Locking Banana Plugs

[Sonnie Parker]

Looking for high quality locking banana plugs... and have found these thus far:

River Cable Gold Plated Locking Banana Plugs, 8 MM Pair

River Cable Gold Plated Locking Banana Plugs, 8 MM Pair.

store.haveinc.com

DH Labs Locking Bananas

Locking Bananas (Single) - The Cable Company carries DH Labs Silver Sonic high end audio cables and accessories.

www.thecableco.com

Home

Expanding Banana Plug with Dual Set Screws and Carbon Fiber Wrapped Brass Shell 2 PairThese locking, expanding banana plug connectors are manufactured with a removable threaded sleeve that's wrapped in real carbon fiber for modern appeal and character. A color-coded ring offers quick polarity...

www.parts-express.com

I think I like the copper/silver option better than the gold plated.

Any other ideas or recommendations?

 

[Kal Rubinson]

FWIW, Benchmark uses the River Cable plugs.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I was going to order a pair of Benchmark's 6ft cables but they are sold out. Kinda glad they did, as I can get the same exact cable from Performance Audio for about 1/3 the price, although less the locking banana plugs. Add those and still less than half.

I have a 10ft pair of Canare 4S11 custom builds I did, but I moved my speakers and amps and now only need about 6ft, and don't want to mess up my ends on the 10ft custom pair... will keep for later.

 

[billrobbo]

When I was repairing circuit boards, many years ago, we always used silver plated IC sockets. The reason being that everything corrodes over time and gold salts are non-conductive but silver salts are.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

That's interesting information, although all this gear will likely out live me... lol.

 

[lemoncadillac]

I have used every type of locking banana plug out there over the years. I use 45°Locking Banana Plugs are my #1 choice(I buy them on Ebay). Relieving the stress on the speaker cables is the secret to my long lasting connections. After I tin my speaker wires I use CAIG G100L-2DB DeoxIT GOLD Brush Bottl. The ProGold conditioning solution is my choice for many, many years of trouble free connections.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Interesting... deoxidizing agent, never thought about that before.

I ended up ordering the DH Labs because I like the idea of copper and silver.

 

[lemoncadillac]

I would use Speaker cable pants to relieve some of the stress on the speaker wires. 10, 12, 14 gauge wires can get heavy over time. The sag/stress on the connector and or cable can cause issues over time. Pushed up against a cabinet wall or wall can be a problem also depending on installation. I have recently installed these on a few custom cables. It may help.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

The way I setup my cable is bend the wire up once it splits and leaves the main line (imagine how a king cobra dances). The Canare 4S11 is very thick and easy to mold, so there is no stress on the cable or the connectors, not that it would hurt anything, as the connectors on the 15A are seriously beefy and could withstand a lot of pressure. I don't know for sure yet, but I may end using the bare wire with the tinned ends going straight up into the connectors on the 15A, thus eliminating a connection.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

 

[Sonnie Parker]

The DH Labs plugs didn't work out. On the first plug one of the screws stripped out, would not tighten (just spin), and would not come out. My tinned end of my speaker cable was stuck and I didn't want to have to cut it and refinish the end of the cable, so I had to drill the screw out. I ended up using a set of spade lugs that look and connect in the same way as the banana connectors. I only paid $35 for the spades, and paid $80 for the bananas. Gonna try to send them back for a refund.

I was thinking the connectors on the ML had a hole for the bare wire, but they are solid, so it's either spades are nanners.