Need Opinions on Banana Plug Designs

mufsoman

Of the two banana plug designs shown below, does one have an advantage over the other? The second design seems like it would have more surface contact, so long as the plug diameter is the same as the hole on speaker posts vs. potentially just points of contact with the flared design.

What's everyone's opinion? Which is better? Is this brand, "Nakamichi" good quality? Thanks

zarrdoss

I have the ones on the left and they work fine and are well made.

F1nut

Bet ya a grand you'll never hear a difference.

george daniel

If I had to choose between the two,I'd pick the one on the left.I'd probanally cut myself with the one on the right.

fbm211

I prefer these...Expensive though. Screw terminate,solder or both.

sTiLlLeArNiNg

F1nut wrote: »

Bet ya a grand you'll never hear a difference.

Was it not you that told me to stay away from the monoprice nanner's?

I used a style similar to the one's on the right on my recent cable build and they seem to be excellent thus far

I preffer a solder type connection vs crimp/screw....

Just my $0.02 of course

NJPOLKER

I am sure he did and the reason is probably the construction not the sound quality.

bigaudiofanatic

I am happy with these no problems and work well. The reason I went with plugs over just wire is because I like to swap out speakers a lot. Just a tip, I use di-electric grease before I install the plus onto the wires and also before sliding them into the connectors.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Rocketfish%26%23153%3B+-+Speaker+Cable+Gold-Plated+Banana+Plugs/8315496.p?id=1174092319345&skuId=8315496&st=bananna%20plugs&cp=1&lp=3

SolidSqual

I like the BFA plugs because I think they hold better.

thuchien

I bought the one on the right a few month ago. I think the right plug has more grip then ohter. I know it because i replace the one on the left with the right one. It has more surface and it has more pressure to expand one you plug into terminal hole.

kawizx9r

Speaking of naners, mine JUST came in right now. Tried them inside my maggies real quick and they take a bit more pressure than the blue jeans naner plugs. Think I'll use these instead, hope whatever you got worked out for ya!

sTiLlLeArNiNg

NJPOLKER wrote: »

I am sure he did and the reason is probably the construction not the sound quality.

Actually i was mistaken, it was Face NOT F1 who advised me to stay away from the monoprice nanner's claiming they "degraded' the sound. Here's the thread, check post #5 http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87449 He never gave me a reason why, just made the comment....

kawizx9r wrote: »

Speaking of naners, mine JUST came in right now. Tried them inside my maggies real quick and they take a bit more pressure than the blue jeans naner plugs. Think I'll use these instead, hope whatever you got worked out for ya!

Nice nanner's I hope those apply more pressure! After all they are the locking type no? How heavy are they and do they come with insert's to take up the gap at the cable entry point?

kawizx9r

No inserts, just doubled the length of the strand....folded over and soldered.

I didn't realize how much it tightens inside the binding post until I actually used it, if you tighten it hand-tight you can't pull it out without trying!

Posted this same pic on another spade/naner thread but here you go, I replaced the bluejeans naners with these.

sTiLlLeArNiNg

Sexxxy!

You ended up soldering those on!?!?! Must have been a biotch to do since they are thick! Can i ask what type of iron/gun and solder you used? What you got hiding under the cable pant's to make 'em that large? Is there a ferrite core in there for distortion blocking?

If i had a lot of traffic at my place i would've used those nanner's just to be on the safe side as they are guaranteed to hold! But usually it's just my pop's and i so no worries....

kawizx9r

sTiLlLeArNiNg wrote: »

Sexxxy!

You ended up soldering those on!?!?! Must have been a biotch to do since they are thick! Can i ask what type of iron/gun and solder you used? What you got hiding under the cable pant's to make 'em that large? Is there a ferrite core in there for distortion blocking?

If i had a lot of traffic at my place i would've used those nanner's just to be on the safe side as they are guaranteed to hold! But usually it's just my pop's and i so no worries....

Yea, it was a b$tch! lol

I used a weller soldering iron (pencil tip), with Monster XP speaker wire (yes I know EWW) covered in Techflex and extra heatshrink I had around. Cardas silver solder used for the termination.

I was going to use my extra MIT cable for jumpers but I'll do that another day when I've got some extra heatshrink and time and solder. I don't get much traffic, for me it's just an OCD thing

sTiLlLeArNiNg

:eek: DUDE! How the heck you managed that with a pencil iron is beyond me! Do you at least have a set of helping hand's to make thing's easier? My hand's would be killing and i would be cursing lol It must have taken you a while? I have a big weller pistol for the large stuff but i recently picked up the small adjustable pencil iron from partsexpress to do a few cable project's

Good choice on the silver solder! I have read that it promote's better signal transfer as opposed to standard 60/40 solder, i went the cheap route and grabbed a 1/2lb spool of the Dayton silver solder (also from partsexpress)

I find it's better also because of the lower melting temp, make's thing's quicker & easier

Only problem i see with Monster cable is the price

It turned out really well man

kawizx9r

sTiLlLeArNiNg wrote: »

:eek: DUDE! How the heck you managed that with a pencil iron is beyond me! Do you at least have a set of helping hand's to make thing's easier? My hand's would be killing and i would be cursing lol It must have taken you a while? I have a big weller pistol for the large stuff but i recently picked up the small adjustable pencil iron from partsexpress to do a few cable project's

Good choice on the silver solder! I have read that it promote's better signal transfer as opposed to standard 60/40 solder, i went the cheap route and grabbed a 1/2lb spool of the Dayton silver solder (also from partsexpress)

I find it's better also because of the lower melting temp, make's thing's quicker & easier

Only problem i see with Monster cable is the price

It turned out really well man

Lots of patience lol

I love the Cardas stuff, wouldn't bother with anything else. I heard that Dayton silver solder actually melts at a higher temperature....probably compared to the cardas hmm.

The Monster cable is in pretty new condition, and only used it cause I had some laying around. There are still some boxes in the closet I haven't touched since moving out here

Thanks for that though, I think they look really cool and they serve their purpose well. Would like to get into making my own cables, but the MITS would do much better than I could. Maybe a pair of DIY-IC's?

nooshinjohn

Sad that a great company like Nakamichi has been reduced to a logo on the side of a banana plug... They do look like great connectors though.

sTiLlLeArNiNg

kawizx9r wrote: »

I heard that Dayton silver solder actually melts at a higher temperature....probably compared to the cardas hmm.

Maybe a pair of DIY-IC's?

Yes the comparisson is between the two, the Dayton melt's at something like 215 and the Cardas melt's at like 185. Since i'm not soldering on a board or any type of critical component the diff in melting point is not worth the extra cash As long as the silver content is the same % and the flux is the good stuff i'm good to go!

I'm finishing up some shielded power cable's right now actually and next on the list is re-wire tonearm + TT, then on to IC's I like to try and do my own thing

F1nut

thuchien wrote: »

I bought the one on the right a few month ago. I think the right plug has more grip then ohter. I know it because i replace the one on the left with the right one. It has more surface and it has more pressure to expand one you plug into terminal hole.

Did you hear a difference?

kawizx9r

F1nut wrote: »

Did you hear a difference?

I'll answer that one Jesse.

Didn't hear a difference with either BJC spades, BJC naners, or the nakamichi's.

F1nut

kawizx9r wrote: »

Didn't hear a difference with either BJC spades, BJC naners, or the nakamichi's.

....

Systems

Nice work Freddy. I just love the look of Techflex when doing a wiring project.


Back to the orginal question. I'd rather have the pair on the right since I tend to change things around from time to time. I have a set of PS Audio Extreme cables that use a nanner like that on the left. I've called PS Audio twice now replacing the ends. They are a screw-on style of nanner that you can swap out on the cable ends from nanner to spade. They simply lose the grip after a few times of swapping in and out. I have an old set of AQ cables that use the style on the right and they have NEVER been loose.

kawizx9r

187CAM wrote: »

Nice work Freddy. I just love the look of Techflex when doing a wiring project.


Back to the orginal question. I'd rather have the pair on the right since I tend to change things around from time to time. I have a set of PS Audio Extreme cables that use a nanner like that on the left. I've called PS Audio twice now replacing the ends. They are a screw-on style of nanner that you can swap out on the cable ends from nanner to spade. They simply lose the grip after a few times of swapping in and out. I have an old set of AQ cables that use the style on the right and they have NEVER been loose.

Thanks!

I'll try out a pair of plugs like the ones on the right some other time, otherwise I really like the locking type

Mufsoman, what'd you end up getting?

Systems

kawizx9r wrote: »

Thanks!

I'll try out a pair of plugs like the ones on the right some other time, otherwise I really like the locking type

Mufsoman, what'd you end up getting?

I can see where your's are locking. I couldn't see that in the OP's pics. Locking would surely get my vote.

kawizx9r

187CAM wrote: »

I can see where your's are locking. I couldn't see that in the OP's pics. Locking would surely get my vote.

These are the first locking plugs I've ever had, never read into it until I got them. Now I don't know why I never owned a pair before

And I just noticed that the OP is in the karma for those naners/spades I'm offering up. Guess he hasn't bought a pair yet, or maybe he did but those ebay stores take a good 2 weeks to get your stuff out to you (comes from Hong Kong).

treitz3

fbm211 wrote: »

I prefer these...Expensive though. Screw terminate,solder or both.

Ouch, I just looked them up as I'm gonna upgrade the nanner's on both sets of my AQ's. The total came to $272.00! :eek: Another $70.00 if I wanted to do the cable to the sub as well.

fbm211

Damn,how many do you need?Cryo parts sells them for 32.00 a pair but I saw someone else selling them for 28.00 a pair.
I hear you though,too much.I almost forked over 120.00 for 8 on them till I found these.http://www.av-outlet.com/index.html?target=dept_149.html&lang=en-us

The xhadow plugs sure are pretty though.They have RCA and XLR plugs that are just as pretty and just as expensive.TOO MUCH.
I see parts connection has em for 24.95 a pair.Still too much IMO

treitz3

I need 16 for the two main speakers as I have them bi-amped. If I decide to ever run the sub, that will require an additional 4.

I contacted AQ about getting new nanner's put on my cables because the chincy one's they put on keep breaking. They want my cables for 3-4 business days plus the added time to ship them both ways which means that my rig will be down once again. :mad:

They said that they'd do it for free and give me a new nanner for all 16 on both cables, but the downtime is completely unacceptable to me. They will not just ship me the nanner's and let me fix them myself, so I'm in the market for a solid nanner. I can get a set of 4 for $25.00 through one of their dealers all day long but......I'd like to take this opportunity to upgrade.

fbm211

The ones I posted a link to above are the ones Im going to use to terminate the neotech NES-3003 speaker cable Im ordering from soniccraft.(silver plated ones).I wont go for that plated brass or bronze garbage again.

Face

sTiLlLeArNiNg wrote: »

Actually i was mistaken, it was Face NOT F1 who advised me to stay away from the monoprice nanner's claiming they "degraded' the sound. Here's the thread, check post #5

The answer is below. Monoprice nanners are made of cheap brass. I will only use gold plated copper or solid silver spades/nanners for now on. Same goes for I/C's, no more brass.

fbm211 wrote: »

The ones I posted a link to above are the ones Im going to use to terminate the neotech NES-3003 speaker cable Im ordering from soniccraft.(silver plated ones).I wont go for that plated brass or bronze garbage again.