Hello -

Can anyone tell me what the 'value' is to purchase banana plugs for wiring your receiver and speakers outside of it being easier to plug/unplug?

Along with that, I'd like to know if anyone recommends the type of banana plugs to get and any good websites to purchase them for a good price.

I have Studio 40 Paradigm speakers and Denon 3803.

Thanks in advance,
corey

[email protected]

None, as a matter of fact, it adds a small amount of impedance, and therefore will degrade performance. Can I hear this? No.

I like the convenience, and it makes for simpler install and swapout.

I like these:

[Link: bluejeanscable.com]

We use banana plugs because they give a better connections and look more professional. When You get into large systems in custom cabinets, etc. it is much easy to push in a banana plug than have to screw/unscrew the terminals while you make adjustments. Also, I have had too many service calls because one strand straid from the rest and was touching the other terminal. Most of the time it doesn't even have to touch as long as the volume is low there is not enough juice to do an damage, but when you turn the volume up the receiver will shut down.

We use the crimp on ones. The screw terminal type are too big and bulky, and you might as well you the screw terminals on the receiver/speaker. We buy in bulk from a distributor. I will be willing to sell you some if you are interested.

I have seen these, but we have never used them. It is a great toolless product.

[Link: rca.com]?

I hate bare wire on receivers or big amps, so I use bananas...
Eliminating the possibility of a stray conductor curling back and shorting on the chassis or another connector FAR outweighs the tiny amount of added resistance in the line (and it is resistance in this case, not impedance... nothing changes no matter the frequency)

I do NOT like to use the ones that are all brass and are not insulated at all for the exposed portion. My old business partner dropped one end of an interconnect with metal barrels behind a rack and happened to hit just right and created a short across some channels on an amp wired up with the single Sonance gold/brass bananas that are the exact same as the ones in the BlueJeans link...
"

Up until that moment, we liked to use those bananas...

Liberty ZB01 bananas have set screw termination, and they are fully insulated over the length of the exposed portion of the barrel when they are terminated. Also, they are relatively cheap to buy in bulk for pros with a Liberty account (sorry DIY guys, they are trade only, try RAM for mail order sales of Liberty).
Paradigm dealers have similar models available from their AudioStream accessories price sheet.

Gotta love this board. I used the term impedance, because anything other than a zero length conductor will exhibit both resistive and reactive components of impedance. But then I get 2nd rick correcting me... incorrectly.

Even if it didn't vary at all with frequency, impedance includes both resistance and reactance. Nothing says the reactance of a impedance can't be zero.

The bananas from Blue Jeans Cable come with Red and Black Shrink Sleeving. After assembling the plug onto the cable, a quick pass with the heat shrink gun, and you've got insulated plugs.

I like that with these plugs the contact area between the wire and the jam nut is large, and results in lots of contact area between the wire and plug. I'm not a fan of the set screw variety, as it achieves a lower cross sectional area of contact.

They actually increase the amount of suface area so they will increase conductivity.

Marc

Sorry.
I wasn't intending on being one of those tweak-o types when I replied....

I guess it's a six of one, half dozen of the other type of thing depending on how you look at it... It's close enough to zero length and there are no strand-to-strand interactions, dialectric considerations, conductor geometry concerns, or anything like that...
The impedance plot would basically be as flat as a ruler from DC to light, but can still be correctly called the impedance of the connector.

I were to bother to calculate the effect of a banana on a signal path, I would calculate it as the DCR of the connector and assume it to be consistent across the remaining audible spectrum (that is if I dragged out a DMM that had the resolution to go out the correct decimal point).

As far as the set screws, I use them all the time, and since they can accept up to 12 ga., I strip back a longer length of the 14 ga that we use and neatly slide the elbow of the double over strands into the barrel. The two opposing set screws push the entire bundle against the back half of the inside of the barrel in two different spots inside the barrel, pushing out the air between the conductors and the barrel itself and making a very decent connection IMO.
I would say that it is as good as the old crimp-on style bananas like the Monsters or using bare wire on cheap 5-way binding posts.

This is a moot point on 99.999% of the installations discussed here and is beginning to remind me of a never ending audiophile discussion, so I am done now.

I always seem to lose the little sleeves, so Ilike that these come with the plastic insulation sleeves thread on to every connector.

Has anyone used the F-Cons [Link: icmcorp.net]
Not cheap but they look good.
For cheap Phoenix Gold has some crimp ons.

Don't use them if your equipment is on a shelf... When you pull it out, they will pull out. If you are in a rack, then feel free. We never do.

I use only Ponoma MDP bananas as long as the two terminals are the standard distance apart. You shouldn't use a 1/8" slotted screwdriver as it might strip or break the little set screw; What works perfectly is an Xcelite 5/32" slotted screwdriver.

I hate heavy, expensive, fancy terminals. They are actually less reliable over time, I find. But the cheap banana knock offs that don't say Ponama are even worse.

Monster Q-lok banana's they are like crack.! very addictive.
They make the install look cleaner and almost pay for them selves in time saving.
especially if you need to swap the receiver. They hold vey tight too.... steer very clear of 'naners that feel loose.

[Link: monstercable.com]

Altho I do not toe the Monster line, or carry it either, Caffeinated has suggested the only worthwhile approach to bananaing.

Yes, bananas pull out. More to the point, regardless of 2nd rick's description, making a connection with a banana plug is like pushing a wire into a crimp connector. Real hard. Not crimping it, you understand, just having the wires touch.

The connection of the wire to the banana might be real good, and I have used that RCA connector and it works well, but the connection between the banana and the amp terminal will be four little areas with a small amount of pressure between the areas. Just like wire shoved into a crimp connector.

The Monster ones that Caffeinated just spoke of, while Monsters and thus anathema, make a TIGHT connection. That is what keeps the fi hi. I have even seen a Nanner that actually cranks out and grips the amp terminal from the inside.


Yes. Avoid loose nanners.