Bananas rule, spades drool. End of discussion.


I just checked my speaker connections. All using bananas, all nice and tight.

The number of times I’ve had spades get loose instead though.....

Point is, and it really is kind of a tongue in cheek thing, bananas beat spades for long term reliability in almost all setups.  If you have to use a Cardas or Mundorf speaker terminal to ensure your spades stay tight it kind of proves my point.

erik_squires

I also like bananas specifically the WBT Type are what i use due to being able to tighten them.

Spades are a pain to connect and to keep tight. Lets not even get into the fact there is no standard size so its a hit or miss if they will fit on your application. we all know how equipment manufactures like to use various sizes because they can.  How many of you have stuck one of the legs of a spade into the hole of the binding post because it would not fit around the stud? 

Bare wire has always given me issues in most 5 way type binding posts anyway, The bare wire is in a guillotine and if you over tighten they sheer off the wire or bend, kink the wire strands. This is not an ideal connection and also loosens quickly and causes issue to the bare wire, Also bare wire corrodes and you loose connectivity there over time. Obviously this happens to all metal connectors regardless of type but the individual wire strands have far more surface area then tined or with a connector.

 

yup agree bananas are the ones I prefer.

@dekay for the fashion plate win !

For the record, i’m not a fan of IEC power connectors…. Now, give me a freakin Hubbel Hospital grade outlet with incredible clamping force…..

@glennewdick I’ve had both WBT and Furutech locking bananas. I’m not sure if the Furutech’s I got were fake or not but the WBT’s were absolutely better.

The Furutechs were made of thick pot metal, deformed when expanded, and the diameter of the banana was rather on the small side.

Another A’goner recommended these, and I use them exclusively. The spring and barrel construction is pretty thoughtful. The barrel ensures a long wide contact with the socket, and the spring keeps it plenty tight. I have 8 of these with heavy cables pointing straight up and they are just as tight now as they were 2 years ago.  For safety you really must use the heat shrink sleeves which are included.

 

 

It is when two spades at once atop one another have to be installed that I find the problems with loosening start. The likelihood of two stacked spades coming loose in time is much higher. My Rel subs require such a connection ("high level,") and I have to check on it periodically. Recently though I added a new power amp to the lineup that made the Rel's play too loud at even low settings on the volume knobs. Rel's advice in this situation is to use only one of the spade connectors and tape the other spade. Much better on all counts