[Wayner]

I ordered a dozen of these from China. Well, there certainly was a slow boat coming from there, and I have since, found them on eBay (for less), nonetheless, they seem to be of great quality for the money.



No soldering required and they fit very, very snug into the banana jacks that I have tried.

Wayner

[usp1]

I have been using them for a few years now and they work very well. The tips are a bit delicate and so you have to be careful not to bend them.

[Wayner]

Good to know someone else knows about these....

W

[lacro]

I ordered a dozen of these from China. Well, there certainly was a slow boat coming from there, and I have since, found them on eBay (for less), nonetheless, they seem to be of great quality for the money.



No soldering required and they fit very, very snug into the banana jacks that I have tried.

Wayner

 Wayner,
 Those do look pretty good. You didn't mention where you got yours, so I did a search for them. I came up with this thread:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/everything-else/210672-warning-nakamichi-plugs-made-iron.html

I really would like to get some of these. Would you mind sharing what supplier yours came from, and do you know what the base metal is? I just want to find a legitimate source that is actually using gold plated copper, and not gold plated iron!
 Your input is appreciated...

Larry

[TrungT]

Check out Madisound:
http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/bananas-spades/

[Letitroll98]

That's some pretty damning posts on the Nakamichi plugs, says they're made of pot metal and snap at a breath of tension.  I could actually use some good sounding bananas now so the thread is topical for me.  Wayne, how have they been in use for you?  Have you tried to snap them?  Crazy question, who would try to snap their own banana plugs, but that's what the guy on the DIY thread did.


These were listed in the DIY thread.


http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10401&cs_id=1040115&p_id=2801&seq=1&format=1#largeimage

They say "High-Quality Copper Speaker Banana Plugs".  Wayne, you might know, what does "High-Quality Copper" mean in ad copy?  How much copper do you actually get?  I'm sure unless it claims 100% copper it's a alloy with, tin, aluminium, brass, etc.

[JohnR]

I have some of those, the (a) problem with them is that if your wire is over a certain size the screws don't go in far enough and you can't get the barrel back on. Also, if it's multistrand you kinda have to tin the whole thing together. I think I may have successfully soldered some wires into it (instead of using screws) but they're not really designed for it.

Also, I had a couple of the screws strip. I guess I was trying to get them in further... (see above )

However, they are cheap and they do work OK. I think. Haven't had any other problems so far that I can recall.

To be honest I haven't found a banana connector I like yet. I have some other cables with Cardas on them and one has lost it's tension. If I only needed one or two cables I'd try those tube things.

[usp1]

I tested the ones that I have and they are certainly not attracted to a magnet. Mine seem to be relatively pliable not prone to snapping off...but who knows what they actually are made off. They are somewhat hard to work with though. I have some stranded cables and as JohnR pointed out they are hard to tighten. They do seem to stay in place once both screws are properly tightened even without tinning.

[etcarroll]

I got these when I went to bi-wiring, and one is bent after a year. Still, they seem to work fine.

I have been using them for a few years now and they work very well. The tips are a bit delicate and so you have to be careful not to bend them.

[Wayner]

The site is below:

http://www.nakamichiplug.com/product-0534E.html

They claim that the base metal is pure copper. I'll assume that they are flash plated with nickle then gold (for metal base compatibility). I'd also guess as John has indicated, that the actual banana element may not be the strongest in sideways force, but it seams to be very strong in linear force directions (insertion/extraction). I got the 12 piece set for $13.49 with free shipping, so that is $1.125 each.

I have also picked up a 24 pack off of eBay for $17.54 (with free shipping) and that would make them $0.73 each. The ones directly purchased from Nakamichi are slightly different from the eBay model by way of the outer sleeve. The Nakamichi model has a copper threaded sleeve whereas the eBay model has plastic. I think the plastic ones might be less prone to stripping and electrically isolate the outer sleeve from the banana plug. This may prevent some accidental shorting if a guy swaps cables with the amp(s) on.

I did not solder the 14 gauge copper wire, but I stripped the end about an inch, twisted the strands together tightly then doubled them up before installing them into the plug. I did not want to solder the wire and this seems to produce a very strong connection (which is the weak point in the speaker/wire equation).




I did listen to a couple of Ric Ocasek LPs last night and heard some detail that caught me slightly off guard. This is the reason I have been on this quest, because I believe the main problem with speaker cables is the connection between wire and connector. It's obvious that the BFA style is superior in contact and contact pressure to the traditional banana plug, and it has a much larger contact surface. The setscrew method as opposed to soldering or crimping seems to be a superior connection as well, especially compared to bananas like the ones from Parts Express which offer only 1 screw down cap, and always seems to come loose.

Yes, these connectors are limited to 8 gauge wire (as claimed by the manufacturer), as larger size wire would prevent the sleeves from being installed, but then, don't install the sleeves if that is your problem. The opening in the connector is about .195" or 5 mm, so that should handle some fairly large wire.

Wayner

[thunderbrick]

I got some of these Nak plugs a few years back, and have since switched to WBT types.  I am on vacation right now, but when I get back I'll count out what I have and ship them to any ACer that would like them.  Free.

I've been given many items and courtesies on AC, no questions asked.  Time for me to pass some on to others.   

'brick

[avta]

I just purchased and installed some banana plugs I got from Blue Jeans Cable.      http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm They are of the compression type and come with shrink wrap sleeves. They are of good quality and well priced. It took a few minute to get the hang of installing them but after that it was easy.

[Quiet Earth]

I bought a 24 pack (of the Nakamichis) a while ago and I have never had a problem with them snapping off, or fitting reasonably thick wire in them. They're great to have around the house for those moments when you need to make a quick connection, and I think they are fine for a permanent connection too.

Here's what the back of my package says:

24k Plating
Connector made by pure copper (non-magnetic) .6N
Double Screw Locking
Color coded

I put a magnet up against one of them, and nothing happened. For a buck a piece, I don't see why anyone would complain about them.

[usp1]

I think someone must be selling fake Nakamichi plugs if the other thread is to be believed. As I mentioned earlier, mine are non-magnetic as well, and given how easily they can bend I don't think they are brittle at all. My package said the same thing as Quiet Earth but then I would imagine the fake ones have similar wording on them as well.

In any case, I am happy with mine.

[Quiet Earth]

That's the main reason why I try to avoid eBay whenever possible. Counterfeit gone wild.

[BobM]

I used the Nak's as well. For the price I picked up about 3x what I needed at the time, but have since found uses for them. I agree, the only drawback I have found is you can't use fat wire with them or the screws won't go in all the way and the barrel can't then screw on. They do stay once installed though. No problems with loosening up or bending that I have found.

[Quiet Earth]

BTW, Wayner,  I bought mine directly from Nakamichi.com too,  and I remember that they took several weeks to arrive. If you decide to do some kind of analysis on them to determine the real metal quality, please let us know. I won't be shocked or bummed out if they are not super high quality or even what they say they are on the package. I was really just looking for something decent at a fair price when I bought them. I think they definitely fit that description. I am certainly no connector expert by any means.

[Ericus Rex]

Is it possible that the fakes are gold-plated brass?  Is that metallurgically possible?

You could take a fine file to the end of the barrel (the end where the wire enters).  If it's gold plated copper there should be a very clear color difference (this difference may be easier to see if you put a wet tissue over the metal.  This eliminates the glare which can affect your impression of color).  Plated brass should show no color difference.  I suspect a lot of "gold plated copper" products available on the net to not be real copper.

[srb]

To my knowledge, none of the BFA style plugs on the market are pure copper, but are instead a beryllium copper alloy that is necessary to provide springiness to the design.  Brass is also a copper alloy, but I believe the alloy used in the BFA plugs has a bit more copper content, at least in some of the known entities like Nordost, Multi-Contact and Audioquest.
 
Steve

[Wayner]

To my knowledge, none of the BFA style plugs on the market are pure copper, but are instead a beryllium copper alloy that is necessary to provide springiness to the design.  Brass is also a copper alloy, but I believe the alloy used in the BFA plugs has a bit more copper content, at least in some of the known entities like Nordost, Multi-Contact and Audioquest.
 
Steve

Steve that is possible, although there are processes to harded copper after it is formed to create the spring required for good contact. If that is the case here, the copper would become hard and brittle (in order to create the spring effect) and sideways twists may certainly damage the connector.

For the good of the group, I will take a hack saw to the plug portion and look at the filings to see if it is indeed copper or a brass/beryllium derivative.

Wayner