Banana Plugs

Much ado about nothing as Bill used to say …

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Bill didn’t have the Naim forum though. I bet he’d have plenty to say!

But in absolute terms yes. “Much ado about nothing” is a pretty accurate description of the whole forum.

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I feel that hifi enthusiasts are inventing new problems that they can solve with expensive or less expensive solutions. If there are such big problems with humidity inside, it is something other than corrosion on wires that I would be concerned about.

A soldering iron and some plugs does not cost much.

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Indeed

My Naim dealer suggested Chord ohmic as a plug for the speaker end. These are made in the same way as the original Naim plug and allegedly make a good and tight connection.

I’ve used Chord Ohmic both ends on Chord Epic Signature in the past, didn’t know about the Naim connection, nothing to see here, great SQ.

ATB, J

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Personally I prefer Z plugs. They contract to fit which means the whole of it makes contact with the socket. I am probably being anal but if you think about the Chord ones, the actual plug insert has to be smaller than the socket, with the two extending bits providing a pressure fit. - Think bicycle tire where only a very small portion of it makes contact with the road. I would guess its similar with the Chord style plugs.

I am pretty sure it will make naught difference to either signal or outright sound quality but I clearly have problem … .

Chord ohmic plugs don’t work well with Kudos KS-1 speaker cable.
I’ve read many times on here.
Plus the fact they are crimp fit. :-1:

The banana plugs with the straight parallel pin and the side spring tension loading are a long standing design attributed to Deltron.
The design was adopted by Naim for their SA8 plug assys and now looks like it’s been copied by Chord for the Ohmic.

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Didn’t notice, Chord pixies factory fitted them in the centre of Stonehenge by moonlight on the summer solstice :scream:.

ATB, J

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Only if used in a solstice sourced system.
:sun_with_face:

Yes, I use them on both ends of my Rumour X in my studio system… excellent plugs.

Crimp provides better electrical contact, that’s a fact.

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Hi @ChinaCat
I have used the following different speaker cables, 2.5M, from my SN3 to my Graham Audio passive subs and then, 1M, jumpers from the subs to the Graham Audio 2 way speakers.

Sword Supra.
Audioquest Rocket88
Zansati Zorro.

All with the manufacturers banana plug
I have had no issues.

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Obviously Naim don’t agree. :thinking:

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I believe what Naim says is that their connector, which requires solder because of the way it is designed, provides optimal sound quality with their amplifiers. I’ve never heard them saying solder provides a more efficient electrical connection than crimp. When it comes to SQ everyone has their opinion, including engineering staff from manufacturers, but when it comes to efficient electrical connectivity, cold welding will beat hot welding any day, that’s a fact.

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What happens if you insert them 21 times? (Had to ask you a full on zen question):upside_down_face:

Then they explode and kill everyone. Don’t do it.

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Not a fact that was supported by a google search I just did now for ‘does soldering or crimping provide a better connection?’.

Across multiple websites, consensus - such as it was - was that crimping is better where vibration is likely to be an issue, soldering being slightly preferable in stationary situations like circuit boards.

Do you have a source for your rather more absolute claim?

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I think there’s crimping in general and crimping as used for Chord’s ohmic plugs. AFAIK Chord use their own specially designed crimping tool: ChordOhmic Hex Gun and require dealers to be trained in its use. Since not all dealers are brilliant at wielding a soldering iron, I reckon a sensible response to the soldering vs crimp debate is probably “well, it all depends…”

Roger