Bananas,spades,or bare

Johnst
Johnst Posts: 1
edited February 2010 in Basic Hookup/Wiring Questions
Going to buy/make new speaker cables and it appears I can use Bananas, Spades, or bare wire at the speaker end. (RT800i) So what works best? Thanks in advance for your help, John
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  • Zeros
    Zeros Posts: 940
    edited January 2010
    Here you go, search is your friend:

    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91213&highlight=banana+spade
    My Basement / Home Theater Room
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  • concealer404
    concealer404 Posts: 7,440
    edited January 2010
    I think spades or bare wire (tinned) are considered best in terms of connection.

    I, and most people prefer nanners, for ease of use.
    I don't read the newsssspaperssss because dey aaaallllllllll...... have ugly print.

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  • nguyendot
    nguyendot Posts: 3,594
    edited January 2010
    I switch out speakers too much, so bananas.

    Spades if you don't intend on disconnecting very often!
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  • danz1906
    danz1906 Posts: 5,144
    edited January 2010
    Welcome to the Club!

    Bananas!
    Linn AV5140 fronts
    Linn AV5120 Center
    Linn AV5140 Rears
    M&K MX-70 Sub for Music
    Odyssey Mono-Blocs
    SVS Ultra-13 Gloss Black:D
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  • polkatese
    polkatese Posts: 6,767
    edited January 2010
    nanner...nanner.
    I am sorry, I have no opinion on the matter. I am sure you do. So, don't mind me, I just want to talk audio and pie.
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  • louhamilton
    louhamilton Posts: 209
    edited January 2010
    My personal preference is bananas at the speakers and spades at the amp or receiver. This will be the format of my new speaker wires.
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  • Murray1
    Murray1 Posts: 193
    edited January 2010
    concealer404 wrote: »
    I think spades or bare wire (tinned) are considered best in terms of connection.

    I, and most people prefer nanners, for ease of use.

    What does tinned mean. I used canare wire and bare wired directly to speaker. Do I need to redo since I did not tin them.
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  • nguyendot
    nguyendot Posts: 3,594
    edited January 2010
    Murray1 wrote: »
    What does tinned mean. I used canare wire and bare wired directly to speaker. Do I need to redo since I did not tin them.

    Tinned keeps the wires together, and can prevent some corrosion.

    You don't have to...
    Main Surround -
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    Bedroom - Sharp Aquos 70" 650 / Pioneer SC-1222k / Polk RT-55 / Polk CS-250

    Den - Rotel RSP-1068 / Threshold CAS-2 / Boston VR-M60 / BDP-05FD
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  • Zeros
    Zeros Posts: 940
    edited January 2010
    Murray1 wrote: »
    What does tinned mean. I used canare wire and bare wired directly to speaker. Do I need to redo since I did not tin them.

    Here is a link about tinning wires if you are interested in what it looks like and how it's done.

    http://www.teamnovak.com/tech_info/how_to/solder/index.html#Anchor-TINNING-23240
    My Basement / Home Theater Room
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  • braaaaay
    braaaaay Posts: 11
    edited January 2010
    guys,

    where can i buy a good price banana plugs? thanks :)
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  • Zitro
    Zitro Posts: 864
    edited January 2010
    http://www.parts-express.com/wizards/searchResults.cfm?FTR=banana+plug&search_type=main&WebPage_ID=3&searchFilter=banana+plug&x=0&y=0
    - Jeremy

    Amps: Jolida FX-10, NAD 3045, NAD C320BEE, Sansui G-9700
    Speakers: Polk Monitor 7A's, KEF Reference 104aB
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  • jacob.simpson
    jacob.simpson Posts: 481
    edited January 2010
    Monoprice.com
    one of the best value for the stuff, and they are very good in CS,
    same stuff in other places cost anywhere between $5-$12
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  • louhamilton
    louhamilton Posts: 209
    edited January 2010
    braaaaay wrote: »
    guys,

    where can i buy a good price banana plugs? thanks :)

    The GLS Audio ones on Amazon look really nice.
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  • mhmacw
    mhmacw Posts: 832
    edited January 2010
    Hi johnst, tinned with aftermarket binding posts. until your talking 2500$ for 8 ft speaker wire a set of monster bi wire cables/tinned and a set of all metal binding posts will be you r best bet. IMHO
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  • sTiLlLeArNiNg
    sTiLlLeArNiNg Posts: 805
    edited January 2010
    louhamilton wrote: »
    My personal preference is bananas at the speakers and spades at the amp or receiver. This will be the format of my new speaker wires.

    I wanted to go this route with my last cable build but couldn't find spade's that i liked here locally so i went with "nanner's" all around, i used cryoed multi-contact LS4's and IMHO they are the cat's @ss :)

    I'm currently running 2 x 4ft 6" cable's (per speaker) with bare/tinned end's (4% silver solder) from my xpa1's > RTi A9's, i need to get around to covering them up with some Techflex to make 'em look nice :)
    polkatese wrote:
    nanner...nanner.

    boo boo :p lol

    The GLS nanner's look good and PartsExpress has some nice one's as well
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  • Pauly
    Pauly Posts: 4,519
    edited January 2010
    Nanners! Ease of use in my book.


    Pauly
    Life without music would♭
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  • jacob.simpson
    jacob.simpson Posts: 481
    edited January 2010
    I usually prefer them Bare:p but for ease of use Banana:D
    monoprice.com rocks with pricing and cs
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  • packetjones
    packetjones Posts: 1,059
    edited January 2010
    I have banana's all the way around. Never used them before the recent setup and will never go back to anything else. Got them at monoprice for a great price.
    Front - RTiA5's
    Rear - RTiA3's
    Center - CSiA4
    Sub - PSW110
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  • louhamilton
    louhamilton Posts: 209
    edited January 2010
    I'm hoping to get some of these:

    5031_3.JPG

    With these as the spades:

    !BP(SJW!BGk~$(KGrHgoH-CoEjlLluzl+BJzS!kTSJg~~_12.JPG

    ordered in the next month or so.
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited January 2010
    Nanners. Another vote for GLS.
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • jaxwired
    jaxwired Posts: 201
    edited January 2010
    I use bananas, but I do like the idea of spades better. The problem I found with spades is that there are like 4 different kinds all with different inside and outside widths. I actually had to bend some I had before to make them fit. Some amps and speakers have slots for the spades rather than just an open post. So they have to fit into the slot. Anyway, my point is, bananas are standard and always fit, spades are non-standard and don't always fit. So....bananas....
    2 Channel
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,136
    edited January 2010
    Welcome to Club Polk Johnst! I used to use spades and tinned wire but found that I couldn't, no matter how hard I tried, to get the nut tight enough to keep them in place. I was constantly torquing down and got fed up with it. So I now use bananas exclusively and have noticed no degradation in SQ.
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  • Knucklehead
    Knucklehead Posts: 3,602
    edited January 2010
    If you want to use bare wire not tinned, just treat the ends with de-oxit and your good to go.
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  • Krazyz1
    Krazyz1 Posts: 256
    edited January 2010
    I like Parts Express gold plated banana plugs . Fit perfect on my A9's , but on my ROTEL RB-1090 were 1/2 a hole off??? Had to use singles at the amp.
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  • Ranger0912
    Ranger0912 Posts: 50
    edited February 2010
    I agree that, if you switch out a lot, bananas are the most convenient. However, I personally prefer spades for the solid contact they provide. I'm not too big on twisted bare wire.
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