wire connection. banana plug,spade or bare wire? (1 Viewer)

[JohnZ]

What kind of connection should I use for binding posts. Banana plugs, spade connectors or just bare wires? What's the advantage of using connectors? Some connectors are crimp-on. Where can I find the crimping tool?

 

[Stefan A]

I can't give you the whys, but from what I understand, banana plugs are the way to go. That is what I use and it is a very solid connection. Crimping tools can be bought at a hardware store. Look in the electrical section.
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Stefan Antwarg
My DVD Collection
The Regal Brass Quintet Not HT related

 

[JohnMW]

Using bare wire will have slightly less resistance, but adding a connector will make removal/insertion easier.

 

[Keith Mickunas]

I've heard spades are best because of the large contact area and how tight they can be attached so they won't come loose.
Woohoo, three answers so far and they're all conflicting.
Honestly, there's merits to each as have been listed above. I use bananas myself because they're easy to work with and hold real well. But I think of these three audiophiles tend to go with spades for the reasons I listed.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

using bare copper wire will evantualy oxidize (turn green)
and you will loose connection in time..
Spades or Banana are the way to go for ease of use and to
protect agaisnt oxidization.
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Brett DiMichele
My Home Theater Site!
[email protected]

 

[Norm Strong]

However the reason is not what you might think. I tripped over my speaker cable once. The banana plugs pulled out before I took a pratfall, and even more important, before the speaker fell onto the floor. They sort of act as a mechanical 'fuse' limiting the the tension on the wire.
Of course, if you use the kind that lock in place solidly, this advantage is gone. Jerk on the cable to see if the plugs will come out before the speaker falls.
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Norm Strong ([email protected])

 

[KeithH]

I can't say for sure that one connection type provides better sound than another, but I prefer banana plugs from a convenience standpoint. They are very easy to insert and remove from binding posts.
I don't like bare wires because they are messy, they can be a pain to insert through the holes on binding posts, and because you have to be careful of frayed wires or wires from + and - leads touching. Frayed wires or + and - leads touching could cause the amp to go into a protection mode due to a short.
The problem I often see with spade connectors is that there is no uniformity between speaker and amplifier manufacturers on the size of the binding posts. The possibility, therefore, exists that a spade connector will fit on the speaker binding post, but not on the amplifier binding post, or vice versa. I have read of people filing down spade connectors on high-end speaker cables to get them to fit on binding posts. What a pain. I would rather pay more for banana plug terminations, which is what I did when I bought a pair of BetterCables Premium Speaker Cables last week. The banana plug terminations cost $40 extra, but were worth it to me.
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My:
HT Pics ; Equipment List ; DVD Collection ; LD Collection
KeithH: Saving the Home Theater World Before Bedtime

 

[ChrisAG]

I use banana plugs also for convenience, but one disadvantage I can see is accidentally touching the + and - plug when inserting and removing from either the amp or speaker. Could disaster result? I suppose the best way to avoid this is to turn the amp off whenever you want to insert or remove the plugs.

 

[KeithH]

Chris, you definitely should have your amp turned off when you remove speaker cables, no matter if you are using bare wire, banana plugs, or spade connectors.
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My:
HT Pics ; Equipment List ; DVD Collection ; LD Collection
KeithH: Saving the Home Theater World Before Bedtime

 

[JohnnyG]

Bare wires work just fine. Everything else I refer to as 'speaker jewelry' but there is a convenience point to be make. I'd recommend compression-type fittings rather than crimp on ones though. I just changed rear speaker stands at home and had the speaker wires snaked through the old stands. If I used crimp-on connectors, I would have had to cut them off and buy replacements.
I don't know if I buy the oxidation argument since there is not an air-tight connection to prevent oxidation even with spades and bananas.
And definitely do shut off your receiver before wiring the speakers. Although no harm is done, my H/K receiver will shut itself off if I touch the speaker wires together (learned the hard way).
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John Golitsis
Next Big Thing Electronics

 

[BryanZ]

Bare wire works fine. If you move alot or will be swapping out speakers frequently, then bananas are the way to go. Otherwise, spades seem to be the ones people prefer.

 

[KeithH]

Johnny and Bryan, I used to use bare wires way back when, and I won't let anyone try to tell me that spades or bananas sound better. As I said, I just use banana plugs for convenience.
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My:
HT Pics ; Equipment List ; DVD Collection ; LD Collection
KeithH: Saving the Home Theater World Before Bedtime

 

[John Royster]

All very good points but my experience with oxidation is very real. Back when I used just bare wire the copper would get some oxidation in about three months. After about six months I would trim back with wire.
Since then I use banana plugs and solder the crimp then wrap with some electrical tape to prevent any air entering the joint at all. works great for the last 5-6 years or so.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I use banana plugs for convenience as well. Besides, my fingers are not nimble enough to easily thread bare wire through the tightly spaced binding posts on most newer A/V receivers (especially while laying on the floor behind my equipment rack). It's hell to get old.
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My DVD Collection
AFI 100 Films to watch: 40 -> 1

 

[Michael_T]

The biggest problem I could see with some people using bare wire, if their situation mirrors my case, is that the bare wire WILL NOT fit into the hole in the binding posts on either the receiver or speaker.
I use about 12 year old Monster Cable which is very thick. The bare wire is so thick that it won't fit into any binding post hole I know of.
My wires are fitted with gold plated pins. Back when I puchased the wire, spade connectors weren't generally found, and I had a receiver that wouldn't accept bananna plugs - hence the gold plated pins.