AVR/Speaker Banana Plugs?

speakerman39

speakerman39

Audioholic Overlord
Folks, I need to order some banana plugs for both my AVR and speakers. I found these on Amazon that I like very much.

http://www.amazon.com/Strike-Banana-7-Pair-Sewell-Direct/dp/B00VXQ972W/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1452273910&sr=8-9&keywords=sewell+bullet&refinements=p_89:Sewell+Direct

So, I am all set for my AVR. But, what would any of you recommend for my speakers:

Fronts: Polk RTi6's
Center: Polk CSi5
Rears: Polk RTi4's

I simply do NOT want to just connect with bare wire. Or, is it just easier to use bare wire when connecting to your speakers? What type of banana plugs would any of you use for your speakers?

I did find these here:

http://www.amazon.com/Aurum-Gold-Spade-Plugs-Connectors/dp/B00B77RR60/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1452274601&sr=8-4&keywords=banana+spade+plugs

Is it a good idea to use spades for connection to my speakers. Or, perhaps it is better to use this type here?

http://www.amazon.com/Hi-end-Copper-Speaker-Shrink-Wv-spcpps2/dp/B00X98OSKS/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1452274760&sr=8-13&keywords=banana+spade+plugs

Just trying to do things the right way but also as cheap as I can......LOL!!! Any help would be most appreciated.

Cheers,

Phil
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
I'm like j_garcia in that I like banana plugs better than spade lugs, but I think the Sewell banana plugs are fine. Sometimes it comes down to nothing more than preference.

It may be important to see what fits and doesn't fit the speakers you get. The binding posts on speakers are not all the same. Some longer banana plugs don't insert all the way in, and can vibrate loose over time. Similarly, some banana plugs fit tightly into speaker binding posts, and some are a loose fit. (Adam, aka, Out of Context Man, take note :cool:)

Check your AVR too. The AVRs I'm familiar with have the speaker binding posts close together. If your banana plugs have wide insulated bases, they may not all fit in the small space available. The Sewells you choose look like they would fit on the back on my AVR.
 
speakerman39

speakerman39

Audioholic Overlord
I like these better than the sewells personally:

http://www.amazon.com/Nakamichi-Speaker-banana-Audio-connector/dp/B00G7QDVRU

I bought them direct from Nakamichi and they were actually almost half that price. http://www.nakamichiplug.com/

These are the ones I am actually using though

http://www.amazon.com/KnuKonceptz-eKs-Style-Banana-Plugs/dp/B008D2TC4M



I do not like to use spades. If CHEAP is the key, bare wire works fine :)
Thanks John. I prefer the Sewell ones to these. So, I have what i want regarding my Marantz AVR, but what should I use for the Polks? It doesn't look like to me I can use banana plugs on them? They do look very well made though. Should I just use bare wire?

Cheers,

Phil
 
speakerman39

speakerman39

Audioholic Overlord
I'm like j_garcia in that I like banana plugs better than spade lugs, but I think the Sewell banana plugs are fine. Sometimes it comes down to nothing more than preference.

It may be important to see what fits and doesn't fit the speakers you get. The binding posts on speakers are not all the same. Some longer banana plugs don't insert all the way in, and can vibrate loose over time. Similarly, some banana plugs fit tightly into speaker binding posts, and some are a loose fit. (Adam, aka, Out of Context Man, take note :cool:)

Check your AVR too. The AVRs I'm familiar with have the speaker binding posts close together. If your banana plugs have wide insulated bases, they may not all fit in the small space available. The Sewells you choose look like they would fit on the back on my AVR.
I am sure the Sewell linked above will work fine on my Marantz AVR. But, what should I use for my Polks speakers? The spades? I am a bit confused here. Perhaps, using just bare wire would be better, no?

Cheers,

Phil
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
The way I see it, the connection of wire straight to your amp's speaker terminals is functionally the same as the connection of the wire to a banana plug or spade connector (assuming you do not soldier them).
Thus neither spade nor banana benefits the quality of your connection, as a matter of fact, it adds another connection in the path.
So if your expectation is to set up your system and not touch it for 5 years, go wire straight to receiver. If you want an improved connection, tin the leads.
However, if you expect to move stuff around, banana plugs are so much easier to pop in and out.
 
Last edited:
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
There's nothing wrong with the Sewells. There was another company that was an OEM making exactly the same ones too, which are basically all knock offs of the major name ones. They all seem to work fine. I found the fit and finish of the Naks to be slightly better and they were cheaper, otherwise the Sewells would have been fine.

I use locking plugs on the amp side, bananas on the speaker side.

http://www.amazon.com/Sewell-Harpoon-Locking-Banana-Plugs/dp/B00MEQOJCS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452280033&sr=8-1&keywords=sewell+locking+banana+plugs

The reason I use the BFAs is because one set of speakers had jacks that were larger than normal and even the locking plugs would slip out. The current ones are slightly tighter than normal and I switch between my music/HT speakers often. The BFAs fit every jack properly because you can use a pencil or something to adjust their tension to suit them.
 
jliedeka

jliedeka

Audioholic General
I went with the locking bananas from Blue Jeans Cable.

If you aren't moving stuff around or upgrading your receiver frequently, bare wires are fine. Bananas are a convenience. Bare wire has the virtue of simplicity. I don't think either choice has enough effect on the electrical resistance to be a factor in sound.

Jim
 
its phillip

its phillip

Audioholic Ninja
Phillip, I also like those. The ones I linked above are supposed to be even better. I am all set on those, but what do I use for my Polk speakers? Spades, pins? Or, just bare wire?

Cheers,

Phil
I took a harder look at the Sewell Strike plugs you linked and I like em more than I did at first glance :D

Maybe I'm just not seeing it but I don't understand why you don't want to use the same banana plugs on both ends. What's preventing you from using banana plugs on your speakers? I looked up the rti6 and csi5 and it looks like you should be able to.
 
M

markw

Audioholic Overlord
I use the Sewells and have no problems with them. As for different connections on the amp and speaker: Why? What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Besides, there is no sound difference between the different types of connectors. ...only in convenience.
 
speakerman39

speakerman39

Audioholic Overlord
The way I see it, the connection of wire straight to your amp's speaker terminals is functionally the same as the connection of the wire to a banana plug or spade connector (assuming you do not soldier them).
Thus neither spade nor banana benefits the quality off your connection, as a matter of fact, it adds another connection in the path.
So if your expectation is to set up your system and not touch it for 5 years, go wire straight to receiver. If you want an improved connection, tin the leads.
However, if you expect to move stuff around, banana plugs are so much easier to pop in and out.
Kurt, I definitely want to use banana plugs for my AVR. In the past, I have always used bare wire to connect to my speakers. I just looked at my RTi6's and I do NOT see how a banana plug will connect to them. If you unscrew the red positive side there is a little round hole where you slip the bare wire into it and then tighten back down. How could I use a banana plug in this case?

I can see now that using spades would be a bad idea. But, the pins should work fine. At least, from what I can tell. Chances are I will be moving things around some until I get it the way I want it. So, using banana plugs/pins would be most helpful.

Cheers,

Phil
 
speakerman39

speakerman39

Audioholic Overlord
I took a harder look at the Sewell Strike plugs you linked and I like em more than I did at first glance :D

Maybe I'm just not seeing it but I don't understand why you don't want to use the same banana plugs on both ends. What's preventing you from using banana plugs on your speakers? I looked up the rti6 and csi5 and it looks like you should be able to.
Yeah, I really like those plugs too. As far as the RTi6 goes, I just do not see a way banana plugs will work on them. It looks more like the pins would be much better. Just a bit confused here.......LOL!!!! Sure not the first time!

Cheers,

Phil
 
its phillip

its phillip

Audioholic Ninja
Yeah, I really like those plugs too. As far as the RTi6 goes, I just do not see a way banana plugs will work on them. It looks more like the pins would be much better. Just a bit confused here.......LOL!!!! Sure not the first time!

Cheers,

Phil
Can you take a photo of the back of your speakers? I googled a photo of the back of the RTi6 and this is what came up:


Is that the same as yours? If so, all you need to do is pop out the little plastic pieces in the speaker wire terminals and you should be able to use banana plugs.
 
speakerman39

speakerman39

Audioholic Overlord
Can you take a photo of the back of your speakers? I googled a photo of the back of the RTi6 and this is what came up:


Is that the same as yours? If so, all you need to do is pop out the little plastic pieces in the speaker wire terminals and you should be able to use banana plugs.
At first they didn't. But, I pulled the little tips out on the bottom set and then it does. So, yes I can see where I can use banana plugs.....LOL!!!. This is probably why I have always used bare wires to connect my speakers. I will probably use bare wire for my RTi4's since they are going on my walls. Guess we learn something every single day....LOL!!!

Cheers,

Phil
 
M

Mark of Cenla

Full Audioholic
I use banana plugs with all my speakers, including Polk Rti4's. I like the Sewells just fine when the holes are a bit too far apart to use double banana plugs. Peace and goodwill.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
I use the Sewells and have no problems with them. As for different connections on the amp and speaker: Why? What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Besides, there is no sound difference between the different types of connectors. ...only in convenience.
I've had the ones on the back of my previous Marantz amp fall out one time and I did a bunch of troubleshooting, eventually pulling stuff out of the rack (PITA) only to find it was a loose speaker wire. So on my amps, I always use locking now. Speaker side doesn't need locking IMO.

Nope, there's no sound difference between connector types.
 
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