Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Use of bananna plugs.

Okay need some advice on the use of bananna plugs.
If I purchase 2 M60's / 1 VP150 / 2 QS8's / and a sub
how many plugs do I need?
Would it be like this: 2 plugs for the rear of each M60 (4 total) 2 each for the QS8 (4 total) 2 for the center channel (2 total) Then 2 each for each speaker for the rear connections on the receiver? Something like 20 bananna plugs w/o the sub? How are they sold, in sets of 2?
Just curious.

Usually sold in sets of 2 or 4. I was just reading the review of the Epic 80 system on audioholics or someplace. where ever its at. And the review says you cant really use bannanas on the center. And honestly. i prefer spades over bannanas because they offer a more secure connection and wont wear out over time. ( bannanas loose their spring so they dont make good contact ) AND theyre cheaper. Unless your going to be unhooking everything often.. get spades.

"Unless your going to be unhooking everything often.. get spades"
Okay, so 1 pair of spades for the rear of each speaker.
Would I use these for the rear of the receiver as well, or simply direct connect to the receiver terminals?
What of the center or the sub?
Also I priced the spades on Parts Express, does it matter which? They seem to vary from 2.50 per pair to 20.00 EACH!

It depends on the type of receiver you have. I've got an H/K 525, and it won't take spades, so it's either bananas or bare wire for me.

I have a Yamaha RX V 2400, though still in the box. Just arrived yesterday. I was also going to use 12 guage wire throughout. Not long runs used here. !2 should suffice, correct?
Still need to order the speakers. Waiting on the finish samples from Axiom. If anyone here has photos of the Mansfield Beech, love to see um'.
I will probably go with the Beech finish for all EXCEPT the center. That I will keep black. Not sure how the Beech finish will look once inside a Pearl White entertainment center. The TV is black anyway.

Davy, unless you're going to be frequently connecting and disconnecting your speakers for some reason there's no better connection available than simply putting the wire through the opening in the binding post and making it finger tight. As far as the gauge of the wire, you may well not need 12ga. The table in this article shows the requirements.

johnk, while i agree that soundwise, its just as good as the rest of the conections, but i will disagree on the fact that properly terminated spades, or bannanas will not really allow for oxidation to occur as it does with bare wires. But it is the cheapest way to go.

The instructions that come with the QS8s state that banana plugs will not work with the provided flush mounts. I used the full metal brackets for mounting and was still unable to use banana plugs.
The bare wire approch that JohnK recomended is the one I used, and the sound is excellent...To my ears.
If you go here
http://www.bestpriceaudiovideo.com/products/product.asp?Class=378

you will find the wire and plugs I used...

Just gotta play devil's advocate here and point out that with spades and bananas, there are at least 2x as many metal to metal contacts, and therefore possibly more corrosion and at least double the possibility of bad connections.

yeah.. but those connections are gold. ( i hope )

And unless your not strong enough to crimp wires, or cant solder or afraid to tighten posts, shouldnt have any bad connections..

Perhaps copper oxidizes much faster here than on the mainland.. because its alot more humid. But if i cut the end off some plain old copper speaker cables. in a week they will be getting dark. give em a few months and theyre black.

On the speaker cables i have that dont have any connectors because spring clips dont take spades and pins are stupid.. well those every time i hook em up i end up cutting off the ends to expose the clean copper.

Anyway...

i like my cables terminated...