help with replacing banana plugs

Captain Sousie · Post by **Captain Sousie** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:49 pm

I just replaced a set of banana plugs on a 14ga speaker cable. The original plugs were a fixed, connected pair that didn't fit the layout on my reciever. The new plugs are the GLS Black Chromes. The problem is this, when I replaced the plug the new one feels a little loose in the sleeves. The screw is snug in the insulation but the wire wiggles in the sleeve. Is this a bad thing or normal? If this is not normal, how do I fix it?

Thanks,
Sou

dmmorris · Post by **dmmorris** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:57 pm

The best fix is to replace with WBT bananas.

They are the best (IMO) banana out there. They have a fool-proof locking system built-in.

Shop around for the cheapist price. I bought my last mitten-full from Parts Express

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 1:13 pm

What happned to just soldering the blasted wires on? That'll be your most secure connection.

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?c ... &sku=29784

tubatooter1940 · Post by **tubatooter1940** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 8:41 pm

I agree-solder.
Banana plug is a new term to me.
Incidentally, you can slice a banana without peeling it with a long straight pin. That way whoever gets around to peeling the banana will be happily surprised.

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 9:36 pm

tubatooter1940 wrote:Banana plug is a new term to me.

The term goes back at least to the 1920's and probably long before that. It may be older than "Fahenstock clip".

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:40 am

bloke wrote:They don't make GOLD PLATED solder...and (so far) they don't charge $30-$50/roll for it, either.

Bob Pease, a regular character at National Semi and a columnist for Electronic Design once challenged a bunch of solid-silver speaker cable peddlers to accept his blind listening test. He proposed two opaque boxes of cable--one with No. 16 zip cord in it, the other with a similar length of their solid-silver super cable. IIRC, he never did get any takers.

His specialty is analog design, but his columns are still fun to read even if you're not an EE:

http://www.elecdesign.com/Authors/Index ... ab=Authors

dmmorris · Post by **dmmorris** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 9:57 am

I'm a strong advocate for hard wiring point-to-point using controlled solder joints. I had an large Grundig stereo system w/ tape, record player, radio, amp, pre-amp, and speakers from the late 50's that was all hard wired when I finished restoration.....no plugs except for the AC line. But if your gonna need to disconnect once in a while (mics, speakers, amps, etc), then solid quality hardware connectors with good strain control are worth their price. There are a lot of crap hardware out there. Yep......there's not much worse "sounding" than a bad solder joint or a poorly terminated banana plug, or any "crap" electrical connection in an audio application.

In my experience, WBT and Neutrik seem to provide the most robust connectors for audio aplications

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:30 pm

the elephant wrote:Bloke is right. A loose and intermittent connection that is gold plated is far better that nasty old solder! Solder is the old way and gold plated crap hardware is the new way. And everyone knows that newer methods are always better!

...and what do folks think holds the innards of their priceless audio gear together? Chewing gum?

I've got a bunch of high-end gold-plated speaker binding posts that I picked up on the surplus market. The thing that I found that was funny was that the "inside" ends of these posts are terminated in solder lugs that will admit a wire not much larger than no. 20.

dmmorris · Post by **dmmorris** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:24 pm

"What in the holy name of Crap are you talking about?" - Frank Barone (Peter Boyle - R.I.P.)

dmmorris · Post by **dmmorris** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:27 pm

Chuck(G) wrote:...and what do folks think holds the innards of their priceless audio gear together? Chewing gum?

"...Tried it once. Didn't care for it" - Frank Barone (Peter Boyle - R.I.P.)

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:32 pm

the elephant wrote:As long as it is gold plated, cheaply made, and only makes and intermittent connection, gum ought to be just great for old Joe Six Pack and his buddies. But the gold plating MUST be there or it cannot be any good. Right?

That's the ticket! Gold-plated chewing gum!

dmmorris · Post by **dmmorris** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:40 pm

Never tried it...don't have the need, but......

maybe these products could help if ya really gotta go gold: http://sra-solder.com/gold.htm

dmmorris · Post by **dmmorris** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:41 pm

Note...the melting points are kinda toasty!