I have some, and they do have the potential to seperate. However, you have to bend them to make that happen, so just be gentle with them (as you should with all hifi equipment). Further, if they do seperate, the connectors are still usable; it is just a little more difficult as you have to compress them together and then insert them into the binding post. |
I used the Eichmann Bayonet Silver plugs for several months and I never had a problem with it. After using them for that long, they looked as good as the first day I got them.
They are really great. It's amazing that those little things can provide such benefit for the sound. I compared them with the Audioquest banana plugs and these were simply no match for the Eichmann Bayonet Silver plugs.
I believe that if you don't unplug them and plug them every day, they should last a lifetime.
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I just bought some Eichmann Bayonet plugs for some speaker termination. My biggest complaint and the reason I would never buy them again, is that they were extremely difficult to fit into the speaker connectors on both my speakers and amp. |
I think they're the best-sounding bananas I ever used, though I've gone to bare wire since I no longer have to switch speaker wires to change polarity (now have a polarity switch on my preamp). When I was using them I switched them hundreds of times without a problem, which should answer the "durability" question. Good luck, Dave |
I've used Eichmann RCAs for awhile and they do have a reliability problem. I've had at least two cables that had to be reterminated by the manufacturer. I've never used the speaker connectors. I quit buying cables terminated with Eichman plugs. |
The main reason I went for the Eichmann bananas in the first place is that I had such good luck with the Eichmann RCAs, of which there must be at least 15-20 in my system. Many of these have beens soldered and resoldered (with different IC cable) numerous times . I did destroy one of the RCAs (broke off the ground pin) doing this, but that was a fluke. Obviously YMMV. |
Over-priced, under-performing and flimsy. They are an Australian company and I am an Aussie!, still no love lost here. I switched to DH Labs Silver Sonic and never looked back. Being a Jeweller fiddly doesn't bother me but as I connect and disconnect often flimsy does. Subjectively the DH Labs was an improvement in reliability, resolution and audio bling. Just make sure what you connect it to is worthy. |
ABSOLUTELY WILL NEVER GET EICHMANN BAYONET PLUGS AGAIN. Before I recieved them, I was told to be very careful, and I heard about their reliability issue. I literally laid down on the floor, on my stomach, eye level with the speaker's binding posts, using two hands, CAREFULLY inserted the FIRST banana, and the copper sheath slid back into the plug. THE FIRST ONE I DID! That happened on three different plugs. I bent two others. OUT OF TWELVE BANANAS IN MY SYSTEM, FIVE WERE DAMMAGED. Give me a break! Yes the Eichmanns sound wonderful, I will say that. Also, once they are bent, technically they still work, but come on. Five out of twelve? I've been into audio for twenty years. I know how to connect cables.
As for someone above who said they "...switched them hundreds of times without a problem..." Yeah..sure. Sounds like a dealer to me.
I've since replaced the Eichmanns with something else.
You've been warned. |
Not a dealer. Can't duplicate your experience. Yours may have been defective. Mine are still in fine shape, though I've gone to bare wire. BTW, I'm 79. Maybe you're too young to be able to handle them :-) |
Five defective plugs out of twelve? You're probably right. Maybe if I bought twenty four I could finish the job. BTW, two of my friends have the Eichmanns and both reported plugs falling apart. Or, maybe I'm just too young to find the hole. |
Okay, your problem was intriguing enough that I took some of mine and tried them in every banana jack I could find. In only one case -- one of those in-wall connectors -- the Eichmann was too long for the hole and didn't make a good connection. In every other case there was no problem at all, and these ones of mine have been used to death and are still totally serviceable.
Are you SURE you assembled them properly. You slide the metal part through the black plastic, then slide the blue plastic on the shaft and lock it to the blue part with a twist. I just can't figure out why this doesn't work for you unless there is something very strange about your banana jacks. Doesn't make sense. Dave |
I didn't assemble anything. The US importer for DNM put them on. He raved about the Eichmanns, and rightfully so. They sound very clean and neutral. However, after I told him my complaints, he told me that he has RECEIVED MANY COMPLAINTS FROM CLIENTS ABOUT THESE BANANAS. He told me that he will no longer sell the Eichmanns, and will switch to another termination (at least that's what he said).
Now, with all due respect Dave, maybe you received some wonder plugs because you are THE ONLY PERSON I have come across that had no issues. I wish I didn't have any either. Like I said, they sound wonderful.
I will say this: Although the Eichmanns have PERFORMED incredibly, their ease of use and reliability have been nothing but a dissapointment due to their shody and radioshack quality craftmenship. At this price I expect Eichmann to engineer something a little better. |
Well, unless they changed the design sometime, and the ones I see
advertised look exactly like mine, I simply can't understand the problem. The
KEY is making sure the blue barrel locks to the black plastic. Once this is
done, the thing is solid as a rock. Maybe the DNM importer missed this step,
although I can't imagine it, or it loosened after you got it. I've recommended
them to others who have reported zero problems, so again, I flat-out don't
understand what went wrong with yours.
BTW, I had some DNM interconnects, didn't think much of the way they
sounded, and ended up cannibalizing the Eichmann Bullet Plugs from them
and reterminated other cables with these. Still using them. Dave.
EDIT: I just found one of these I was using when I was experimenting with
the use of 14-gauge Home Depot wire as speaker cable. It was a bitch to
assemble because I was using THREE 14g wires into EACH Eichmann banana
before crimping it. I disassembled this one and it was in perfect condition. |
The bayonet comes with instructions for installation, but most don't bother reading it.
The key is to line up the spring wire on the banana with the writing on the housing, these MUST be on the same side.
If not, the copper sheath will slide up and down the banana.
The early versions of the bayonet did not have the spring wire, it was later incorporated by Eichmann. |
My dealer terminated my Eichmanns incorrectly. Apparently, he never lined up the spring wire with the housing as Scar972 said to do. Turns out, of my 12 bananas, 7 were made incorrectly. I only noticed 5. Anyway, I'm not using them anymore as I've switched to another. I told my friend about this, who also has them, and he loosened the screws and twisted them to their correct possition. I didn't think that would work, but he said it did, so...
Why can't people just do things correctly. Can't trust anyone anymore. |
I'm glad that one finally got solved. Thanks for posting. Dave |
Turns out you were correct Dave. My appologies. Actually, my dealer should send out an appology to everyone that was affected by this unacceptable blunder. |
sometimes they can be a bit tight,if so dont try to push them on by force,as you can damage the copper strip that goes up the inside edge.heat them with a hairdryer set on high for thirty seconds, and try fitting them again without pushing to hard. |
I've had the silver bayonets on my Morrow SP7's for 3 months and kept trying to get the speakers cables to sound good on my Triton 2 speakers. The imaging was flat with no depth and confirmed when I tried them on a friend's system with KEF LS50's. We tried moving the speakers farther apart and one of the bananas cracked and is bent. It still works but it looks awful and can't be straightened. I didn't put that much pressure on it for that to happen. I'll have to RMA them back to Morrow but am very disappointed and will never use these again. |
Keith Louie Eichman - now has his own company KLE Innovations.
He is no longer associated with ETI - the company that sells those Bayonets.
KLEI uses a completely different Banana plug that seems to be much easier to install and insert into the speaker terminal
Unfortunately, the plugs are not listed on their web site, but he might sell them if asked to.
I have the KLEI speaker cables that come with the new bananas and they work very well.
Regards... |
