Banana plugs for NACa5

Hi
I need to get some banana plugs for the speaker end (ATC 40’s passive) of my system , I use NACa5 cable.

Any suggestions please , or will any gold/silver plug do ?

Cheers

J

Typically people would suggest Naim plugs at the Naim amp end, and the same at the other if terminal spacing would be compatible, if not there are so many…

Sorry, ignore was replying to thread title, can see you are specifically asking about the ATC end.

Deltron plugs?

3 Likes

Yup. Good - and cheap. A rare combination…

3 Likes

At the speaker end, Deltron, nothing but the best, gold plated.
At the amp end, the supplied with Naim. The pins are the same design as Deltron.

2 Likes

Agree with the Deltron recommendation.

Many here speak positively about matching the metal of the plug to that of the socket to avoid any junction emf being created. This is (one reason) why Naim recommend the S10 connectors for connections to their amps. If your ATCs have gold-plated posts, go for gold Deltrons and so on.

Mark

4 Likes

While it seems logical that matching materials makes the best connections, the vast majority of cables just come as they are with the manufacturer’s supplied plugs. Chord, Tellurium, Naim Super Lumina, even my Witch Hat Phantoms with their silver plated Z plugs. Maybe all these are working sub optimally by default. I wonder how important the material really is, so long as there is a good solid connection.

1 Like

The standard cheap Deltron plugs are superb no nonsense connectors I’ve been using them for many years.
I now have Naim plugs at the amp end and standard Deltron at the speaker end.
The pins on both Naim connectors and Deltron plugs look identical the only difference being the Naim orientation for the lead out is different the Deltron plugs come out straight.

4 Likes

g’mornin’ HH
You’re right on the good connection, provided the pin & socket metals remain in that untarnished condition & in most cases in our hobby that will be the case.
However I’ve had dissimilar metal erosion between my Naim nickel banana pins & ‘gold’ plated speaker terminals. I ended up replacing both with new gold pins & binding posts.

The problem with dissimilar metals is the risk of setting up a corrosive reaction called galvanic corrosion. It requires the two dissimilar metals & an electrolyte, electrolyte in a typical domestic environment is normally humidity plus an alkaline such as salt.

On an industrial scale, my experience working in marine environments is that it can erode & destroy most anything if the specific industry standards are not followed.

2 Likes

In my view (YMMV…), the Deltron 4mm plugs are an example of If Its Not Broken, Don’t Fix It. Simple & straightforward, quite robust and easy to use. I see mine have been in use since 1982, on my NACA4 leads,

I have got a brand new set of Deltrons, which are waiting for me to acquire some NACA5.

1 Like

Which hat cables which are very popular by Naim users use Audioquest suregrip 100 banana plugs.

1 Like

My NACA5 cables came with banana plugs at each end; how easy is it to swap the amplifier end to the Naim “double” plugs (> Supernait 3)? Is getting a good connection difficult? TIA

Never done it, but getting the soldering done right appears to be critical.

Interestingly (I guess, I’ve never really thought why the difference), Super Lumina don’t use the double Naim plugs at the amp end.

2 Likes

If you have reasonable soldering skills and a powerful iron it’s straightforward enough. If not it’s going to be a whole lot cheaper and easier to pay someone to do it for you.

1 Like

I will hopefully shortly find out how hard or otherwise NACA5 is to solder…

Just ‘bagged’ a used set of leads on the Bay Place… :grin:

I have a new set of Deltron plugs ready.

1 Like

Soldering NAC A5 to Deltron plugs is fairly straight forward. To make life a little easier i would make up a little jig with some clamps in place, to help keep the cables dead still, and to free up a pair of hands. Also use a 100watt plus iron with some good old unclean 60/40 tin/lead solder, forget the unleaded or silver stuff, it will drive you nuts.

4 Likes

you can choose Chord product, they share the same connector with Naim

Chord crimp on connectors sounded very poor by a few accounts on here.
I use Deltrons the pins look identical to Naim plug pins bar the orientation.

1 Like

Based on my experience, if you know anyone who solders ‘normally’ (i.e. electronics, circuit boards, etc.), don’t tell them you’re buying a 100W iron. First, they’ll be convinced no such thing exists, then they’ll be adamant it would be psychotically dangerous to use it for anything less than boiling water for a cup of tea (or kick starting a fusion reaction) and, finally, your ludicrous soldering iron requirements will become a running joke.

Mark

2 Likes

Yes. I personally use a Weller Marksman 175 watt iron for NAC A5 and SA8s. It does take some practice to use such a big iron but it really does do a fine job indeed, once mastered and your wrists are strong enough to hold it steady. You want to be quick. As for electronics and delicate light work i use a Metcal MX-500 re-work iron, and have done for well over 20 years.