Banana Plugs

[rumonkey2]

Anybody use these guys??? I'm looking at the BlackChrome or SafeConnect.
Still trying to decide on whose cable to use. Thought about doing the WhiteLightning thing, but just not sure about the 16-3 idea....
Honestly, this is more of an aesthetic/clean look thing than me thinking I may hear a difference. I'm currently using A/R 16g speaker wire....
Want something other than a clear jacket...and not wanting to spend $$$
Just something to tinker w/ while I wait for serious new toys!!!

http://www.speakerrepair.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=AHH_Banana

[ddoonie]

I have the locking plugs from them, and they are of good quality. The locking mechanism isnt the smooothest, but i havent found one that was. Regarding cables, i did the cat5 build, and they came out alright, but quite thick and not the prettiest. I recently did the starquad cable 4s11 (4X14awg), much cleaner.

[m-fine]

I had the locking ones and a bunch of the petals broke off after about a year or two. I switched tot he cheaper monoprice ones and I like them better.

[billnchristy]

I bought my nanners from Lowes. They look a lot like the monoprice, but they have 2 set screws to hold the wire and a much fatter banana so they hold WAAAY better than the Monoprice. The Monos seem to vary in thickness, some I have are ok others are loose.

The Lowes nanners were $20 for 5 pair.

[m-fine]

Who doesn't love a fatter banana?

[rumonkey2]

Who doesn't love a fatter banana?

Uh, yeah, mine may not be long... but it is thick...


You just HAD TO KNOW I was gonna make some banana joke...:fryingpan:


Honestly, I like the GLS more for the non-brass/gold look....dunno why...:scratchchin:

Any link to the CAT5 build? I guess it would be easy 'nuff anyway. And I was thinking maybe a blue cable. Like I said, I'm mainly going for aesthetics - the "cool" factor:dizzy:
Considering getting a 16/4 though from Mono...

Plus, I really want bananas at the AVR - bare wire a ***** as tight as the HK's are...

[ddoonie]

Cat5

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=740215

did them, but kinda bulky so redid them with these...

http://av123forum.com/showthread.php?t=17963

[rumonkey2]

Thanks for the linky! And I remember the AV123 thread...
(didn't realize that was you!)

Think I'm gonna try the CAT5 slightly modified (color wise) for my fronts...not gonna do anything special for the surrounds other than bananas....
Gonna do the White Lightning for my GIZMO / 2 channel setup. Plus, it will be fun switching back & forth to see if I notice a "difference"

Thanks for the replies on GLS stuff!

[ddoonie]

Nah it wasnt me in that thread haha, i just found it easier linking to it then explaining how i did my own :)

[Ray3]

I bought my nanners from Lowes. They look a lot like the monoprice, but they have 2 set screws to hold the wire and a much fatter banana so they hold WAAAY better than the Monoprice. The Monos seem to vary in thickness, some I have are ok others are loose.

The Lowes nanners were $20 for 5 pair.

Along with Lowe's, Home Depot and Parts Express have some good quality stuff.

[Bill]

Anybody use these guys??? I'm looking at the BlackChrome or SafeConnect.

http://www.speakerrepair.com/Merchan...ode=AHH_Banana

I like those GLS SafeConnect banana plugs. I feel they're as good as the Monster Quick-Lock equivalent, and quite a bit cheaper. They're just a little longer than the Monster plugs, but it's the same concept. It's a simple twist on (no screws, no soldering), and the back half of the plug is coated in rubber so it's not conductive (so you don't have to use any sort of heat-gun to apply any tubing around the back half yourself).

I ordered a batch of 48 of these plugs (the largest quantity they advertise) from those guys, and I already went through all 48 plugs (24 pairs) while helping two friends with their stereo system upgrades. So now I've already ordered and received a second batch. For some reason, they messed up shipping the second batch - only shipping 28 plugs (14 pairs) instead of 48 plugs. But when I called them, they instantly agreed it was their mistake, and priority-mailed the missing plugs to me.

If you find any cheaper screw-ons with non-conductive backs, please let me know. The monoprice and blue-jeans-cables solutions didn't look right to me (the monoprice equivalent plugs are all metal - so they're all conductive - making it easier to short across the back of the plugs. The blue-jean-cables plugs fix the conductivity problem by supplying tubing which you then use a heat gun to shrink onto the back of the plug).