We get this question a lot. There are several ways to talk about what might work best, and we can also test to see if the numbers bear out what observation might suggest.
This is a very valuable presentation for me. NOW I realize why BFA connnectors are the absolute wrong choice for my gear. In addition to the poor fit, they are prone to snapping with time. Likewise how to choose the proper sizes for spade connectors.
The best part of this video for me is the fact that I work at Best Buy and all we sell is AudioQuest cables and they are junk. All of their cables use BFA connectors and every speaker in the premium audio room at my store is hooked up with them and the cables sometime just fall out of the speaker terminals because of how loosely the BFAs that have been plugged and unplugged fit. I wish they would go to a different style of connector because unless they are selling these in the European market it makes no sense to use those here in the US and even if that is the case they could still come up with a different connector for the US version.
What no Tube Connectors??? Nice one, subbed! The locking plugs look high end although they're kind of big, possibly a bit hard going on the binding posts, like a lever with the weight of the cables on them, I've had binding posts break when using heavy cables and large banana plugs on a Yamaha receiver. I like the cheaper pure copper BFA's without the capping over the top, they're hollow right through so thicker gauged wire can fill them right up and go all the way to the end, this helps quite a bit to keep them in shape, and probably improves the signal path, I cover them with a couple of layers of heat shrink. I've found hollow BFA's made out of heavier gauge copper are ok, on a budget, they're easy enough to adjust and maintain with a small screw driver, however you're right they can deform easy, being although lighter they make things easier on the wear and tear of the binding posts, cables fitted with BFA's can be joined together as they fit inside each other if the wire isn't run to the end of one of them.
I bought a set of KLE BFA connectors. Made from silver, pulled them out after a couple of months. They take very little side pressure to distort them (just putting them in slightly out of square is enough), and then lose tension over time. The manual for my monoblocks is very clear, never unplug the speaker with the amp running or you will have to buy a very expensive output transformer. The brass ones might perform better, but avoid the silver ones like the plague
This is interesting based on mechanical principles to me. Compared to spring loaded bananas, say like ones provided with WBT cables, your locking bananas only expand at the tip so the whole post of the banana doesn’t have contact with the female connector. The principles of locking bananas are good, in practice tho your particular locking banana is flawed mechanically since theoretically only 10% of the banana post is contacting the terminal whereas a banana that expands all the way down the shaft has more surface area. Otherwise, what’s the point of 10g wire if you’re creating a bottleneck at the connector with the surface area equivalent of an 18g wire? This is where bare wire and spades would seem to have the advantage. Having said that, I have your cables with locking bananas and they are good connectors however the electromechanical field engineer/mechanic/electrician in me will probably not let me go along without getting different connectors or spades. (I realize that’s my problem) Have you guys considered other locking bananas that expand the entire post? I do like the idea of the sonic weld since solder is a mixing bowl of shit conductors.
Well I suppose you can just look at the spec sheet for the actual wire resistance, but again it depends on how well it engages the post. Doing quick comparisons like this really illustrates the convenience of connectors, as bare wire termination will take a bit more fiddling around. I would agree that, done correctly, bare wire is preferable- it's just easy to do wrong!
Bare wire is often the best choice electrically, but it's not as convenient as connectors and can be difficult for many people. That's why this videos is about connectors specifically.
thanks for this video. very interesting! would you prefer soldering with high quality silver solder or just screw the speaker cable in the banana? if soldering: the more solder the better? thanks again!
Soldering doesn't really work because you have to get the whole connector hot enough to accept solder, which will melt the surrounding insulation. Set screws would be my preferred DIY solution, but really our welding process can't be beat.
@@bluejeanscable7214 thanks for your reply. currently thinking about a multiple solid core cable. just screwing will presumably not work 100%. or should i crimp them all together? also this sound like a challenge…
I prefer to go solder less for the sake of being able to re use the connector if needed. Nothing is permanent. I also like not crimping as that further damages the plugs should a mistake be made or just wanting to re purpose the connector. Been doing this whole plug and jack for decades . Just a thought
it would be beneficial to actually see you doing the connecting, rather than just seeing a static screen until you finish connecting the plug. It would give insight into how you made the connection watching you tighten the spades etc.
I have spare banana connectors. I inserted them into my power amp & they do not fit tight. There is a little bit of jiggle to them. Your locking banana plugs will not jiggle ?
Good question- yes, I have measured Speakons. Whether solder or screw type, they have a high resistance compared to most any other connector. Very convenient for many applications but not ideal in a fixed system.
Connectors tend to be for units that get plugged and unplugged a lot. Simply not worth it imo for domestic users. I speak from a professional stance where we had to pull equipment out very fast during tight timeslots.
