Banana Plugs and Spade Lugs Unnecessary in Hi-Fi? (Part 2)

【Banana Plugs and Spade Lugs Unnecessary in Hi-Fi?】
Part 1｜Part 2｜The Sound of Plating｜AT6301｜Banana Plug Sound Comparison

Part 2 covers banana plugs. If we are comparing items made from the same material with the same plating, then spade terminals — with their larger contact area and simpler construction — should, in theory, be clearly preferable to banana plugs, with less adverse effect from vibration as well. Conversely, compared to crimped spade terminals, banana plugs (or large screw-type spade terminals) have greater mass and more complex construction, which means they are capable of imparting a stronger sonic character than spades.

This is strictly a comparison using the same material and plating, but if you are choosing on the basis of contact stability and a simple, straight-signal philosophy…

Crimped Spade > Crimped Banana > Screw-type Spade > Screw-type Banana

※ If you deliberately want a stronger colouring influence from the plug ↓
Crimped Spade < Crimped Banana < Screw-type Spade < Screw-type Banana

That is roughly how I would put it. When comparing plugs of different brands, the differences are only enough to throw the inequality signs off — no more than that.

It is admittedly a somewhat unorthodox approach for pure Hi-Fi, but if you actively want to enjoy the colouring and character that banana plugs bring, the standard practice is to use them only on the amplifier side, where the sonic downside is smaller. Banana plugs have a narrow contact area, and many models incorporate springs or screws inside, making for a complex shape and structure — compared to the straightforward construction of a spade terminal, they tend to introduce more distortion into the sound. It is therefore wise to avoid using them on the speaker side, where the influence of vibration is extremely strong. (Supplementary note: use spade terminals on the speaker side.)

If you are going to use banana plugs at all, keep them to the amplifier side only. With semi-custom finished high-end speaker cables, you can sometimes choose between banana plugs and spade terminals for the factory-fitted terminations — and provided there are no wiring constraints, I think selecting spades at both ends will give you better sound quality. Depending on the manufacturer, they may even be cheaper than banana plugs. That said, the simple crimped (plus solder) banana plugs found on finished cables do have fewer side effects than screw-type banana plugs, and the sonic difference from equivalent spade terminals is fairly minor.

Of course, this raises the question of why anyone uses banana plugs at all — and the answer is simply that they make connecting and disconnecting speaker cables far easier and more convenient. Spade terminals can be surprisingly fiddly to seat properly against the binding post. On the amplifier side in particular, where there is often little clearance, the speaker cable ends up angled sideways or at a right angle to the rear panel, bending awkwardly, which makes for a far from tidy connection. Forcing them in as shown in the photo looks rather unsightly, and it also puts stress on both the premium speaker cable and the amplifier’s terminals — which is not ideal at all.

Also, even if you tighten the terminals firmly, when using spade plugs the weight and tension of the cable will cause the screws to work themselves quite loose over time. Spade plug connections tend to place unnecessary bending pressure and load — tension — on both the amplifier’s binding posts and the speaker cable, whereas banana plugs, which connect horizontally into the unit, allow even stiff, thick cables to be wired neatly and safely.

Beyond that, for amplifiers used in desktop PC audio setups where the speaker terminals are small and closely spaced, it is wise to use banana plugs (with insulating covers) to prevent short circuits. When you consider all this uncertainty in cable wiring, banana plugs — easy to insert and remove, reliable and safe — are simply a sensible solution by design.

For a neat wiring arrangement, using a directional cable terminated with a banana plug at the power amplifier (integrated amplifier) end and a spade plug at the speaker end makes for a tidy appearance, and is also a smart choice in terms of reducing strain on the connected equipment and guarding against short circuits and accidental disconnection. This is, of course, on the assumption that one is willing to accept whatever sonic colouration is inherent in each type of plug. . .

Now, the screw-lock banana plug that I — from something of a minimalist standpoint — have long recommended is the Audio-Technica AT6031, their cheapest option. The thinking, accepting a certain degree of sonic compromise from the outset, is to keep the terminal’s mass and volume small and thus minimise any character — or rather, any drawback — as much as possible. And because it’s inexpensive, the rather cool-headed intention behind the recommendation is: once your setup is settled and you no longer need it, just take it off, won’t you? ※ Added 2018: I’ve since found a few banana plugs that reach a standard I can accept sonically, so I’ll introduce those here as well.

Oh, and — as tends to happen — the stock of AT6031s I thought I had plenty of had somehow gone missing before I knew it, and I found myself running short. So I ordered some Nakamichi banana plugs from Amazon that looked virtually identical to the audio-technica AT6031 in the product images, but when they arrived I was taken aback: comparing them side by side, both the sound and the appearance turned out to be something else entirely. I’ve written a detailed review of that in this article here. And next time I’ll probably be taking a look at plating on audio terminals and its effect on sound quality, so do look forward to that.

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【Banana Plugs and Spade Lugs Unnecessary in Hi-Fi?】
Part 1｜Part 2｜The Sound of Plating｜AT6301｜Banana Plug Sound Comparison