buying spade plugs, where?

[bigworm000]

So i bought some BJC (10 gauge) and the locking banana plugs from them and they are great. Except, when I went to hook up the banana plugs to my B&W 601 s3 bookshelf front speakers, they dont accept banana plugs! So i went ahead and put the bananas on all the wires but only on one end. I have just used bare wire on the other end. I dont want to use bare wire though (I know, some people say bare is better so why bother) but when I bought the spade plugs from BJC, those didnt fit either. They are very flat profiled and my speaker connects are more recessed, making sliding the spade in impossible. I tried bending the spades with pliers but I broke two of them. No dice.

So, where can I buy relatively cheap spade plugs? Monoprice doesnt have them, at least that I can tell. Radioshack has some Belkin ones but they are way too expensive (20 bucks for two pair). The BJC price was 3.50/pair. Id like to stay near that. Ideas?

 

[j_garcia]

www.partsexpress.com

Right in the manual for those speakers though it states:

The terminals accept 6mm (1/4-in) spades,
bared wire ends or round pins up to 6mm
diameter and 4mm banana plugs. When
using spades, fit them under the sliding
collar.

I've seen these speakers before and I know for a fact they accept standard bananas. Pry out the plastic caps in the binding posts.

 

[bigworm000]

Thanks a bunch for your response. Yeah, I read the manual after having a hell of a time with it and could not for the life of me get those little plastic plugs out. I didnt get out the hammer as ill likely like to sell them someday (you know how fickle the audiophile community can be) but I guess ill give it a whirl again.

Is a 4mm banana a standard size? I looked at it and it doesnt seem like the connectors could receive a very long plug portion at all.

Thanks again.

 

[j_garcia]

To be honest, I have not seen them called 4mm, but I do believe bananas are pretty standard when it comes to speakers, with there only being a few sizes and most speaker manufacturers use the most common size. Oddly, I actually have a problem with the locking BJC ones fitting in my speakers because the binding posts on mine are not standard (my speakers are custom built). When you "lock" them, the pins expand too far and split.

You should be able to unscrew and remove the nut and the plastic caps should come right out, if they are like a few other speakers I've owned. Something to do with European laws because they use power outlets that accept similar style of plug.