Monster 14-4 vs Audioquest 14-4
Comments
-
-
I do NOT like Spade connectors at all, I hate them . BUT Kimber Spades, these ones are awesome. Want to talk about grip? They are the very best Spade I have ever used and I have connect 36k Transparent cables Opus ones and many ultra high end cables. These spades the Post masters by Kimber actually work flawlessly.
I think spades are superior in most 2-ch setups. They definitely don't work well with HT receivers. I have used AQ silver coated solid copper spades on all the speaker cables I've terminated for my 2ch since around 2010. They work great for me. -
The last time I redid my living room 3.1 setup, I went relatively cheap with these from Amazon and I was surprised how good they clamped the wire. Nice feel overall. I'm sure the metal is less than perfect copper, but it is a system that I don't do any critical listening on. They have worked well for 3 years now.
They are the "Deadbolt" series from Sewell.
I think Monster had a line similar to that back in the day and I liked the handful that I used, which is what drew me to the Deadbolt design.
They are knock off Monster cable ends with worse quality designed banana plugs at the end. That is the design I do not like.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
They are knock off Monster cable ends with worse quality designed banana plugs at the end. That is the design I do not like.
We can agree to disagree. I like that design and I've never had any issues with it holding the wire like many other designs. I do not like the side mount variety or any that use tiny set screws to hold a wire.
I know it's been 15 years, but you used to think that design worked well:
https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/1266246#Comment_1266246 -
They are knock off Monster cable ends with worse quality designed banana plugs at the end. That is the design I do not like.
We can agree to disagree. I like that design and I've never had any issues with it holding the wire like many other designs. I do not like the side mount variety or any that use tiny set screws to hold a wire.
I know it's been 15 years, but you used to think that design worked well:
https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/1266246#Comment_1266246
That design is the very design that is on the ends of my Monstercable speaker wires in this thread.
The ones that you have these are the OG models from Monstercable. I have them as well and they are very nice. I like the way the wire goes in from the bottom and you fan it out around the grip lock. Once you screw the cap on, wire is very tight and secure.
https://www.amazon.com/Monster-XP-QuickLock-Connectors-Installations/dp/B08BJBSZ8J/ref=asc_df_B08BJBSZ8J?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=79852142346506&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=94979&hvtargid=pla-4583451673982269&psc=1
Pay attention to the actual Banana plug, I much prefer this design over the ones you got. I have used so many banana plugs in the past with that exact design plug and they wear out and loosen over time especially if your swapping around speakers a lot like I do.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Speaking of banana plugs I have super old gold sets (forget what brand) where the wire is fed through the bottom and then screwed for compression (perpendicular). I'll have to post a pic.
Similar to these only heftier
I use Canare 4S11 for the office rig when not using MIT AVt3's
I've probably had these since my high end stereo days when I worked at the local high-end audio store. Probably from the late 80's - early 90's. Can't think of the brand (not Monster).
These are interesting, almost pulled the trigger.
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-eDRdxk8TqxU/p_387SSBP4/Speaker-Snap-Banana-Connectors-4-pieces.html?XVINQ=GLX&XVVer=1FY6&awcr=64773823166h1&awdv=c&awnw=g&awug=9021895&awkw=pla-1960600120217&awmt=&awat=pla&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=18596593409
H9
The first ones are monoprice, I don't care for them at all. They wire slip and the banana plug is junk.
The speaker snaps I have used, they are ok but they have that crappy design I don't care for in the actual banana plug. I much prefer the second picture of the banana plug vs the first banana plug design on the speaker snap ones. I don't know why they show the second design as I have not seen them with that design , just the first design.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
I do NOT like Spade connectors at all, I hate them . BUT Kimber Spades, these ones are awesome. Want to talk about grip? They are the very best Spade I have ever used and I have connect 36k Transparent cables Opus ones and many ultra high end cables. These spades the Post masters by Kimber actually work flawlessly.
I think spades are superior in most 2-ch setups. They definitely don't work well with HT receivers. I have used AQ silver coated solid copper spades on all the speaker cables I've terminated for my 2ch since around 2010. They work great for me.
I have AQ spades and I don't like them at all. I think they are not a good design , at least on the speaker binding post I currently have in my Focal's and my Monitor Audio. I would much prefer IF I was going to use a spade, I would buy the Post Masters again from Kimber Kable. If you like spades and haven't tried those, do yourself a favor and pick up a set. They are super grippy, don't slip and they compress as you tighten down on the binding post. What's nice about them is you don't have to crank down on them like you would a solid metal spade design. Take a goo look at my Kimber Picture and look close at the spade. You will see a compression material in the middle of the spade.
Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Here is a link to check them out
https://soundapproach.com/kimber-kable-pm33-postmaster-33-speaker-connector-kit-pair.html?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17177704065&gbraid=0AAAAADri6kburFMhqgVDlvcEVUOwNq8lH&gclid=CjwKCAiAssfLBhBDEiwAcLpwfmKDkE8PIUhyhTqlfXPFo-yqIuvIvPw50X4zTY-AbRMVyZjcFXZWkhoCm3wQAvD_BwEDan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
So here is my issue with Spades from Audioquest. I took a few quick pic's of my Focal center channel.
They have very nice binding posts on the back and are designed to except spades AND give you excellent grip to tighten down on a spade connector.
Here are a few AQ spades I have
And here is them connected to the binding post
So by looking at the picture with the spade attached, you think you got this wonder contact surface most audiophiles are let to believe. Well let me make my case that this isn't true. The focal binding posts you can unscrew it to expose the actual contact surface. Look at these 2 pictures.
As you can see, the spade doesn't even fully contact with the center post to give you that so called contact surface we all want to have right? But it doesn't.
Now I have other spades in Theater Ovals which are very nice cables and I actually like the Spades as they grip pretty well. They are a bit blocky in design but they work well with their cables and I really dig the cables. Look how there spades attach.
So now you're thinking this must be a better design right? Wrong, sucks to as take a look under the hood.
So this is my issue with Spade connectors, these are not the only ones I have worked with, the only ones I have used that actually make great surface contact is the Kimber Kable Post Masters. They fit snug all the way around the binding post and with the center compression ring, they really give you actual surface contact that can rival a banana plug. I don't have any on hand , I sold all my Kimber stuff many years ago like a fool, I should have held on to them.
So here is 2 examples of banana plugs on the same binding posts. One set is Theater ovals and the other is 12-2 THX certified Liberty wire and cable custom built by me cables. By the way , they are excellent speaker cables, I have used them many times in many systems and they are awesome.
Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
The last time I redid my living room 3.1 setup, I went relatively cheap with these from Amazon and I was surprised how good they clamped the wire. Nice feel overall. I'm sure the metal is less than perfect copper, but it is a system that I don't do any critical listening on. They have worked well for 3 years now.
They are the "Deadbolt" series from Sewell.
I think Monster had a line similar to that back in the day and I liked the handful that I used, which is what drew me to the Deadbolt design.
Hi Bill,
Here are the OG versions of that clone banana plug. They are very similar except the actual plug design which I prefer.
Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
i have a set of these around and they are nice... can accept a very large wire
https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/banana-plugs/supra-combicon-banana-two-pair/- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit. -
So here is my issue with Spades from Audioquest. I took a few quick pic's of my Focal center channel.
They have very nice binding posts on the back and are designed to except spades AND give you excellent grip to tighten down on a spade connector.
Here are a few AQ spades I have
And here is them connected to the binding post
So by looking at the picture with the spade attached, you think you got this wonder contact surface most audiophiles are let to believe. Well let me make my case that this isn't true. The focal binding posts you can unscrew it to expose the actual contact surface. Look at these 2 pictures.
As you can see, the spade doesn't even fully contact with the center post to give you that so called contact surface we all want to have right? But it doesn't.
Now I have other spades in Theater Ovals which are very nice cables and I actually like the Spades as they grip pretty well. They are a bit blocky in design but they work well with their cables and I really dig the cables. Look how there spades attach.
So now you're thinking this must be a better design right? Wrong, sucks to as take a look under the hood.
So this is my issue with Spade connectors, these are not the only ones I have worked with, the only ones I have used that actually make great surface contact is the Kimber Kable Post Masters. They fit snug all the way around the binding post and with the center compression ring, they really give you actual surface contact that can rival a banana plug. I don't have any on hand , I sold all my Kimber stuff many years ago like a fool, I should have held on to them.
So, it looks to me like you had the wrong size spades for your Focals. They do sell larger sizes. Even with that partial contact on the tips shown in one of the photos, I'd prefer that to bananas. The thickness of pure copper and having both sides make contact are preferable to me over the thin flexible material and smallish contact area of most bananas. I like the vice-like grip that spades give.
You like bananas. That's fine. Everyone has a their own preferences. Those Focals are also unusual with the orientation of the binding posts, so that comes in to play also. Like I said, I prefer bananas for all my HT/TV viewing setups.
-
Was using the Nakamichi locking bananas on my Monster ME2K Sigma's, really like those connectors.
Only reason I went with the Naks was they were large enough to accept the 7 gauge conductors on the Monster Sigma's.
Not positive on the gauge... it's possible they could be 6 gauge.
-
skipshot12 wrote: »Was using the Nakamichi locking bananas on my Monster ME2K Sigma's, really like those connectors.
Only reason I went with the Naks was they were large enough to accept the 7 gauge conductors on the Monster Sigma's.
Not positive on the gauge... it's possible they could be 6 gauge.
I had some knockoff variation of those and those are the ones that would get stuck inside the terminal holes. Lesson learned. Don't try to save so much buying knockoffs. Maybe at some point, I need to re-vist my living room wiring and replace those Sewells with actual Monster versions. I think I need 6 pairs total, so it shouldn't be too expensive. At the time, I was bleeding money to a bunch of different things in the new house, but now...maybe I'll swap them.
