What is more preferred. Spades or banana plugs

[pallav_gupta]

Look forward to hearing from you guys.

 

[corElement]

Wheres the option for neither

 

[ranjeetrain]

All plugs that made from same material sound same. Their shape makes no difference to their sonics. Best plugs are no plugs.

 

[corElement]

I agree, the only exception for me would be if I were regularly swapping gear.

 

[koushik]

All plugs that made from same material sound same. Their shape makes no difference to their sonics. Best plugs are no plugs.

Not exclusively for sonic differences. He asked to know about preference.

Becoz sonically the best should be bare wire.

 

[Shivam]

I use bare wires. Once in a six month cleaning with iso-propyl alcohol keeps the wire ends clean.

 

[just4kix]

I guess banana plugs are easier to manage. Once in a while, I have to clean the back side of the whole HT setup and I wish that the speakers had banana plugs instead. It is not as if I cannot change, but I am too lazy.

 

[gobble]

I was born with a Banana Plug and clearly I prefer it for regular duties hyeah:
Imagine looking down and finding that its mutated into a forked spade

Jokes aside spades for the speaker side and Banana for the amp side is what I would prefer.

You never gave the option 3 of neither/nothing ... usually its my answer to "does this dress look better on me darling?" and so its the same for my audiophilia hyeah:

-G0bble

 

[magma]

For me

theres nothing like a good spade

WBT-USA

the WBT ones are excellent
the spade is a composite of 3 layers

this composite actually allows the spade to depress a bit when compressed ( i.e tightened against a terminal)
this in effect acts like a locking spring wiser

one of the best contacts i have seen

using a spade correctly keeps the Cu of the wires from getting into contact with the atmosphere
i personally feel this helps keeping the signal pure always

A teflon coated speaker wires termined by a wbt spade with heatshrink is my favorite
minimum contact of the speaker wire with atmosphere but max contact with the terminals

i vote spade

 

[iaudio]

I use bare wire to connect. I have thought about going for banana plugs, but wasnt really sure how much I would have to spend to get ones that do not detract from the sonics.

 

[murali_n]

Hi all,

Was using MX Banana's , but one of the screws lost its thread which made deterioration in sound in one of the channels. So tried bare wires and liked the SQ. May give a try to the WBT suggested by Magma in future.

N.Murali

 

[ShaQ.Blogs]

solderable plugs whatever mayb the type

 

[just4kix]

I was born with a Banana Plug and clearly I prefer it for regular duties hyeah:
Imagine looking down and finding that its mutated into a forked spade

Jokes aside spades for the speaker side and Banana for the amp side is what I would prefer.

You never gave the option 3 of neither/nothing ... usually its my answer to "does this dress look better on me darling?" and so its the same for my audiophilia hyeah:

-G0bble

Ha! Ha! I always love to read your posts.

But OP is asking what do you prefer! Spade or Banana!!

 

[gobble]

Ha! Ha! I always love to read your posts.

But OP is asking what do you prefer! Spade or Banana!!

Spade for the rear sockets ... banana for the front ...

Actually I use bare copper coated with WBT 4% silver solder in practice. It becomes like a banana plug but without the springloading force, and I connect it like regular copper wire, dont insert it like a plug. You can imagine the rest ...

--G0bble

 

[doors666]

doesnt matter, sonically they are all the same assuming decent material and build. no one can make out the difference by adding a hunk of copper.

 

[kuruvilajacob]

I prefer spade for speakers and banana plug for amp. But I have not been able to source good spades in any shops in Kerala. Some one can help me get good spades because my speakers can be connected only with spades

 

[pallav_gupta]

So I bought some gold plated banana plugs from US. Let's see if they are any good.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

For me

theres nothing like a good spade

WBT-USA

But then, the cable is held by the two screws, so it might as well be bare wire held by the binding post screw?

I have banana plugs, crimped to the cables. Ten years later, I think I'd go for bare wire.

What matters? Enough metal, enough contact area, secure fastening.

Most speaker cables are probably way over-spec'd anyway. Apart from the fact that the insulation would probably break down, you could run an AC machine using mine, but does it make sense to use thick wires and end in a thin banana plug? That's why I'd go for bare wire --- even though I don't think it would really make a difference.

People like their cables to look good, and terminated cables are always more satisfying, even if they are out of sight. I agree that aesthetics are important, and would then choose machine-crimped spades, but only if they are the right size for the fitting.

 

[asliarun]

But then, the cable is held by the two screws, so it might as well be bare wire held by the binding post screw?

I have banana plugs, crimped to the cables. Ten years later, I think I'd go for bare wire.

What matters? Enough metal, enough contact area, secure fastening.

Most speaker cables are probably way over-spec'd anyway. Apart from the fact that the insulation would probably break down, you could run an AC machine using mine, but does it make sense to use thick wires and end in a thin banana plug? That's why I'd go for bare wire --- even though I don't think it would really make a difference.

People like their cables to look good, and terminated cables are always more satisfying, even if they are out of sight. I agree that aesthetics are important, and would then choose machine-crimped spades, but only if they are the right size for the fitting.

Blue Jeans cables offer ultrasonic welded banana or spade terminated cables.

However, they themselves say that they recommend bare wire termination where feasible. Sometimes, a thick gauge wire won't even fit into an interconnect.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Ultrasonic welded! Goodness, and I thought crimping was high tech! :lol: