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Decided to have some fun this AM and switch out speakers for the first time in about 18 months.Went to remove the Mont Blanc and INSTANTLY the fun ended. Must be Monday...
I'll contact Audioquest about re-terminating them and maybe, just maybe, spend a few bucks to upgrade to spades.
I'd bought these used a few years back, was hesitant about the banana ends (spades on the amp end) but the price was right, so...
STUPID bananas!
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure
Edits: 11/02/15Follow Ups:
At best they are brass but must have something to maintain contact with the surrounding materials. Of course, copper oxide is a very bad contact area as it is a poor conductor. Silver is best but too soft. Copper is also very soft.
Nature's metals are not very good in uses for audio for removable connections.
The speaker outpost will always be the determining factor between the better fit of spade vs banana.
Muse...you should be able to reterm those cables yourself...no? Especially if you go back with the AQ BFA bananas which are screw type connectors.
usually means Disaster, Injury, YIKES! but I may look into that.
Thanks for the suggestion!
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
Yeah it should be pretty simple. You shouldn't have to do anything to the conductors themselves other than possibly/probably straighten and clean them a bit.
Just loosen the existing BFA connectors using a hex wrench (included in the AQ BFA connector set) and then remove. Clean the bare wire/cable ends with some alcohol or contact cleaner and install the new BFA connectors.
I will look into those.
Doesn't seem to be anything there that I can damage myself or others with.
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
I love bananas and maybe those ones are poor quality but you have certainly been extremely vigorous and rough with those ones! :(
Looking at your picture the one banana plug looks to be discolored, burnt, from excessive heat. Just guessing caused by poor contact pressure.
If you go with banana plugs again I would suggest you find some that have more metal and a more tighter fit and will maintain their contact pressure against the sidewalls inside the amp/speaker terminal jacks.
Were the bad banana plugs at the speakers or the amp? Or at both?
I'm quite certain the discoloration is caused by oxidation of the silver, nothing to do with heat. I've seen this happen to many silver connectors (including RCA & XLR), even those that's never been used.
and that wasn't the only one; happened on the other side as well.
Spades on the amp end.
Have run about 4-5 different amps with these cables (which were bought used).
High current with pretty efficient speakers could possibly cause this?
No telling which of the amps might be the prime suspect.
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
Did someone trip over them? Since they were bought used, maybe there was preexisting metal fatigue.
Dave
after posting I realized that a few years ago one of our cats knocked over a speaker (one of the pair I just set back up)
and THAT cable was the one that bared the brunt of the incident. I was praising the heartiness of AQ cable at the time,
and no apparent damage was done to speaker, cable or cat. BUT, over the past few years it must have lead to metal fatigue.
The other cable is fine.
So, that's the root of the problem, though IF they were spades I think it wouldn't have happened.
Anyway, LOVE the cables and look forward to having them re-terminated.
Thanks!
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
Glad I was able to help you figure it out. It could have been worse!
Dave
Sorry to learn you have had a frustrating experience with banana plugs. I have been using them for quite awhile now and really enjoy their ease of use. I have a lot of amps, speakers and cables I swap out, and not having to get out pliers, screwdrivers, wrenches and so on, and crawl around on the floor behind components trying to get a good connection is a relief. Perhaps I am lucky but I have never had a plug break. I have used Monster Cable sets of bananas when I made up my own cables, and those on Kimber Kable, Audioquest and other brands with good results.
I hope you find terminations better to your liking.
George
http://www.pomonaelectronics.com/docs/popup.php?img=http://www.pomonaelectronics.com/images/large/MDP_S.jpg
N/T
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
Just saying that no mechanical connection is ever going to be perfect, spades or bannanas or what have you. I have had good luck with Pomona plug banannas, and on the rare occasion that they failed back when I owner a retail hifi/audio/stereo shop circa 1986-1993, we simply replaced them. Yanno, if you are just a guy in a home with one pair of speakers and these jacks failed the 2nd or 3rd or 18th time you inserted them, then yeah, they suck! Cut em off and install some pomonas! (cuz I can tell you we changed speakers or amps umpteen times a day, and rarely if ever, had to replace jacks for failure)
regards, Hal
I have never had a spade lug fail. They are also pretty easy to terminate yourself with a good crimping tool. You could pay for the tool with the money that you would pay someone to terminate and then you still have the tool.
Dave
carries Via Blue connectors from Germany. Way less than WBT and of great quality. I use these. You can use terminal/wire sleeves to make a gas tight connection that can be crimped on using a simple crimping tool available at Home Depot or any good hardware store. The sleeves come in different sizes to fit different gauge wire and of course the spades are available in different sizes as well.
Edits: 11/07/15
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