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Recommendations for top-notch banana speaker cable connectors

I have raised my appreciation of upgraded cabling recently with the addition of Silnote Morpheus II IC's.  I have 10 ga. ohno copper cabling for my 25' speaker runs.  I currently have banana jacks from GLS Audio (formerly Orange County Audio).  Once plugged in, one turns the connector to expand the pin internally, but they still seem to yield a less-than-secure fit and the metal they use is questionable.  

I have handled WBT connectors at audio shows and they are incredibly fine, but at a price that would bust my audio budget.  Furutech seems to have some more affordable connectors with high purity metals.  I am sure that there are banana connectors available that hit a sweet spot between price and performance and would value any insights you lads might willing to provide.  Thanks, Mark

whitestix
reubent
7,030 posts
 
whitestix,

Sorry, I'm late to the party with this recommendation. But if anyone else is looking, this is what I would get:  Dyson Audio 24k Beryllium Copper Low Mass BFA Z-plug Bananas

They look nearly identical to the Nordost Z-Plug and other low mass BFA banana plugs that I've used in the past. They work tremendously well and provide excellent tight fit with very high surface contact to the inside of the banana compatible speaker binding posts. They will not loosen over time as spades may do.
toddverrone's avatar
toddverrone
840 posts
 
Indeed. These new BFAs of all makes are such an elegant solution. Their simplicity and effectiveness is just so freaking Zen.

@whitesix (why can I only get @ to work half the time?) Get a good pair of crimping pliers. I bought some at Lowe’s for $10. Wire stripper crimpers won’t cut it on these. 

This shouldn’t be an issue with 10awg, but if there’s space around the cable (if you use a higher gauge), it will deform the connector less when you crimp it if you fill the space with strands of speaker wire. I had to do this with my cables on the speaker end because I biwire to the speaker terminals, thus it is no longer 9awg, but 14awg and 11awg.

Sweet Jesus. I hope that makes sense.
whitestix OP
720 posts
 
Todd,
I catch the main part of your drift and am thinking you are suggesting crimping the wire to the BFA connectors in lieu of soldering, which is required (?) with the Dyson BFA connectors reubent suggested above, which are inexpensive and doubtless provide an excellent metal-to-metal contact.  Can you clarify your post or send me private message?  I am of a mind that these BFA connectors are just what I need.   My GLS plugs yield a poor connection, to say the least.  Many thanks.  

reubent
7,030 posts
 
whitestix,

I contacted Jeffery Dyson a couple of days ago. He recommended soldering them and cutting off the tab/flag on the barrel. That's also what I've done when I used other low-mass BFA banana plugs in the past.

You will love the BFA connectors. They are excellent......

Enjoy,

TIC


whitestix OP
720 posts
 
Todd and reubent,
I got the AQ Suregrip100 BFA connectors and swapped them for my GLS connectors.  It was a very tight fit with my 12 ga Mogami 3103 wire, but I got these simple twin-screw-secured connectors put together rather easily.  AQ is a genius including a few extra screws as I dropped one in my carpet never to be found again.  

I got what I wanted out of these connectors:  a super tight connector to the female jacks in my amp and my speakers, better than any banana jacks I have ever used in 45 years. I will admit to that i hear no difference in the sound of my system, but that wasn't may goal.   I shouldn't bad-mouth the GLS connectors as they are very well made and reasonably priced, offering a decent fit, but these AQ's, and no doubt the Dyson's, are in a different league.  I am gonna get the Dysons for my bedroom system and one of my pals to solder them up.  

In this price range of connectors, I pity the fool that hasn't adopted the BFA connectors over conventional banana connectors. Cheers, Mark



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