Bare wire vs. cheaper bananas

[Johnny Canuck]

Don't know if this has been answered here...if it has maybe someone can direct me to a link concerning advantages of bananas over barewiring.

My question is: someone told me because my banana plugs aren't the greatest, I am actually degrading SQ using them and i should just barewire. One more connection between the speaker cable and the speaker.

My NAD amp won't take a banana so i have it biwired and then bananas on the other end going into the lows on my Polk RTI 12's..does that matter?

Is this true? I don't really care about the convenience of plugs..once it's wired I will just leave it...

Looking at the Blue Jeans cable site, my plugs appear to be those, or ones very similar. I bought them at a local electronics store, sold in bulk for $5.00 apiece.

thanks

 

[Privateer]

There is no difference as long as you are getting a solid connection.

 

[warnerwh]

The only time bananas would sound worse than bare wire is if they fall out of the speaker. Some bananas fit loosely. Z Plugs, a type of banana plug, fit nice and tight and have alot of contact area. Also they're inexpensive from Knukonceptz.com and easy to use. I don't care for regular bananas as they get loose. Bare wire should be tinned imo as to avoid any possible shorting of the speaker wires. One little strand touching the other conductor can toast some amplifiers.

 

[mtrycrafts]

The only time bananas would sound worse than bare wire is if they fall out of the speaker. .

ROTFLOL You are killing me

 

[jbracing24]

For the first time, I used the banana plugs from the Shack, the solderless kind, when setting the the 2805 ealier this month. So much easier to connect speakers this way. You never know how good the connection was when cramming the bare wire in the slot and tightening the nut.

 

[warpdrive]

Just take care to tighten them as much as you can so if you wiggle the wire, then cable doesn't fall out, you should be fine. The better bananas will stay put better.

If you are really concerned, get some JA Mitchell versions $7.50 each CAD, they pass the wiggle test, OR go bare wire.

Bare wire is just as good, just not convenient.

 

[Privateer]

Just take care to tighten them as much as you can so if you wiggle the wire, then cable doesn't fall out, you should be fine. The better bananas will stay put better.

That is why people solder.

 

[jbracing24]

The plugs I used don't take the really fat wire. But you insert the wire in the end of the plug and through a little hole and bend the wire back. When you screw on the little ring, it holds the wire very secure. Who needs to solder!

 

[Privateer]

Who needs to solder!

Do what you want.

 

[Nick diablo]

My NAD amp won't take a banana

My NAD T753 has binding posts which look like they don't take bananas, but the middle of each is a banana socket but has a bit of plastic covering it, which will pop out if you apply a small screwdriver firmly. I'm surprised they don't put those on all their amps.
The T753 has only one set of posts for each output, so I'd have a slight problem with two lots of 12 gauge to connect to them if it weren't for the banana sockets.

Bare wire is usually the best connection anyway. But copper does oxidise after time, so it is a good idea to have a few inches of cable 'spare', so that you can cut off the old corroded stuff and strip off some insulation to get back to pure copper again.