why are spring type connections disliked (receiver)?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

push in, slide wire in, release. doesn't get much easier than that.

 

[Corn]

Or, use bananna plugs and simply push those in. Even easier.

 

[CallMeJoe]

Too easily dislodged, not a lot of contact area.
5-way binding posts are far superior in both respects.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Too easily dislodged, not a lot of contact area.
5-way binding posts are far superior in both respects.

does the amount of contact correlate with the quality of the sound?

 

[sdifox]

does the amount of contact correlate with the quality of the sound?

more to do with amount of power delivered.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Tiny contact area with the cable results in problems due to that poor connection. Spade or banana connectors are preferred due to more contact area with the wire which results in lower resistances and less likely to have signal feedback created from the connection points. (With those last two issues resulting in better quality sound)

 

[slashbinslashbash]

I love the convenience of dual banana plugs.

Also, spring terminals can have problems with thicker gauges of wire. Even normal 16 gauge wire can be a bit of a pain sometimes.

 

[Modelworks]

The main issue is that people using stranded wire often leave stray wire strands not inside the socket allowing for bridging with other strays causing shorts.

 

[kornphlake]

frayed wires are a pain in the rear, not to mention the tabs for spring terminals are often so close together I release one wire when trying to insert the next.

 

[0roo0roo]

fraying, and breaking, its a cheap and delicate mechanism.

 

[CallMeJoe]

does the amount of contact correlate with the quality of the sound?

Small contact area + inevitable tarnish of wire and connector = resistance at the point of contact. Stray resistance in a signal path is always undesirable.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

The main issue is that people using stranded wire often leave stray wire strands not inside the socket allowing for bridging with other strays causing shorts.

if you do short it out by contacting the cables, do you blow the amp or a fuse?

 

[khansolo]

I don't hate it but it does cause frayed wires like the everyone's mentioning. Also, depending on your wire gauge, it's annoying to push in. I use a roll of 16g from radioshack and I remember when I was trying to add my new center speaker (which of course is conveniently located between other currently filled speakers) I had a nice struggle trying to gently push it in without fraying it.

 

[slashbinslashbash]

if you do short it out by contacting the cables, do you blow the amp or a fuse?

I have read of examples where, due to a small strand of wire reaching from one terminal to another, the amp would shut itself down sporadically (protection circuits), usually on louder parts where there was a decent amount of current flowing through the short. But it was a sporadic problem, which made it hard to troubleshoot. The guy fixed it by just pulling out his speaker wires, twisting them back up to clean up the frayed ends, and putting them back in.

On an older amp, I could see it damaging the amp, but most modern amps should have short circuit protection.

Of course you can have this problem with binding posts too. A lot of people use bare wire with their binding posts.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Yes, you can have the problem with binding posts, but most people who do use bare wire on the binding posts know to wrap the wire around the post in the same direction that the post tightens down, so that when you tighten it down, you are not going against the flow of the wire strands and thus causing them to separate.

 

[Aharami]

since we are on the topic, anyone have experience with monoprice's banana plugs? They are obviously the cheapest but how's the quality? I'll need 21 pairs for my 7.1 system (receiver side and each side of wall plates). Or is there some other site I should be looking into? I looked at amazon and they have numerous banana plugs

 

[sdifox]

since we are on the topic, anyone have experience with monoprice's banana plugs? They are obviously the cheapest but how's the quality? I'll need 21 pairs for my 7.1 system (receiver side and each side of wall plates). Or is there some other site I should be looking into? I looked at amazon and they have numerous banana plugs

you don't really need banana plugs. Just screw down the wire tight. Or go with spades.

Banana plugs are really for people who review speakers or stores. They can just switch speakers easily.

 

[Modelworks]

since we are on the topic, anyone have experience with monoprice's banana plugs? They are obviously the cheapest but how's the quality? I'll need 21 pairs for my 7.1 system (receiver side and each side of wall plates). Or is there some other site I should be looking into? I looked at amazon and they have numerous banana plugs

Even better is to trim the wires and use a soldering iron to make a nice soldered end and screw down tight.

 

[Aharami]

arent people here saying that screwing it in doesn't provide lots of contact area, and that banana plugs are superior?

 

[sdifox]

arent people here saying that screwing it in doesn't provide lots of contact area, and that banana plugs are superior?

no, people were saying the spring type connection suck. 5 way binding post allows you to put the cable through a hole and screw it down.

Spade is a good terminal to use if you want to terminate your cable.

http://www.thlaudio.com/spadesmn.htm

 

[Aharami]

nvmd. that comment was about the spring type connectors found on lower end receivers. I really should learn how to read better

soldering is easy. I can do that at no extra cost to me!

 

[slashbinslashbash]

since we are on the topic, anyone have experience with monoprice's banana plugs? They are obviously the cheapest but how's the quality? I'll need 21 pairs for my 7.1 system (receiver side and each side of wall plates). Or is there some other site I should be looking into? I looked at amazon and they have numerous banana plugs

I have been very happy with my Monoprice Dual Banana Plugs. (Note: a very few receivers/amps have the banana plug spacing different and are not compatible with dual banana plugs. These have worked fine on my Onkyo and Technics receivers, and on Polk and Atlantic Technology speakers.) I think the benefits of the dual BP's over the single are clear.

If you're setting up your home theater and plan on leaving it exactly as-is for the forseeable future, banana plugs are probably not necessary. If you churn your gear every so often, or you move frequently (for school, etc.) then you will find the dual banana plugs to be a huge timesaver. Personally, I have several home audio setups, and a couple of extra receivers and speaker pairs, and occasionally I do switch them out, or buy upgrades and shift the old stuff on down the line. Since I don't own a house and therefore have not set up a permanent home theater, I have been doing piecemeal upgrades and pouncing on good deals on Craigslist. I have had the MonoPrice Dual Banana Plugs for about 2 years now. After 1 move, 1 receiver upgrade, and 2 speaker swaps, I have been very glad for them.

Ironically -- and this gets back to the OP -- spring terminals are actually easier if you do a lot of gear switching and you do not have banana plugs to terminate your speaker wires. Installing bare wire with 7 sets of binding posts is a LOT of knob-turning, wire-wrapping, knuckle-banging hassle. The knobs on the binding posts usually have to be unscrewed quite a bit before you can get them open as much as you need to get the wire inserted correctly, and tightening them back down can be a chore as well. At least with the spring terminals, it's fairly quick.

 

[Howard]

I have the Monoprice banana plugs and they're great. The only thing to be improved is surface quality (they aren't perfectly smooth and shiny, in layman's terms), but everything else is just dandy.

 

[Anubis]

the last time monoprice ran a deal on them there was a large discussion about their plugs. many people like them however others really preferred the Nakamichi ones from ebay

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_tr...amichi+banana+plugs&_sacat=See-All-Categories

 

[sdifox]

the last time monoprice ran a deal on them there was a large discussion about their plugs. many people like them however others really preferred the Nakamichi ones from ebay

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_tr...amichi+banana+plugs&_sacat=See-All-Categories

lulz, Nakamichi does not make banana plugs.