them? I'm about to pull the trigger on close to 50....20 of which will be plugged into wall jacks. Do I really need the locking plugs for the wall jacks? I like the concept but not the price. Nice speaker wires btw...Is that canare quad?

 

[Blaine_M]

I use the locking plugs from BlueJeansCable.com I really like those. I also use the Canare 4S11 wire found on BlueJeansCable.com.

 

[John Garcia]

091-330 from www.partsexpress.com they work great and they don't cost that much. They side exit putting less strain on the connection.

 

[Jed M]

Thanks for the compliment. I agree that they do look nice for the relatively cheap price. I will have to give credit to another poster by the name of "Radio66" at the AV123 forum for pointing them out to me a couple years ago. I buy them for all my family and friends now.

Just to clarify for anybody reading, you can get those plugs in many different amounts. I just linked to the 20 pack. If you go to speakerrepair.com and click on banana plugs you will see their entire stock, which include locking, non-locking and the type that are stuck together.

 

[orestes]

Jed,

Where did you buy wires? They look better than mine, and since I am upgrading, I may do some re-wiring.

I do have a stupid question. How do you mark your wires to let you know if a particular wire comes from LF, C, RF, Zone A SL, SR, or Zone B BL or BR speakers? I usually have a hard time telling which one is which, and as I place more speakers, it will get harder. Thanks.

Regards,
orestes

 

[Jed M]

orestes,

The SP-200 can be bought at AV123.com. It is kinda pricey at regular price, but I like it.

As far as telling which one is which, an easy solution would be to buy different color electrical tape to wrap around the ends of the cable. Or if you wanted a more professional look you could use different colors shrink wraps for the end. I get my shrink wrap from Parts Express:
http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage....&WebPage_ID=73
And once you figure out what size you need, depending on what cable you choose, you could buy a color for each speaker, or some type of grouping you would remember.

 

[orestes]

Thanks, Jed.

orestes