Spade vs Banana vs Bare Speaker Wire Terminations: Which is Best?

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Ever wonder what type of speaker cable termination is best? We compare banana vs spade vs bare wire to give you the answer. Is it all about surface area or is there some other consideration that is more important? Watch this video to find out how to best terminate your speaker cables.
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[@ValueAudio]

I was sole proprietor of Value Audio, an audiophile oriented sales company, for 20 years. I got into the business selling truly fine cabling and it remained my specialty throughout the life of my business. I developed an excellent national & international reputation for high performance-high value equipment & cable expertise, often blowing peoples minds. I carried Acoustic Zen, Analysis Plus, WireWorld, and DH Labs - and sold all price points from $200-15,000 per pair of speaker cables, and have an excellent ear for subtle and not so subtle differences in cable and connectors, and am excellent at system matching for sonic character. I did my own custom termination work on DH Labs, using high value, non-hype quality connectors I’d purchase from Analysis Plus. Here are a few of my discoveries regarding connectors: Avoid solder, and go for a very solid, largely air tight crimp instead. A fine crimp is 100% conductive between connected materials, while even the best solders m about 15% conductive. Avoid any connector that screw directly to wire strands. They will fray out the wire & loosen, providing lousy connections & lead to oxidation. If you use screw on barrels, pit a crimp sleeve over the bare wire, crimp tightly and screw down to that. Low mass designs tend to be clearer and more transparent than beefy, heavy on the metal parts, which disrupt current flow &!create Eddy Currents. The this came to my attention first through Nordost recommendation of ‘Z-Plug’ hollow BFA banana instead of spades, as well as raves over Eichmann’s development of low-mass interconnect plugs. Also, large barreled plugs are often made of inferior sounding metals, often low grade brass and/or ferrous alloys with less than ideal sound. Z-Plug pins are Beryllium Copper, which has a good sound. I would use the Z-Plugs with Beryllium Copper crimp-on barrels - a very good, transparent sounding minimalist low mass, design. Big locking bananas are best only if you need the security of a connection that won’t come off accidentally while you mess around behind your speakers & amp. Comparing Spades to Bananas: while spades can be pure copper based (though almost always plated, as are Z-Plugs), I found spades to typically sound more mellow, and less clear on upper mids & highs, than fine crimp-on bananas. Spades do seem to have the capacity for higher current carrying ability, which can improve bass. I’d usually go with bananas at the amp, as it manages cable routing better there, and I’d use spades at the speaker end. This would also allow me to make custom jumpers using Z-Plugs at both ends for biwireable speakers. It usually sounds best to hook the spade to the bass, and use the jumper’s Z-plugs to bring more transparency to the higher frequency driver(s). The spades would help provide good current. Problems with loose spades as described in the video could be solved to a large degree with this tightening technique: Align spade barrels (where wire connects) at a 4 o’clock position, tighten speaker terminal nut down. Then tighten further to 6 o’clock by twisting both the nut and the spade so they move together. It should provide a tight fit. Loosen by doing the opposite. Don’t mar the terminal nut with pliers. If you must use pliers, put something like a small sheet of rubber or cloth between them. Be very careful not to over-tighten using pliers - your speaker terminals are held on with nuts on the back (inside the speaker), and the post itself will twist, which not only misalign the bare wire hole, but could also tear your internal wiring off. Let me know if you’ve found this information helpful. Best regards, Jefferson Delman Value Audio

[@ValueAudio]

PS - Bare ends MIGHT sound better, if you do it right, but have big drawbacks: You can’t crimp them down tightly. As strands fray, oxygen & sulphur can work their way in, degrading the connection. At the least, tin the wire lightly with a silver content solder. If you don’t tin, apply a contact enhancer & oxidation protector like CAIG ProGold, applying enough to soak in between strands, then wipe off excess. Some wire might remain unprotected once it’s mashed down in the post. Also with bare ends, if you remove the cables, it will leave end strands a mess. The fraying and any oxidized area should be cut off, & the insulation should be stripped to give a fresh connection lead.

[@šipi-ripi]

Thanks👏👍

[@mccririck01]

I very much doubt you can hear the difference between connectors.

[@kusgilb]

I always use silver soldered bare wire. Not saying it's any better, but I like that it handles connector compression better when soldered. It also helps with eliminating stray strands of wire.

[@jillpeacock4540]

I started watching you when you were sick. Now I can't seem to turn you off. I'm learning things from you, I had no clue about before. It's good to see you so full of energy... Explaining everything to us. Hope you continue to have good health. Thanks for informing us on what to expect, how things work, what's going on. You seem like a really nice guy, and I really like how you teach us about the banana, raw, and spade. You can just imagine what I was thinking they were. Lol. God Bless you

[@diskreet]

I started watching and reading a few months ago to plan for a HT setup after a remodel that won't happen any time soon now, but I'm in a similar boat. They have helped me avoid some bigger mistakes, like how to balance the budget between LCR and the Atmos speakers, or going with two subs instead of one. They have amazing content like this that will also help me nail the details. Especially setting up the receiver, this channel's videos and guides are just immensely helpful. I'll end up with a drastically better result for the same budget thanks to Audioholics!

[@ericnortan9012]

I like banana because they are simple to use. As an electrician, I say if done correctly bare wire is the best connection. Proper wire size for the terminals and no "wild hairs". But I use banana on everything cause I like to play with other speakers and it makes it easy Stay safe, glad to see you are doing well.

[@MrBloodybeak]

You could always twist the wires together and then melt solder on those bad boys

[@scottyo64]

@@MrBloodybeak Banana plugs are the way to go when you switch speakers or wires often. I have tried everything and always go back to banana plugs.

[@mrhobs]

@@MrBloodybeak I feel like at that point, it becomes a hard surface and not much different than a banana plug anyway. I guess if you just solder the very tips together...

[@VladimirPutin-p3t]

​@@MrBloodybeaksoldering reduces surface area in a low compression force joint. You're actually better off with bare wire.

[@laurentiudinca9606]

I use bare wire on both sides, and it works just fine. Glad to see you feeling better, Gene.

[@VladimirPutin-p3t]

Yeah, bare wire is probably the best a non-technical person is going to get. Banana plugs are popular, but they're meant for temporary connections only. On the other hand, if you have a decent crimper and don't mind putting the effort it, spades are the most reliable and robust connection.

[@ropeburn6684]

​@@VladimirPutin-p3tHave you watched the video? Spades are the easiest to come loose, and are therefore the least reliable.

[@Rometiklan]

Great to see you making more vids, Gene! As you recommended, I've been going with banana plugs on the amp side, raw at the speakers. Thanks for posting!

[@optimusvader7823]

Glad to see you Gene, you look great Brother. I Hope you feel a lot better . I like to go raw like you said in the speakers ( Sometimes the banana plugs they are a little bulky for some speakers ) but in the Receiver or amp they work great also look really clean with it ! Great video and information . GOD BLESS YOU and as always ; we will keep listening 🔊 !

[@JasonOldfield1838]

I have to say, I was a raw guy up until I watched this video. I recent experienced a situation where I was hearing static from my LF floorstanding tower (which gets moved more than any other speaker to get behind the entertainment center), only to find that my binding posts were both very loose. Seeing your resistance measurement experiment sealed it for me, and I used the links you provided to order myself some banana plugs. They'll be going on as soon as I get them. Thanks for the information, and hope you are fully recovered!

[@googleyoutubechannel8554]

Take 5 min to solder the wire to your posts.

[@DavidKowalski]

After years of experimentation, I go with raw wire, with at least the amplifier ends tinned. Added terminals just put something between the wire and the binding post. Your connection to the speaker or amp then depends on the connection between the the wire and the added terminal. I have seen factory-added terminals such as spades cause large gauge wire to crimp and break over time. Whiskers are definitely a concern but this can be avoided by tinning the ends of the wire.

[@iAbdullah_Hamad]

Is there special tining material?

[@FFFan3445]

I bought a set of banana plugs for my Monoprice 5.1 premium speakers and my basic Denon 5.2 receiver, turns out they were too big to fit into anything. Ended up using bare wire instead, lame but it works fine. Glad to see you doing better, buddy, I've been sharing your vids and I made sure to send this one out to friends to let them know you seem to be better. Stay healthy, and keep listening!

[@erod9088]

I used to go raw on the amp and at the speakers for many years, but now I do banana plugs on both. If you get tight fitting ones, they're much better overall I believe because they can are so easy to switch in and out of different speakers and amps.

[@Turtleback8024]

I agree 💯

[@ramencurry6672]

The banana plug is the best. A much neater way to set up

[@AndyBHome]

I really like the Parts Express banana plugs with the "floating slug" inside. It let's you turn the locking sleeve without any twisting against the the bare wire. I used to "tin" the bare wire ends with standard lead solder. That actually worked pretty well too because you eliminated any whiskers and the soft lead deformed to the shape of the space they were being screwed into.

[@dxd7122]

I'm using Nakamichi BFA banana plugs to both amp and speakers with 12 gauge low pf speaker wire. A good friction fit, sounds very good too.

[@hugobloemers4425]

As long as you don't think Nakamichi today is the real Mc Coy, you know the ones with actual high end equipment.

[@seanlacroix]

@@hugobloemers4425 ya Nakamichi is name only at this point. A cheap Chinese company, the banana plugs are basically just rebranded Sewells.

[@Dan_d00d]

Gene its good to see you improving health! Road to recovery seems good now, a lot of fans are glad. I did my own cables, always use bananas - Nakamichi, and its got 11GA (14x4 in braid) crammed in each plug with soldering + 2 screws in terminal plug inner sheath. rock solid, and I love it. This is also in bi-amp for L/R and biwire Y cable for Centre. YAY

[@amitghosh6966]

Can I use insulated wires to connect speaker voice coil ends to the terminals instead of braided copper wire usually used to join them ?

[@Dragon-Slay3r]

That's some serious wiring

[@Absouloot]

So glad to see you up and about Gene! And to come back with a hot topic for me right now. I just mounted a center channel and didn't have room for my traditional banana plugs, so I modified some minimalist plugs. Something I don't hear much any more is using solder and tinning the wires. I had always assumed that was much better than just bare wires, however I would have really enjoyed using your testing equipment to see if that's true! BTW, I really like how my banana plugs came out, I will probably continue to this method from here on out, until the next great speaker connection upgrade happens! LOL... Welcome Back!

[@TexasScout]

I have been missing with call audio for over 50 years, after the hurricane and I got everything set back up, I went double compression banana plugs on everything for the first time ever. So far I’m completely satisfied

[@steverees1936]

Hi Gene, Glad to see your well again. I'm new to this channel and I just want to say how informative your videos are and love everything that I've seen so far. I prefer banana plugs personally as it keeps the ends of the wire neat and makes it so easy to pull cable out when needed. Love the review on cables you did a while back and I watched it three times so far lol! Anyone who likes Porcupine Tree? Steven Wilson and Prog rock is a fine person in my eyes, so keep up the excellent work from a Welsh guy living in Northern Ireland. ;-)

[@jean-francoiscusson9007]

I use blue jeans cables banana connectors. I really like them. I bought this cables a couples year's ago because of you. Thank you Gene

[@andreroy188]

Good quick video Gene. I've been in the home audio game for almost 40 years, and I personally go with a good locking banana all the way around. BTW, you look like you're feelin' better Gene. Good deal! Have a great day and God bless.

[@cigarobsession]

Quality banana plugs here. Rock solid, done.

[@Bob.martens]

Easy swapping.

[@Gez492]

So glad that someone has addressed this. I am an audiophile and I can concur wholeheartedly I hate Spade connectors for the very reasons you have outlined. My preference is good quality compression banana plugs all day every day. Before these I used bare wire but I used to tin them to avoid the whisker thing. Yes you could say I would get oxidization of the silver solder but no more so than bare copper. The only tangible benefit I can see in using Spades is decent ones will be gold plated so wont oxidize but every one I ever used on thicker gauge is almost impossible to tighten properly.

[@IliyaOsnovikov]

I bet you've been using the wrong type of the spade terminals. Try some AudioQuest terminals and you would change your opinion.

[@joernploeger2408]

I used to do bare but to many issues as you mentioned and I moved on the banana, so convinient especially when you have to move things, just unplug and plug in done. No issues with sound as well!!!

[@FyrBridd]

Its all about SpeakOn! Wish they were used more widely, such a strong connection

[@Audioholics]

Agreed

[@gunnarbjrgum2998]

Agree, can't believe SpeakOn is not more used in consumer equipment. No chance of short circuit or wrong polarity, and much quicker to plug in/out.

[@LifeofBliss]

Speakon is the answer

[@editorjuno]

Amen -- too bad most consumer and "audiophile"-grade stereo gear doesn't have them.

[@cornwallonline]

Just ordered some more Neutrik Speakons - 4 pole. £12 (UK, obvioulsy) for two plugs and two chassis sockets! Love 'em. I use their colour-coded/keyed power connectors too, between amps and power supplies - check them out!!

[@BennyKsBandwidth]

When I build my cables I use BFA Banana plugs on both ends only due to switching out speakers frequently. I would do exactly what you would do if I kept a pair in place long enough too. Banana at the amp, bare wire at the speaker! Good video!

[@jamiermathlin]

I am raw at the speakers and banana plug at the av receiver, mainly due to having 9.2.2 set-up all with 10AWG cables, there just is not the room at the terminals, seems to work very well, and it looks good as well :-)

[@chacha4119]

Always have used bare or raw wire as you say for about 45 years now ,carefully installed and wires trimmed ect. Never had an issue with it. Many thanks for your video.

[@r9800pro]

I have been watching your videos for 8 months or so and find them really informative and the topics are really well selected. I watched your videos for when you got sick with COVID-19 and these were also very informative and actually helped me a lot in understanding many things. It is a great gift to be spot on like that in totally different topics. Banana plugs all the way for me. I was gonna go raw at first then noticed those "whiskers" indeed so I decided to take the risk and got banana plugs for both the AVR and the speakers.

[@TNPFan]

Gene, great to see you are well and back in the saddle giving reviews. We were all praying and wishing you the best. I use cables with banana on the speaker end and NL4 coming from the amps. Solid and secure connections on both ends.

[@georgeanastasopoulos5865]

A very valuable lecture, and demonstration, Gene. Thumbs up. I don't have much of a choice! I go with raw speaker connections. I recently bought a pair of Klipsch R-51M speakers that I connected to my Sony AV Receiver STR-DH520. the Klipsch R-51Ms do have post terminals for banana connections. However, I may connect them as left, right surround channels. Or as another stereo system, connected to my Onkyo TX-80 receiver (1987), but does not have terminals for banana plugs. Same with my Sony STR-DH520 Receiver bought in 2012; although it does have terminals for the choice of banana connections for the main Front Speakers, it has traditional clip-on terminals for any other speaker connections. Except for a subwoofer. Therefore, if I re-connect my older two large bookshelf speakers 3 way bass reflex, 90dB, there is no choice for connection with banana plugs, anyway. Since I prefer a bigger sound, lower bass I am going to re-connect the large pair of bookshelf speakers. Therefore, the choice is going to be bare wire, anyhow.

[@randir14]

I once had a short from bare wire connected to one of my speakers. It made a loud pop and shut everything off, scared the crap out of me but luckily my speakers and AVR survived.

[@FairyNL]

3:16 don't ever do that to me again... 😥

[@lordw9609]

All Banana connections. For contact and ease of installation. Never going raw again and never cared for spade to begin with. Thanks for the great tips and great to see you back again. Looking great!

[@JasonFiske]

Gene, good to see you up and around. Have you ever used bulb grease on a termination? How about using solder to lock a cable into a termination or on a raw end to keep it from fraying.

[@kaymanul]

For the cables I made myself, I used bananas. With raw approach I had some oxidation problems in the past, no matter how carefully I attached them. These days I use spades simply because that's what I could find at a decent price for the manufacturer cables I wanted to try. Maybe these sell more and are available in a greater proportion on the market, who knows. I never knew audiophiles go for spades on purpose. I agree that they are harder to use, but I get them rock solid with a bit of work for best possible contact. I love the idea of this topic and the way it was handled.

[@seanlacroix]

Sewell banana plugs for me. They've always worked great. Used to have the nakamichi ones but they became loose over time.

[@bris007]

I use Mediabridge banana plugs. I used to just have bare but now gone with banana plugs because they look neater and I don't have to keep tightening the terminals anymore!

[@adamk5305]

Raw on both ends. Tighten them down once a month or so.

[@ericnortan9012]

Good preventive maintenance!👍

[@bryanp4827]

Only way to go...

[@walrusgumbootable]

Bi-wired, bare copper

[@pappo666]

i used to do the same but with some added silver solder wire just on the tip if the copper to keep them togheter but as of late i moved on to Audioquest banana plugs

[@JDuBz815]

I switched from raw to banana plugs for the ease of maintenance/adding components. Haven't had an issue with them. Sure makes things easier. The Monoprice ones are pretty decent for the price.

[@dougbulldog9947]

It's good to see you are recovering and well again. I really enjoy your informative channel thank you for sharing your knowledge. I live in New Zealand; electronic items are often way overpriced in stores and Amazon delivery fees are also expensive so we become inventive, think of The Last Indian. I would be interested in your opinion of my own version of a banana plug; as copper is the best conductor material I purchased 4mm copper pipe and cut it into 25mm lengths. I thread the exposed cable end into the cut copper pipes and crimp the pipe over the cable where it meets the pipe. I then cover half of the 25mm crimped pipe and the cable end with a couple of layers of 50 mm red or black heat shrink, the exposed 12mm copper pipe tip then plugs into the terminals just like a banana plug.

[@AlphaChadGames]

Raw on both ends. Once those cables go in, they never come out. Adding another component to the set up can never improve it when raw is an option.

[@MichelLinschoten]

Tech Noir perhaps watch the video instead of just posting

[@willmorgan365]

Hey Gene, hope you are feeling much better. Great to see you again. Im in Australia and we are just ramping up in this virus situation. Ive just bought a Pioneer Susano and hopefully that will take my spare time now.

[@normanquan3239]

Great topic! As is usually the case, it’s not necessarily the modality (e.g. spade vs banana), but how they are executed. The weakest link in this chain is the operator, i.e. the person who does the set-up. For example, if using spades, carefully/slowly tighten the binding posts so as to make them secure, yet without damaging the posts. If using bananas, choose wisely because bananas come in a wide variety; many are weak. Every situation is different; terminals come in varying depths which affect the efficacy of a banana connection. Spades come in varying widths which affects the contact surface area. Terminals have different sized holes which may not accommodate the particular speaker wire gauge which you might have. Alll in all, it’s difficult to make blanket recommendations on which connector is best for any given connection. The user has to evaluate which modality is most optimum and how to execute it using common sense and trial-and-error. Be patient, do your homework, use very good lighting (an LED headlight is useful) and magnification.

[@fxstd000]

I've been using both Blue Jeans Locking Banana's and Parts Express Angled Locking Stacking Banana's. I really like the angled locking stacking banana' connectors. They accept very large gauge wires up to 8 AWG. and they allow you to use a good speaker cable like Monoprice 12/4 CL2, attach the angled connector on each of the 4 conductors on each end (8 connectors needed in total for this example). Because the angled banana's are stackable, you then have the flexibility to stack the connectors in a couple different ways allowing you to very easily and quickly use them in a either a bi-wiring or bi-amping situation. Parts Express makes a great product as does Monosaudio, although I haven't tried the Monosaudio angled banana's yet.

[@jonlaw16]

3:46 parts express (Dayton audio) sells copies of those connectors which work perfectly in my experience. They still aren't super cheap but are certainly better than Kimber's price. I've used both styles and I agree the 45 degree connector is much better for speakers than the straight style.

[@joeblankenship377]

I just bought a new center channel speaker and while hooking it up, I decided "that's it, I'm tired of this hassle, I'm ordering banana plugs!" so I did. They came today.

[@agm6095]

I have 6 gauge wire on my 3 front speakers and I used banana, but I had to remove some of the wire strands so it would fit in the banana and I also soldered the wires to bananas. The rear speakers are raw. Glad you recovered from the virus.

[@jeroenwestra89]

I was really hoping you were gonna measure the difference in resistance for the three different techniques with that fancy meter. Also I reckon the spades would be fixed a lot better with a compression/spring washer.

[@wilcalint]

Very fun subject and I share a true story. Hopefully this won’t get to long. Two Government Agencies, NASA & the USN contracted a study on what was the best type of contact connection and repeatable. Gather all the connectors, including spade and banana plugs, together, make the connections 10x, log the data and present that to NASA & the USN. Contractors enlisted, MIT & GE. Time frame 64 → 68. I think it was around 66. Use undergrads to do the tedious testing as they are cheap labor. Yours truly was one of those basically free laborers. The testing was done in a Calibration Lab at a Navy Facility in MA run by GE. Principle instrument was what is still called a Wheatstone Bridge. That instrument was capable of measuring down into the single milliohm range, repeatedly. Like 1 or 2 milliohms. The connection that they were most interested in was what was called a “Wirewrap” copper on gold post as that was the most common at the time in Military and Satellite backplanes. Me/we tried’em all over and over again. Most of the good readings were in the single digit milliohm range. I think this thing ran for about a week. The Wheatstone Bridge was calibrated in the morning before testing started and checked again at the end of the day when we were finished for that day. To try and make things as short as possible, and to support your conclusions, we found the best, and most repeatable, connection was to take cheap 12ga copper lamp cord, twist about an inch together, then hit the connection with a hammer on an iron surface (anvil). Just lightly. Typically resistance was like under 5 milliohm. Mostly in the 2 or 3 milliohm range. And it could reliably be repeated over and over and over again. We called this connection the “Smash” connection. That was ok with NASA and the USN. At least they knew what was the best. The wirewrap connection did very well with a repeatable connections under a 10 milliohm measurement. Spades were in the teens. Banana plugs were very inconsistent and changed with just a little wiggle. I can’t remember the exact measurements we got from those. So there you have it. It was a long time ago but physics is physics and I suspect if that test were repeated today the numbers would be the same. I don’t think wirewrap connections are used anymore. I’ve been told that Wheatstone Bridges can now resolve down into the micro-ohms. That’d be fun to play with. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheatstone_bridge

[@wilcalint]

How to calibrate in the milliohm range? There are/were copper bar standards with big bolt connections on the ends that are 1mohm, 2mohm, 5mohm, 10mohm.

[@stevenkoski228]

I’ve used all the methods over 40yrs, early on it became clear that banana plugs are the best. But they must maintain a tight fit (clamping pressure), they can get weak with age & lose their bite. Post terminal screws can loosen due to cabinet vibration, it happens! They also have more contact area at the terminal. Their convenient ease of use is a free benefit that’s great. In professional mobile businesses, they greatly speed the setup & rip down times of those events. Bananas resolve connection issues, & allow you to focus other issues.🎼🏆.

[@burtrochette876]

Hello Gene. I prefer banana termination. And thanks to you I invested in Kimber 8TC and love the sound from my passlabs and magnepans. I use to use Nordost which were great on Bryston amp which was a bit dark and Nordost was a good improvement. My question to you is biwire vs regular cable do you believe biwire cables or regular and have you ever tested same brand same quality. 2nd question is have you ever tested Nordost flatline speaker cables? 3rd question do you know of a Y plug to convert biwire speaker cables to regular cables. Thanks to you the AVR and 2 channel systems has a ton of information to the public. Thank you very much. Burt

[@chrisperidis1959]

I personally have been using raw cables since now. Thought it gets hard for me when I do maintenance on equipment, where I have to unplug and plug again everything, so I am thinking in the future , when I buy speakers that can support it, I’ll get some banana cables to make my life easier!

[@aussieexpat]

Raw. Installing raw carefully can take time, but so does installing all those bananas.

[@mladenbasic1]

This is the location that you should always do your show . Great lighting as well

[@arvinyl2578]

Thank you for the video! I have learned a lot from you over the past few years. Compression bananas at the amplifier. I merge two 12 gauge ends (bi-wired) and one 18 gauge for a subwoofer all into one compression banana plug at the amplifier. Adds up to 6 to 8 gauge. These would not fit as bare wire on the binding post. Tried using bananas for low frequency and bare wire for high frequencies and subwoofer on the same binding post but did not get the same performance as merging them together into one compression banana. Bare wire at the speakers works best for me.

[@nishalp1747]

I go bananas over banana connectors. Easiest to use. Quickest to use by far especially when connecting seven channel's on both amp and speaker side. Glad you are well Gene. Keep up the good health.

[@PeterRoseman]

I get it, and thanks for your thoughts about terminations. What's your opinion about "tinning" raw ends? I don't notice any conductivity problems (of course, I am older and some hearing loss), but it totally takes care of those "stranglers" that could cause shorts...what do you think?

[@richardmorgan1588]

I've always gone raw on speakers and amp. That isn't to say I disagree with anything you said. It's just what I've always done. One point I will make is that I can always easily re-strip the wire when I need to to get more use out of a given cable and create a fresh connection. I like the hands on experience and there is no need for extra parts or steps. Of course this necessitates care and attention to detail to get the best results. I understand the need and know how to avoid any potential shorts in the connections I make. Regardless of individual approach, I think it can be generally said that what separates audiophiles from the general public is our willingness to give a bit more attention to our hobby and isn't that one of the key reasons some of us love vinyl so much?

[@evowhite777]

Good to see & know you're doing well fella,it warms my heart to see you posting about yours & our beloved hobby! For me in our system (the missus won't hear any difference,lol)Spades sound slightly better than bananas. They're both budget Nakamichi plugs maybe,they JUST sound "different" as I never A/B them. I didn't go back to the bananas so,see that as been the deciding factor,this is only on the speakers though at the amp end,I stayed with banana plugs #hifi4ever

[@jasonwatkins4277]

Great video. Have always wondered which better. It looks like it is just a matter of preference and convenience. As long as the connection is tight, it's all good.

[@epg2501]

Hey Gene - Is there a degradation in using bananas vs bare wire? I want to upgrade my Magnepan 3.7i steel bar jumpers to 10ga copper wire, etc. (I am assuming that would make a difference too, etc.)

[@stevencarroll5644]

Glad to see you feeling better !

[@keithm4953]

Had bare wire for many years, but upgraded to bananas a year ago (affordable types from Sewell Direct). Sound at least as good, and like you I have more peace of mind w/o the stray 'whiskers'! Glad you've recovered from the nasty bug, always learn something from the channel.

[@diskreet]

Love it, succinct and clear. Would like to see more videos from your workshop with real examples when it makes sense. That helps illustrates the concepts. I've always preferred banana plugs or bare wire. When I messed with car audio more I always used ring terminals or bare wire.

[@rangersmith4652]

I've always preferred spades, and I have spade-terminated cables that I like a lot. And I realize the importance of connecting them properly and avoiding shorts. That said, most amps and receivers these days don't allow spade connections, so at least on the amp end we're kind of stuck with bananas or bare wires anyway. Bananas are fast and convenient, but in my experience they can be loose fitting. I guess I need to buy different bananas.

[@thebarfle]

I use whatever the speaker or amp requires. When the device I’m connecting to has screw terminals, I mount spade lugs to the cables using my trusty old Thomas & Betts lugger. I haven’t had a crimp fail in 50 years (although I haven’t gone back to check some of the really old ones). If I’m forced to use bare copper, I tin the wires before I insert them into the connector. I haven’t put a banana plug on a wire in decades.

[@monzarace]

I've been playing with stereo setup's since age 12, now 56. In the beginning, I used bare think multistrand wires into a spring loaded clip. Bad idea. But that was the cheap stuff. Bad connections, bad corrosion on wires. So never do bare wires, or soldering on bare wires in a hard compressed connector. Then I went to DIN loudspeaker terminals. Bad idea as well. Mostly because of no shielding, and bad soldering or bad screw termination. Then I went on to Spades. First small spades on thin cables, then big spades on thick cables. Better, but the inherrent problems with screw termination and lots of material in the spade, plus as you said, they loosened. Next was banana plugs. So much better. sits tightly, easy to operate and I solder them on. No screw stuff that will crush certain strand designs. Now, I use hollow bananas, low mass copper with a tellurium mix and a silver plating on the surface. That, and plastic outside that center core metal signal carrying piece, plus brass shielding with no signal carrying contact anywhere, for terminals. Low inductance, low mass, simple short path, low resistance and low capacitance. That sounds the best, and works the best in my humble view. Just my two pence. Kind regards.

[@Kiddomike]

First of all, welcome back, Gene! Your COVID-19 journey and story was a ray of hope for us who are just getting the brunt of the infection in our country. (Currently in lockdown). So, I'm staying home for at least 2 more weeks. Anyway, I use raw copper wires for the longest time. I encountered a great deal on banana plugs online and dove right into the deal. Now, I use them and they are more neat-looking than the raw copper wires. Copper wires also tend to get pulled out of plugs. Bananas are more secure. In terms of sound quality, I do not hear any difference, to be completely honest. I am just happy that I have a better quality speaker connection in both physically and aesthetically.

[@Andrewatnanz]

A true Audiophile would solder their wires directly to the crossover.

[@Not_sheeple]

Lol.....solder to my USD 60 OOO speaker😮😮😮😮

[@ropeburn6684]

​@@Not_sheeple So what you're saying is that you have the money, but not the skills. 😂😂😂

[@Not_sheeple]

@ropeburn6684 I use what the manufacturer provided to connect the speaker Mr Snake Oil.

[@ropeburn6684]

@@Not_sheeple Learn to take a joke, Mr Boring 😂

[@DBLCreations]

At the moment i have raw wire with the speakers as wel as with the amp. But i have ordered myself some banana plugs. I really think it's just easier and the contact will be better. Great video!

[@justingonsalves3193]

Great video. Love watching your vids. Whats your favorite cable under $1000 8 feet?

[@Podcastforthewin]

Those stray whiskers always prick me too. I’ve always used banana plugs for powered speakers or subs

[@louiscullman4195]

I use Cardas binding posts, cables, chassis wires and Cardas terminated banana plug throughout my system. I agree complete, spades just do not seat well and often come loose. When you use a wrench to heighten them down, you run the risk of destroying the binding posts. I cannot hear a difference and I have tried. Been an audio nit since the 1980.

[@RogueHomeCinema]

Agreed. Not to mention servicing or trailing different amps. Especially with 9-16ch systems, that’s a lot of twisting binding posts!

[@kashyusaf9260]

UK hi-fi magazines always advise bare wires, but I've always found that banana plugs are so efficient to use, especially if you need to send your receiver off for repair several times! I've always found better sound quality through quality mains cables too.

[@kimrayner8795]

Banana plugs on speaker end and raw on Amp but I will be switching around to raw on speaker and Banana on the amp end thanks for your tip I really appreciate it , I really enjoy your KZbin videos . Kim from down under in Australia.

[@preston6945]

Hope you are doing better!! I was all raw until I tried kabeldirekt 2 screw banana plug and I love them. Tried other banana and hated them but these are great! I have blown a receiver going raw so it can for sure happen.

[@skullz8946]

I solder all my wires first before inserting them into the banana plugs, the solder will deform the match the surface exactly. The point where the screw impacts the soldered wire will hold its shape to keep a nice grip on the wire and screw. Done this for decades with no failures to date. This all stems from my car audio days that carried over to home audio.

[@THEleatherface24]

Great content as always. The static scared the hell out of me lol! Raw btw

[@jukingeo]

@audioholics Definitely agreeing with you here. In order I prefer bare cable first, but if you make and break connections a lot, then banana is the way to go. While some might say that spade is the best connection, I find that it is hard to get a good connection if you can't torque it down with your bare hands. Using a plier is asking for trouble because you will eventually loosen up the terminal and if this happens on the amplifier end, you could be looking at a big teardown and it it is worse if the connector is soldered down to the main board as you now have to break out a soldering iron. The combination of going with banana on the amp end and raw on the speaker end is a good one since it involves not torquing down the connections on the amp end. As a final thought for those using bare wire. TIN the ends with solder. This prevents fray wires from splaying out and touching adjacent terminals on both ends. This is what I have been doing for years on stationary connections that I don't change much. But if you change out speakers or amps often, it is probably best to stick with banana connectors on both ends. Great video btw!

[@daleback1605]

I converted to all banana plugs, I like the fact that the plugs can be pulled out and pushed back in once in a while just to clean the connection. Gene, what do you think about soldering the wire to the banana plugs vs screws?

[@kirkcunningham6146]

Monster Cable "Quick Lock" Bananas . I bought a ton around 2004-05 for an install. They were the best you could buy at the time. Still have em, still use them. Awesome contact and very snug...

[@teds9896]

I'm a big fan of banana plugs. This is spot on about spades as think of so many mechanical fasteners similar to this REQUIRE a lock washer...but something like this can be a problem then electrically. Keep mind too what a speaker actually is: a VIBRATION machine! So while spade connectors may have more surface area in theory, in the real world they can be very problematic whereas a modern spring-loaded gold-plated banana connector fit like gloves and don't come off. I love too how great they are for quick connect and disconnect ability; it's literally a plug. And indeed that's especially valuable when say hooking up a receiver with 7.1 speakers that "whiskers" and so many wires can indeed be a shorting concern. For mine, optimally I crimp, then solder, then shrink wrap the connector, and there's plenty on the market today where the "cheap" ones done this way will be better than the "high end" expensive kind that promise a great crimp when simple solder is superior and even easier to apply in many cases(some very expensive connectors often have a lot of plastic or polymer insulation it's then difficult to put back together vs. metal stud easy to solder gets covered with shrink wrap or even just use electrical tape both of which help keep oxygen out of the wire). Beyond that, I'm done in most cases making bare wire connections; it's fine for temporary use, but it's not a good solution long term. Then again, I once knew a guy who used to electroplate the wire ends in gold and that was probably about as good as it gets.

[@michaelwerbick]

So, I use banana plugs or bare wire. However, I know that spade terminals are different sized and a buddy of mine showed me that most speaker terminals have flat areas on their post and you choose different spade sizes to fit properly. He showed two pairs to me, one that did not fit around the "round" side but fit perfect on the "flat" side and then snugged them down - they were not going anywhere.

[@osliverpool]

I hate spade connectors, for the very same reason that I've never been able to get them to stay tight - and yes, I've had them slip and short my amp (thankfully with protector relays). Bananas solve the problem and always stay separate, and they make good contact. PS: Happy to see you back :-)

[@johnwilliamson3164]

I love those old Sansui SP 15 speakers. Lugged them around for years. They sound really good.

[@CasusBelli1000]

Well, all depends on the phase of the moon. If it is ascending you need bananas, if it is descending you need spades, this is the only way to bring out the chocolatness of the sound.

[@gingerninja7187]

Great video personally I use the compression banana plus but as you said the pin sometimes get stuck . You know what it’s great to see actual proof about what ya are talking about , just like the resistance with the cable , I’m fed up with people just doing demos of expensive interconnects / cables / ect , I just want someone to do demos of normal priced stuff , why is everything classed as good got to come with a ridiculous price .

[@joemaison3597]

Spot on. Banana plugs are best as long as you check that the screws have not loosened every so often. Do not overtightened!!! Amazing what difference it makes once you tighten the screws.

[@rhscnative]

I banana plug the speaker and amp ends. I like the banana plugs you get from Amazon that have 2 set screws that you tighten as opposed to the kind where you bend the speaker wire back over a beveled ring. The set screws are tiny though and you have to be careful not to drop them. Sometimes I change out receivers etc. and having everything banana plugged is well worth the effort. Trying to connect bare wire to a receiver or amp is a pain and I have had issues with the stray wires before as discussed in the video.

[@home38er]

Good to see you are up and working again. I’m a banana compression user!

[@festushaggen2563]

I used bare copper for many years then went to banana plugs for a cleaner connection and ease of future disconnecting and reconnecting. I have those monoprice shown in this video. I haven’t noticed an audible difference since the switch. For appearance and ease of use, I’ll stick with the bananas.

[@MrJjburgess11]

I was going raw for years. Since I got into the game back in 1999. But just recently I been switching over to banana plugs. Now that I'm using 9 channels . Just makes things alot cleaner and easier.

[@amazingsnow]

The power of your propeller hat is sting my friend . Love you explanations. Great content

[@Mrch33ky]

Learned the hard way about those whiskers on the amp side through too many blown fuses and switched to bananas. Otherwise I prefer bare wire as much as possible. Very informative piece at the end of the video. Thanks!

[@MetaModern87]

BFA plugs all the way Gene. I know its a type of banana plug. The compression plugs can vary wildly in how solid of a connection they make.

[@chuckmaddison2924]

Bare wire. I used to work for a machinery company and any wire between screw terminals had to have a sleeve to protect it from the screw and also a number to help with checking during assembly and later servicing. I use banana on one of my systems and screw on other ( Marantz 6G)

[@Muskyfishn84]

I’ve had issues with monoprice bananas and blue jeans standard bananas. The connectors all had carbon tracking due to high resistance connections. The blue jeans locking bananas have not had that issue and actually gave a 2.5 dB gain below 60 hz with my Polk RtiA9’s. I didn’t need the meter to notice a significant difference.

[@vlax12]

I'm using bare wire for amp and speaker end. On the amp end, I've cut wire just enough to put it into terminal so no excess there. Maybe this is not acceptable for people that often changes equipment but for me it is perfect.

[@johnchase3920]

Going back to the dark ages, when we recorded with analog tape machines and mixed on large format consoles, we had spade lugs on the monitors in an edit room. Those had to be tightened up every couple of days, and that was with a wrench, so they were much tighter than hand tight. Either by mechanical vibration, heating and cooling cycles, or both, they would fall off if left alone. I built a set of Kimber 8TC cables at home and used silver spade lugs (I believe WBT) that have a compliant wafer between two slabs of silver on the ends. You had to crimp and solder these, and they were $70.00 a set, but very nice.

[@eddievega1100]

Good to see you back in action.