why are spring type connections disliked (receiver)?

Corn

Diamond Member
Nov 12, 1999
6,389
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Or, use bananna plugs and simply push those in. Even easier.
 

CallMeJoe

Diamond Member
Jul 30, 2004
6,938
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Too easily dislodged, not a lot of contact area.
5-way binding posts are far superior in both respects.
 

Fallen Kell

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
6,174
516
126
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

Golden Member
Feb 29, 2004
1,945
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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

Lifer
Feb 22, 2007
16,240
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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

Golden Member
Dec 30, 2003
1,567
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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.
 

khansolo

Member
Sep 27, 2010
27
0
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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

Golden Member
Feb 29, 2004
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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

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
6,174
516
126
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

Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
21,205
165
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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

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
99,339
17,542
126
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

Lifer
Feb 22, 2007
16,240
7
76
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

Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
21,205
165
106
arent people here saying that screwing it in doesn't provide lots of contact area, and that banana plugs are superior?
 

Aharami

Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
21,205
165
106
nvmd. that comment was about the spring type connectors found on lower end receivers. I really should learn how to read better :p

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

slashbinslashbash

Golden Member
Feb 29, 2004
1,945
8
81
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

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
11
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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.