What are some good banana plugs? (1 Viewer)

[Dan Hine]

Chris,

Odd, that's the second private message that hasn't worked for me. I've sent you an email this time, hopefully that works out ok.

Scott,

For me personally it is simply how well does the plug hold the wire/how good is the connection. And also the price. Those are my main stipulations. I've tried some banana's that say they fit 12awg wire but damned if I know how. I like solid plugs that keep a good contact and don't "change in shape" do to repeated pluging in and unpluging.

Dan Hine

 

[Chris PC]

I'll check out everyone's suggestions.

Dan,

I got your email. Thanks

ScottC,

So you have those Radio Shack ones you list? They work ok for you?

And I take it that "dual banana plugs" are spaced according to a universal spec that all speakers work with? Receivers?

Do you use banana plugs on both the receiver and speaker end? Or is that more for people who are testing or switching components like receivers around alot? My receiver does accept banana plugs. For the front speakers, I might not use banana plugs on the reciever end because I may bi-wire them and that might be harder with banana plugs?

Also, what are stackable banana plugs for? Bi-wiring?

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Rajee,

Yes the fact that the Knu Banana's accept 8awg would no doubt

make the chore of getting 2 12awg conductors to fit a heck

of a lot easier. I did not have a problem getting my 2 12awg

conductors to fit into my RS Banana's but it did take a bit

of "twisting" the conductors together before I could slide

them in and solder them.

 

[MarkS]

Rajee -

Congrats on the KnuKonceptz banana plugs!

When you made your cables, did you solder or screw the cable to the plugs? Also, what size sleeve did you use on your cables?

I was also wondering what heat source you use to shrink your tubing and how you terminate the sleeve to the heat shrink tubing at the 'Y' (is it just black electical tape)?

Thanks.

-mbs

 

[Chris PC]

Well I went to my dealer and picked up some more speaker wire to bi-wire my PSB's and I just got another set of 12 gauge wire. I was looking at their banana plugs. They had a few different kinds, like the ultra-link, which I also saw at 2001 Audio/Video. I picked up a bunch that they use on their equipment. The cool thing was I didn't have any of the packaging cause they just picked them out of their own parts bin, so that was nice. They were "Deltron" connectors. They look nice. A decent set screw inside for the speaker wire connection and a crimping end where the speaker wire leaves the plug. Also, rather than a punched or pressed end with those friction things due to the shape of the plug, these have an actual spring. They should do the job fine.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Here are 2 more brands of Banana Plug to add to the ever
growing list that we have here..
Interlocks from Esoteric (Street Wires) $24 per 4 at
http://www.crutchfield.com
(For $24.00 per 2 pair these seem like a very good connector
I have other car audio components from Esoteric and I have
to say the quality is very good)
WBT Straight and Angled Locking Pin Midline Banana's

WBT Midline Straight Locking Banana $80.00 per 4

WBT Midline Angled Locking Banana $80.00 per 4

 

[Scott-C]

ChrisPC,

Yep, I use the plugs I listed and they seem to work fine (though this may not be an issue for you anymore since you got some plugs from your dealer). The dual plugs conform to the "spacing spec" and work on both ends of my Yamaha DSP-A3090/DefTech BP setup. Though I don't have enough pairs yet for all of my connections (I threw it out as a great stocking stuffer!), I plan on using them at both the receiver and speaker end of my connections for convenience and consistency. They fit at both ends, and about the only issue I can see with using them at the "speaker end" of the connection is that they will stick out a little from the speakers. If you have a surround speaker that is flush against the wall, for example, you may have to pull them out from the wall a little bit (I didn't measure, but I'd guess about an inch or inch-and-a-half) to get them to work.

I haven't ever tried bi-wiring (honestly, I'm not even sure how that would work) so I can't speak to how they work/don't work with bi-wiring.

Good luck!

 

[Kevin_W]

Speaking of these KnuKonceptz cables, anyone ever use their interconnects for their home theater systems? Is there anything wrong with using car audio interconnects in your theater?
$14 for a 6.5 ft interconnect with this build quality looks pretty tempting.

What do you think?
Kevin

 

[MarkS]

Rajee -

Thanks for all the information - between what you have provided and all the good stuff Brett has provided, I'm thinking I have to try my hand at building my own cables. You will know when I get all the parts/pieces as I may come back to the experts to ask some additional questions.

One thing that Brett mentioned in an earlier post was that the RS heat shrink required a strong heat source. Let us know if the candle/stove heat source worked.

Kevin_W -

The only issue I see with those car audio connects is that it would a) be nice if they came in 1 meter/3 foot lengths and b) what to do with the grounding wire (most home connects do not have the ground). Other than that, if you go for it, please let me/us know how they work out for you!

-mbs

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Kevin they should work fine.. They are balanced and they

have a earth ground strap which can be connected to the earth

ground of your Receiver or Tuner or whatever your setup may

be.

 

[MarkS]

RE: Kevin they should work fine.. They are balanced and they

have a earth ground strap which can be connected to the earth

ground of your Receiver or Tuner or whatever your setup may

be.

...or a remote turn on lead for your???

Also, I found out that knu also offers this cable in a 3ft/1m version $11!

-mbs

 

[EugeneM]

ACOUSTIC RESEARCH HT407 Compression Type Banana Plugs

I tried several types (including Radioshack and

expensive ones from Niles Audio), but found AR to be

the best and built my cables around them

 

[Chris PC]

I am part way through installing the banana plugs and I like them. Like I said, they have a couple of ways to contact the speaker wire. Using 12 gauge wire, I overstrip the wire a few mm and twist/ram the wire as far and as much into the banana plug as I possibly can, ensuring maximum contact points. I then screw the set screw down as much as I can and then I crimp the end around the speaker wire and bend it a bit forward. After I screw the plastic sleeve back on it seems very solid. My only complaint is that so far, it seems as though the speakers and receivers don't make enough use of the banana plug surface area. The plug only goes in so far and looks like it could be even better if it was able to be pushed in further. So far so good though. Looks fairly good and should work well.
While i am doing this, I have decided to redesign the back of my stereo/video cabinet to allow easier working on the wires etc.
Deltron connectors, whatever the heck they are. One thing that is nice, is that they don't look like they were just coated in a cheap gold coloured finish or something. They look like they're made of fairly decent metal and you can see the machining. Oh well. They're just banana plugs. I disagree with people who say bare wire is better. Looking at all the contact points, it seems like there is more contact between the wire and the banana plug itself than just bare wire on the speaker binding posts, and also more contact between the banana plug and the speaker binding post, than there is with just bare wire. Together, I think the overall connection is the same or better, plus its easier to change things around and move, which I will be doing a fair bit over the next little while