I noticed that there are three types of “Banana” plugs.
This looks like what Naim is using.
These are the other two types.
Are these other two safe to use for Naim amps?
Also, what would be better for Naim amps, gold or silver plating?
The best are Naim’s own speaker plugs, the sa8 and the similar smaller ones for units like the Atom.
Naim use I believe deltrons on the speaker ends, so if you have to, you could use deltrons all round. The nickel ones not gold.
But ideally use the sa8 plugs or the smaller ones depending on which amp you have.
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Naim supply their own Nickel plated plugs with their amps. I would use those, but any regular banana will work.
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100% right to have the original Naim plugs in a Naim amp - nickel into nickel
However the speaker end might need to be different. I found a dissimilar metal erosion problem in my ‘gold’ speaker terminals with Naim plugs.
I renewed the speaker terminal plates & installed ‘gold’ Deltron’s banana’s, problem gone .
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Thanks for the replies guys.
Does anyone know the gauge of Naca5 wires?
Also, if I do use the supplied plugs in the Naim amp, I would need to solder these. How many watts does the soldering iron have to be in order to achieve the required heat?
I have experience in soldering from wire to wire. But from wire to a solid part such as a banana plug, I don’t have experience. Does it require more time to heat up the plug to get a good connection? I’m just afraid that I mess up / melt the plastic in the plug assembly.
This may help;
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Thanks for the link, Richard.
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I’m likely to end up with new speaker cables once we move house, as the builder ran conduit through the walls and up and over the gas fireplace.
Given the long length I’m considering WitchHat Phantom.
On advice of @JosquinDesPrez I’m going with AQ 500 banana plugs. Had not considered whether my NAP 500 really will be happier with nickel plugs at the amp end however.
One benefit to these AQ plugs is that they are user installable with screws and a tool they supply. Thus I can terminate them after pulling.
Hi.
Only the other week I found this very useful set of instructions on the Hifigear website.
Regards,
Daz
Sorry if you have already discussed this, but I just bought my first Naim amplifier, the Uniti Atom. I can’t figure out which banana plugs I need to get in order to attach my speaker cable (flat) to the two adapters (black with two pins and two big holes). I bought a pair of banana plugs, but the holes in the adapters are way too big/wide. Any suggestions?
Those are the speaker connectors (banana plugs). You need to solder the cable to them - the cable fitting into the big holes (you remove the outer casing first to do the soldering then re-fit). If you are unable to do this yourself then your Naim dealer should be able to oblige. The connectors are an ideal match for the sockets for best performance, so no need for anything else.
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Thanks for explaining this. It’s a little strange that Naim Audio haven’t found a better solution, but I guess I have to live with that and ask the dealer.
The plugs are designed for best performance - a perfect metal to metal match with the sockets - and are very easy to connect and disconnect. Naim have found that soldering is usually the best sounding method here - so to that end, it’s the best solution.
Just as a comparison - and for completeness (??) - here is what Deltron 4mm plugs look like:
You may - or may not - observe that the metal parts of the Deltron & the Naim plugs are… quite similar.
These are on my 7 metre runs of NACA4, from 1982… 
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I assume that the plugs on the SL speaker cables are also the same nickel plated?
No, they are silver plated.
The Phantoms come terminated with labelled plugs at each end - have they agreed to change the plugs they selected for use on their product with the ones you indicate?
I wouldn’t use fake plugs as a matter of principle.
I find it interesting that Naim explains all their choices as based on sound quality. Nickel is so far down the list of conductivity it’s below aluminum and zinc. WBT’s are arguably the best connectors it’s why Naim uses them on the Statement. IMO Naim uses those nickel speaker connectors due to cost. The WBT 0703xx on the Statement are only about $100. a set of 4 at retail. I think it’s time that Naim considers better bits, it’s not 1985 anymore. IMHO
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When I bought my Phantom cables I didn’t want the BFA style bananas (AQ 100 series they use by default), because I’ve had issues with BFA bananas snapping off too easily. They upgraded me to the AQ 500 series, which use more solid deltron style connectors. They told me the cable is too thick to use standard Naim deltron connectors.