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...

Hey, I didn't say that I wasn't planning on terminating mine when I get decent speakers... ;-)

To further my devil's advocacy, I have to point out that the copper touching the gold can still corrode, and you wouldn't be able to see it inside the connector. Anyway....

That quick oxidation thing is pretty amazing. I've never been to Hawaii (and if I did, I doubt that I would be carrying around copper cable to test), but that seems like a plausible explanation.

Ken

Regardless of whether you terminate the wires (and even if you do, it is still a copper-gold contact), an annual or semi-annual treatment of those contacts with deoxydizer/protectant chemicals (such as the CAIG ProGold) will never hurt...

Does anyone know how oxidized speaker wires affect sound quality? What tell-tale noise should I be listening for as an indication that it is time to expose some fresh copper? A buzz, a hiss, or something more subtle?

See the following article (PDF format), posted by chesseroo earlier this month. It's a bit technical.

http://www.alphametals.com/products/fluxes/PDF/green1.pdf

Brandon, surface oxidation on the part of the copper wire that actually isn't in contact with the speaker terminal isn't harmful and doesn't increase the resistance at all. The small part of the wire that is clamped against the terminal and carrying the power is to a large extent sealed against oxidation.

Johnk, yes i guess that makes sense.

On another note, does anyone use caig progold?

Im thinking of ordering some deoxit and progold to clean up the contacts on my stuff. The ones on my NAD arent nearly as shiny as when it was new. it will cost 40 bucks for both but, i figure its worth it because it will keep my contacts clean and it will last quite a while..

Yes, I use DeoxIt and ProGold. Believe or not, the binding posts on my Hales are uncoated, native copper, which had been visibly oxidized over the years. DeoxIt instantly made it like new. Try it first on a dime.

Does it work on copper pots and pans, too?

Yes, definitely. I've restored several noisy pots with DeoxIt. You can download the literature about the CAIG products at the link above.

I guess the joke's on me.

HAHAHA...