Difference Between BFA and Banana?

So I keep seeing this "BFA Style" connector.
What the heck does BFA stand for? and how is it different from a Banana connector?
It seems like the BFA Style is this banana connector with the squiggly/cutout in it, and a regular banana connector has the spring mechanism all around, or in the 4 quadrants?
What the heck does BFA stand for? and how is it different from a Banana connector?
It seems like the BFA Style is this banana connector with the squiggly/cutout in it, and a regular banana connector has the spring mechanism all around, or in the 4 quadrants?
I disabled signatures.
Comments
So that you don't do sumtin'stupid like plug your audio connector into the euro electrical socket
Banana plugs are actually illegal in Europe, hence the reason that when you receive amps, they may have those red plug caps stuffed in the the amp terminals
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
Hehe, yeah, I read something about that.
How does this prevent someone from sticking it in one of those sockets?
The marketing has always sold them as more contact surface.
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
here is a BFA vs regular banana, pretty sure that is the difference between the two so i would say you are probably correct just adding the photo so anyone who reads it sees what we are talking about
Polk LSi M703
Sonos Connect
Vinyl system: I'm long done with the snap, crackle, and pop.
https://www.musicdirect.com/connector-upgrades/audioquest-crimp-bfa-bananas-set-of-4
Vinyl system: I'm long done with the snap, crackle, and pop.
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
Vinyl system: I'm long done with the snap, crackle, and pop.
You can find a 12 pack, look-a-like, gold plated brass on eBay, under $13 shipped. Copy and paste...
VOSO-24K-Gold-Plated-Speaker-Cable-Wire-Connector-4mm-Banana-Plug
...should get you there
Tony
Outlaw Audio 976 Pre/Pro
Samsung BDP, DirecTV Rcvr, Xbox 360, Dennon LDP, Phillips CD chgr
Canare 14 ga - LCR tweeters inside; CC outside
BJC 10 ga - LCR mids, inside & out
8 ga Powerline - LR woofers, inside & out
LR: tri-amped RTi A7 w/Rotels. Woofers - 980BX; M&T - 981
CC: Rotel RB985 -> tri-amped CSi A6
5 Audio Pro Subs: 1 B1.39: an Evidence at each corner
Surrounds: Rotel 981 -> AR 12 ga -> RTi A3
Power Conditioning & Distribution:
3 dedicated 20A feeds; APC H15; 4 Furman Miniport 20s
https://www.parts-express.com/gold-plated-crimp-on-banana-plug-16-pcs--091-350
They don't take as large a wire as the ones I have in a box someplace, but they will take 12 gauge and that's big enough and they look deep enough to crimp without much chance of ruining them. The problem with the two piece screw ones is that if you crimp them, the screw on part won't fit, and if you don't, you need to use the giant soldering iron that is a pain to use, due to it taking forever to heat up, and it weighs a ton and keeps trying to slide out of my holder due to the stiff cord. I only normally use it for PL-259 radio antenna plugs. It works great for them. The new banana plugs will solder up fine with my much nicer to use 60W iron.
Vinyl system: I'm long done with the snap, crackle, and pop.
I read the AQ product description. I don’t get your point. Tony
Outlaw Audio 976 Pre/Pro
Samsung BDP, DirecTV Rcvr, Xbox 360, Dennon LDP, Phillips CD chgr
Canare 14 ga - LCR tweeters inside; CC outside
BJC 10 ga - LCR mids, inside & out
8 ga Powerline - LR woofers, inside & out
LR: tri-amped RTi A7 w/Rotels. Woofers - 980BX; M&T - 981
CC: Rotel RB985 -> tri-amped CSi A6
5 Audio Pro Subs: 1 B1.39: an Evidence at each corner
Surrounds: Rotel 981 -> AR 12 ga -> RTi A3
Power Conditioning & Distribution:
3 dedicated 20A feeds; APC H15; 4 Furman Miniport 20s
The new ones worked great, I made up 2 sets of cables last night one pair about 7 feet long each, and another pair about 20 feet long. The sleeve is more than long enough and it crimped easily and soldered fine with my 60 watt iron. I'm buying some more of them, and putting them into my recently purchased plug/components holders so they wont go missing again.
You don't get my point about the AQ (and other cables)? Did you read my sig?
Vinyl system: I'm long done with the snap, crackle, and pop.
Outlaw Audio 976 Pre/Pro
Samsung BDP, DirecTV Rcvr, Xbox 360, Dennon LDP, Phillips CD chgr
Canare 14 ga - LCR tweeters inside; CC outside
BJC 10 ga - LCR mids, inside & out
8 ga Powerline - LR woofers, inside & out
LR: tri-amped RTi A7 w/Rotels. Woofers - 980BX; M&T - 981
CC: Rotel RB985 -> tri-amped CSi A6
5 Audio Pro Subs: 1 B1.39: an Evidence at each corner
Surrounds: Rotel 981 -> AR 12 ga -> RTi A3
Power Conditioning & Distribution:
3 dedicated 20A feeds; APC H15; 4 Furman Miniport 20s
You'd be happier on one of the other forums that likes to dwell in mediocre.
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
Vinyl system: I'm long done with the snap, crackle, and pop.
Theater: Denon 3808 - B&K 7500/Emotiva XPA-3- RTi12, CSi5, RTiA7x4, PSW505
Sleeping: Marantz 70005 - Harman Kardon 2400 - SDA 2
2 Channel: Cary 306 SACD - Canary Audio 906 - Pass Labs x250 - PS Audio Perfectwave DAC, Polk LSiM705, SVS SB13 Ultra
Office: Dell Optiplex, Emotiva XDA-2, Adcom 5500, LSiM 703
Spares: Yamaha CA-810; LSi 15; Kenwood Basic M2a, Yamaha M60/M80, Polk Monitor 7, SVS SB13 Ultra
KEF Q150s, NAD 1155 preamp and 4155 tuner courtesy of DaddyJT, NAD C352 playing power amp, BJC Belden cables, Technics SL3200, Marantz CD6004 courtesy of Clipdat, Salamander Archetype rack, Millenium Falcon
Resident Child of Club Polk
Connectors are all about a good connection. And maintaining that connection under all circumstances. Like a chain, only as strong as the weakest link. Lots of info out there. Yeah there is a point of diminishing returns, IMO, but take a look. There's a price point for everybody! Another journey! FWIW.
Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, PASS ACA Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
Spare Room: , Antique Sound Labs Wave AV-8 Monoblocks, Tisbury Mini Passive Pre, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
sorry, I forgot to add IMO in there.
but yes, I do know what you mean. but I meant for my INCREDIBLY low price point, its not a viable upgrade.
KEF Q150s, NAD 1155 preamp and 4155 tuner courtesy of DaddyJT, NAD C352 playing power amp, BJC Belden cables, Technics SL3200, Marantz CD6004 courtesy of Clipdat, Salamander Archetype rack, Millenium Falcon
Resident Child of Club Polk
I do, especially connecting 4 ohm speaker due to the BFA’s lower resistance compared to the bananas
Every little bit counts more than you think. On a power cord thread one reply read (paraphrased) “better bass due to .47 lower voltage drop.” Makes sense to me! Hence why I have 8 gauge wire soldered all the way to my woofer’s driver tabs. Same for 10 gauge to my LCR mids; surrounds to follow.
Outlaw Audio 976 Pre/Pro
Samsung BDP, DirecTV Rcvr, Xbox 360, Dennon LDP, Phillips CD chgr
Canare 14 ga - LCR tweeters inside; CC outside
BJC 10 ga - LCR mids, inside & out
8 ga Powerline - LR woofers, inside & out
LR: tri-amped RTi A7 w/Rotels. Woofers - 980BX; M&T - 981
CC: Rotel RB985 -> tri-amped CSi A6
5 Audio Pro Subs: 1 B1.39: an Evidence at each corner
Surrounds: Rotel 981 -> AR 12 ga -> RTi A3
Power Conditioning & Distribution:
3 dedicated 20A feeds; APC H15; 4 Furman Miniport 20s
In addition, I measured the inside diameter of a Cardas binding post at .160 and the outside diameter of the MIT banana at .160 before and after the springs. With the springs compressed they also measure .160. Obviously, the banana is ever so slightly smaller than the post hole, but that's as accurate as I was able to measure. The difference is extremely small as evidenced by the super tight fit of the MIT banana plugs.
Furthermore, the solid dome tip bottoms out in the binding post meaning it is in full contact. Compared to the BFA type plugs there is no doubt that a high quality banana not only has greater mass, it also has greater contact area.
Note: for some damn reason (vanilla) all of a sudden today I am not able to post photos from my device on this site. I can everywhere else, so I know it's vanilla related. Maybe one of you guys can post a pic of the MIT banana plugs for me.
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
https://us.v-cdn.net/5021930/uploads/editor/8p/fmaeca98an2f.jpg
Outlaw Audio 976 Pre/Pro
Samsung BDP, DirecTV Rcvr, Xbox 360, Dennon LDP, Phillips CD chgr
Canare 14 ga - LCR tweeters inside; CC outside
BJC 10 ga - LCR mids, inside & out
8 ga Powerline - LR woofers, inside & out
LR: tri-amped RTi A7 w/Rotels. Woofers - 980BX; M&T - 981
CC: Rotel RB985 -> tri-amped CSi A6
5 Audio Pro Subs: 1 B1.39: an Evidence at each corner
Surrounds: Rotel 981 -> AR 12 ga -> RTi A3
Power Conditioning & Distribution:
3 dedicated 20A feeds; APC H15; 4 Furman Miniport 20s
The ones I use look pretty much identical to the big pic above. Crimp and solder, and never worry about them again.
Vinyl system: I'm long done with the snap, crackle, and pop.