Reliable Copper Banana Plugs in Europe?

[CauliflowerEars]

Specifically Locking Banana or BFA.
More budget friendly (my system isn’t super high end … yet).

Most of the stuff I see on Amazon in Europe is Nakamichi. I just saw a video proving with a magnet that they are in fact not 100% copper:

This made me think bare 100% copper wire might be better than ‘maybe copper’ banana plugs.

So, do you know any plugs (or reliable brands sold in Europe) that are 100% copper? It’s often difficult to find some of the brands mentioned on ASR, as they are US specific.

 

[DVDdoug]

I've never had a problem with banana connectors. (I also haven't seen a locking one.)

We use them at work for power supplies and multimeters. They get plugged-in and unplugged more frequently than your average speaker and I've been using some of them for many years.

Pure copper may not be springy enough... I don't know... Bare copper tends to oxidize so for connectors it's normally plated. I think they usually use nickel if it's not gold. The plating is thin so it doesn't hurt conductivity (and gold conducts slightly-better than copper).

Most (all?) metals are conductive and the resistance shouldn't be a problem unless you have a long wire or very-thin wires. (i.e. Aluminum speaker wires need to be heavier gauge to equal copper.)

 

[xaviescacs]

First, forget about the 100 % cooper stuff. Contacts are gold plated for a reason. Then... What about these? https://kabeldirekt-store.de/en/products/bananenstecker They work fine in my experience.

 

[xaviescacs]

and gold conducts slightly-better than copper

"The electrical conductivity of copper is slightly higher at 5.96 x107 S/m than gold which is 4.11×107 S/m"

The plating is thin so it doesn't hurt conductivity

Which remains completely true

 

[NTK]

Personally, I'd rather get the ones from industrial suppliers such as Staubli (standard banana plugs are 4 mm). You should be able to get Staubli products from Farnell.

Plugs 2 mm and 4 mm

Low-voltage and touch-protected plugs with 2 mm and 4 mm diameter contacts.

www.staubli.com

 

[olieb]

Specifically Locking Banana or BFA.
More budget friendly (my system isn’t super high end … yet).

Most of the stuff I see on Amazon in Europe is Nakamichi. I just saw a video proving with a magnet that they are in fact not 100% copper:

This made me think bare 100% copper wire might be better than ‘maybe copper’ banana plugs.

So, do you know any plugs (or reliable brands sold in Europe) that are 100% copper? It’s often difficult to find some of the brands mentioned on ASR, as they are US specific.

I don't understand. If you search amazon.de you find dozens of banana plugs of all kinds and brands. Nakamichi not more prominent than others. And all these plugs are essentially made of brass (CuZn) , sometimes nickel plated sometime gold plated.
If they react to a magnet chances are that there is some nickel part too. Or a tiny piece inside (for the springy part) made from iron or (stainless) steel.
All this is perfectly fine for conducting electricity.

 

[CauliflowerEars]

I've never had a problem with banana connectors. (I also haven't seen a locking one.)

We use them at work for power supplies and multimeters. They get plugged-in and unplugged more frequently than your average speaker and I've been using some of them for many years.

Pure copper may not be springy enough... I don't know... Bare copper tends to oxidize so for connectors it's normally plated. I think they usually use nickel if it's not gold. The plating is thin so it doesn't hurt conductivity (and gold conducts slightly-better than copper).

Most (all?) metals are conductive and the resistance shouldn't be a problem unless you have a long wire or very-thin wires. (i.e. Aluminum speaker wires need to be heavier gauge to equal copper.)

Ah, do you recommend any specific brands or models? Is the kind of current you run at work similar to speakers’?

Nakamichi advertises theirs as 100% OFC Copper and I remember copper being important in speaker wires, that’s why it made my placebo perfectionism me think the plugs should be copper as well.

 

[CauliflowerEars]

"The electrical conductivity of copper is slightly higher at 5.96 x107 S/m than gold which is 4.11×107 S/m"

Which remains completely true

Yes, and the reason I asked here is that we can’t even be sure what kind of material(s) is in some of the brands.

Thought, maybe somebody in Europe has done some kind of testing or comparisons to deduce which plugs are good.

BTW, the 2nd plug he ‘tested’ is KabelDirekt and it also moved

Material IACS	% Conductivity
Silver	105
Copper	100
Gold	70
Aluminum	61
Nickel	22
Zinc	27
Brass	28
Iron	17
Tin	15
Phosphor Bronze	15
Lead	7
Nickel Aluminum Bronze	7
Steel	3 to 15

 

[CauliflowerEars]

Personally, I'd rather get the ones from industrial suppliers such as Staubli (standard banana plugs are 4 mm). You should be able to get Staubli products from Farnell.

Plugs 2 mm and 4 mm

Low-voltage and touch-protected plugs with 2 mm and 4 mm diameter contacts.

www.staubli.com

Great idea, thank you! I guess, with industrial ones at least we can be sure they aren’t totally crap inside. Will try to force my aesthetic side to agree as well.

Edit: pity, as it seems Staubli doesn’t make the plugs in the BFA variant …

 

[Chrispy]

I use a variation of the double set screw that Nakamichi sells....they're sold under several brands, mine are Sewell. They work fine. Don't overthink it.

 

[Gounsbairg]

80 items at Audiophonics: https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/banana-plugs-c-626.html

 

[CauliflowerEars]

Post in thread 'Speaker connectors, Which one is better?'
https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...ectors-which-one-is-better.33784/post-1179012

Based on the above (very informative discussion), might just go for DIY ferrules:

1. Can be more sure about the material used. Seems brass and aluminium might be often used in the plugs and are horrible.
2. The Nakamichi type plugs have big conductive casings, which can destroy the amp, if touched wrongly.
3. This measurement seems to indicate the plugs’ cable screws are a weak point. And that the total impact of the plug can range between about 1.5 - 10% … which doesn’t seem like nothing.
Post in thread 'Speaker connectors, Which one is better?'
https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...ectors-which-one-is-better.33784/post-1180276

I guess the one variable left is: ferrule’s contact area vs plug’s and how much influence it could have.

 

[Chrispy]

Post in thread 'Speaker connectors, Which one is better?'
https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...ectors-which-one-is-better.33784/post-1179012

Based on the above (very informative discussion), might just go for DIY ferrules:

1. Can be more sure about the material used. Seems brass and aluminium might be often used in the plugs and are horrible.
2. The Nakamichi type plugs have big conductive casings, which can destroy the amp, if touched wrongly.
3. This measurement seems to indicate the plugs’ cable screws are a weak point. And that the total impact of the plug can range between about 1.5 - 10% … which doesn’t seem like nothing.
Post in thread 'Speaker connectors, Which one is better?'
https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...ectors-which-one-is-better.33784/post-1180276

I guess the one variable left is: ferrule’s contact area vs plug’s and how much influence it could have.

FWIW the dual set screw type Nakamichi/Sewell plugs I mentioned as using, the outer case isn't metal, they're plastic so no problem touching....

 

[TonyJZX]

XCD Essentials Banana Audio Plugs

Sporting such features as XCD ESSENTIALS have created another winner. Grab a bargain on one today at JB Hi-Fi

www.jbhifi.com.au

i use this type

simple single screw... bag of 10 is like $5 off ebay etc

ironically these work better with 12 awg given its *just* wide enough but there's more copper strands for the weak single screw to hold on to

i prefer slim as possible given some amps do not have enough real estate for big plugs, not naming any names but you know who they are (ie: everyone not doing 19" wide x 19" x 2ru components)

 

[antcollinet]

The material of a banana plug is of no relevance whatsoever (see also recent thread on speaker jumper links)

A steel nail would be audibly identical to a copper banana plug. The amount of metal involved means the resistance is still effectively zero as far as audio impdances are concerned (less than 1 milli ohm)

More important is a mechanically robust connector giving good contact pressure, though even here audible benefits probably don't exist.

 

[CauliflowerEars]

see also recent thread on speaker jumper links

Could you provide a link?

The amount of metal involved means the resistance is still effectively zero as far as audio impdances are concerned (less than 1 milli ohm)

Let’s try to quantify based on the second link I provided (please correct me, where I might be wrong):

a. 2 screws + banana contact resistance = about 0.0015 Ohm.
b. 14 Awg copper wire resistance about 0.008 Ohm/m.
= almost 19% reduction per 1m of a 14 Awg copper cable.

Now, I’m not an engineer, would we just divide the 19% by 2, if we use a 2m cable?

 

[antcollinet]

Could you provide a link?

Let’s try to quantify based on the second link I provided (please correct me, where I might be wrong):

a. 2 screws + banana contact resistance = about 0.0015 Ohm.
b. 14 Awg copper wire resistance about 0.008 Ohm/m.
= almost 19% reduction per 1m of a 14 Awg copper cable.

Now, I’m not an engineer, would we just divide the 19% by 2, if we use a 2m cable?

Well yes - but the point is it doesn't matter. I've not checked your figures, but lets take them at face value. The banana plugs are already only (say) 6% the resistance of a typical 3m cable. But the cable resistance is already irrelevant for your audio. You are comparing something around 100/th of an ohm with speaker impadances 400 or 800 times bigger.

Or you are comparing the impedance of your banana plug connector with speaker impedances 4000 or 8000 times bigger.


How are you expecting these tiny resistances to change the sound?


PS, here is the link to the jumper bar post:

Replacing The Manufacture’s Jumper Bar

In your post above, you stated that meter is great. It's OK for general hobbyist work but making such extreme measurements requires specialist equipment. The cheapest new meter I know of that can get to 1 milliohm is a DER DE5000 LCR meter (which is also good at measuring capacitors for ESR...

audiosciencereview.com

 

[Waxx]

I found those of QED screwlock ABS are very good and not that expensive. Or find some Neutrik ones (but i don't know if they are still made). Most on amazon are very fragile build i have to say, and come loose very fast.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

The specific thing to avoid in speaker connections is ferromagnetic materials. In an ASR review of an admittedly high power amp, a ferrous connector increased distortion. I'm not sure it would be audible, but no point in knowingly doing something wrong!

Edit. Link added: Post in thread 'Buckeye 3 Channel Purifi Amp Review' https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...-channel-purifi-amp-review.40293/post-1421549

 

[BR52]

It seems the world is more complex than we believe, specially if we are focus only one aspect (here resistance).