Quick Speaker Cable Connector Question

AQ makes speaker spades for wires up to gauge 9. Spades supposed to be the second best after bare wire. I've never liked banana plugs - my heavy cables bend them while pulling on the cable can disconnect it that can cause the damage to tube amp (open output) or even SS amp, when banana gets disconnected on the speaker side and shorts the amp.

I use spades on both sides.  On the amp side manufacturer installed spades (wire gauge 7 - shotgun configuration), while on the speaker side I replaced AQ bananas with spades (wire gauge 10).  I crimped them to make oxygen free connection and then soldered.   Result of this operation depends greatly on the quality of the crimper.  I borrowed AQ crimper from the local Audio store.  It appears that new AQ spades and banana plugs don't require soldering and come with small Allen wrench.

http://www.audioquest.com/sig_bananas_spades/1000-series-multi-size-spade-silver

IMHO BFA Style Bananas are the best speaker connection you can get. I much prefer them over spades, bare wire or other types of bananas. If I were needing quality speaker cable termination today, I would probably get these:

Dyson Audio 24k Beryllium Copper Low Mass BFA Z-plug Bananas

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

Parts Express also sells a couple of different BFA style banana plugs, but I believe both are screw on type. I prefer the lower mass solder/crimp type.

Take a look at these threads...

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/how-much-difference-could-a-simple-banana-plug-make?highlight...

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/binding-post-jumpers-new-product?highlight=KLE%2BInnovations%...

I would not use any other Banana plug - they are extremely good

Regards - Steve

Check out Furez TST-SB40Ag Silver Plated Tellurium Copper Banana Speaker Connectors Pair.
Douglass Connection has these in different sizes to accommodate different gauges. Just scroll through and you'll find what you need.

All the best,
Nonoise

I have to be sure the Banana's are the same type used by the Audio Quest Type 4 Banana's installed by Audio Advisor.  Both pairs of speakers that I own are persnickety and don't like the Spades I've tried to use nor the new Locking Banana's that I ordered from BJC.  The Mirage OM 10's are almost 20 years old and the Castle Conway 3's are about 15 years old.  May have proprietary connectors that require a specific Banana plug or bare wire only.  Nothing else has worked.

Steve.  Those KLE are pretty expensive but if they have yielded noticeable sonic improvements to the audio, then they may be worth the cost.  Have to determine if they would fit my speakers though.  I don't want to order some that costly only to find I have to return them like the BJC cables.

nonoise.  Those also look quite expensive.  I take it you use these?  Does the silver create a brighter sound?  Or does the copper in the mix help tame the bright sound that silver usually creates?

reuben.  This looks like a Banana that will fit my speakers.  Look just like the Banana's on my Type 4 cables.  Will check out some reviews on these next.

kijanki.  Fortunately I have a local repair shop that can handle the soldering.  Same place where I brought my amp to repaired.  Will look at these as well.  Thanks.

@will62 - ALL bananas should be exactly 4mm

The KLEI bananas are the same size as those by Audio Quest and many others.

They are "snug" fitting but should NOT require any appreciable force to insert them - just use correct alignment.

For attaching them to your cables take a look at ...
http://image99.net/blog/files/f6ae775e30339e2b0375b739988237b7-77.html

However - if you are not using them on both ends of the cables I would recommend one of the other bananas identified above - Bare Wire or Spades at the other end of the cables will negate most of the benefits achieved by using the KLE Bananas.

Regards - Steve