I need to replace the banana plugs on the speaker end of my rather old A5 cable. The banana plugs on the cable were installed by a Naim dealer many years ago and are the simple solder type with heat shrink instead of a barrel. I believe these may have been RS Components plugs but I have not been able to find the same type. Does anyone know how I might source these in the US or if there is a recommended alternative that either Naim uses now or others have found to be good.
Look for Deltron…
I found them…
But… soldering A5 is a total PITA. YMMV.
Best banana pins (IMO) are Deltron.
These have the same side spring design as the Naim plug type.
They have a selection/option of plating & solder bucket size & screw fixing.
I use gold plated to match speaker binding posts, large bucket with screw plus soldered.
They can be found on Farnell and elsewhere on the webz…
Or… use Naim’s own plugs:
I have Naim plugs (soldered) at the NAP end and Deltron (or similar - crimped) at the speaker end, on my A5 runs. That’s how they came… pre-loved.
Thanks so much Ian and Mike. This is exactly what I am looking for but didn’t realize they were made by Deltron. I’ll see what is available over here.
I get all my Deltron from Pete too.
The plugs on my 2.5M lengths of NACA5 are by Chord. They were made up for me by James Allney at TomTom Audio. Very simple, and do the job well.
Furutech FT212, after many failed attempts to solder SA8’s to NACA5 myself, these fit perfect, nice construction, pure copper, easy to install. Not particularly cheap, but I guess you pays for the solid build and nice materials used. Could not ask for more.
Deltrons are good, but for some speakers I find Naim plugs to be ideal. The right angled design can be a problem on amps as it often sends the cable directly down onto the shelf and a couple of very tight 90° bends are the only way to keep it clear. On speakers the Naim plugs send the cables down towards the floor, where you want them, instead of sending them out into mid air, which puts more strain on the sockets.
None of the three dealers (who will remain nameless) that I have used in over thirty years has terminated the NACA5 cables with them when I bought the cable.
The Chord plugs on my most recently acquired cable are very good indeed…
Lots of dealers can’t solder for toffee, so no wonder they like selling crimped Chord stuff. Atlas and others have done the same, offering proprietary crimping systems that require little skill to get right. I like the Naim plugs for many applications and will continue to use them.
Thanks so much everyone. Chris, do you mean the double bananas that come with Naim power amps. I had not thought of that but should check if they might be the right spacing for my ATCs.
They are 19mm spacing which is the same as many loudspeaker socket assemblies, so it can be a good option (unless the sockets are very close to the floor.)
It’s also possible to use then without the black plastic box, so different spacing need not be a problem. Best to protect the plugs with a bit of heatshrink or similar in this case to reduce the chances of shorting.
Happy with AQ Suregrip 300 along with Chord signature jumpers. Cables bought from Signals originally installed AQ Suregrip 100 at speaker end and SA8 at the amp end.
What’s the additional Black and Yellow cables?
DG…
These are the cables going to the high level connection on REL T9i.
Honestly soldering reasonably heavy gauge wires is not difficult … ensure you have a reasonably powerful iron with a big tip ideally around 60 watts… (you don’t want an electronics PCB iron and tip) you can get an old piece of wood and drill hole(s) in it as a jig for the plug connector… clean the wire and connector with some abrasive paper and to make it super easy use extra solder flux and put it on the NACA5 and plug connector and then heat them with the iron and a tinned tip - a tip with a bit of solder on it to help heat transfer - (a large tip will make this easier) and then after heating so the flux just starts to bubble apply solder… the flux will ensure the solder flows to make a good connection…. If unsure practice a couple of times before hand. Once complete, brush off any extra flakey dried flux from around the joint, as it is corrosive. The joint should look shiny, and smoothly flow between NACA5 and plug metal. If not on both accounts, simply re do.
This post (and the rest of the thread) might help: