(Part 2) Banana Plugs – Different Styles Overview, Review, Sizing, and Wire Installation

This is the 2nd Part where I go over and review 8 different styles of speaker terminals/banana plugs and provide you with an overview of their different styles. I continue with last 4 banana plugs, show you the differences, show you the length and wire entry sizes, and how to attach the speaker wire. In Part 1 I will review the first four plugs, and at the end of the 2nd video (due in two weeks) I will go over my favorite designs. Check out Part 1 bellow and let me know what you think! Also read on bellow for additional information and links to the plugs I reviewed. ✌😎

If you haven’t seen it already please check out Part 1 blog post or view the video bellow 😎

First, this is the complete list of reviewed Plugs and my Rankings! (although there is no “clear” winner, those are my favorites from this set)

#	Plug	Price
1	Monoprice 2 Pair Affinity Series 24k Gold Speaker Banana Plug,Black/Red	$2.50ea
2	Banana Plug Pair Compression Type	$2.15ea
3	Angled Locking Stacking Banana Plug with Dual Set Screws Poly Shell and Insulated Thumbscrew 2 Pair	$5.74ea
4	BFA Gold Plated Screw Type Banana Plugs	$1.25ea
5	Gold Plated Screw Type Banana Plugs 18-12 AWG	$1.00ea
6	Expanding Banana Plug with Dual Set Screws and Poly Carbonate Shell	$5.00ea
7	Gold 16-12 AWG Solder Type Banana Plug	$1.29ea
8	Gold Plated Speaker Banana Plugs Closed Screw Type	$1.20ea

Here is a list of the first four Banana Plugs I review in Part 2

The 5th Plug is the Gold 16-12 AWG Solder Type Banana Plug. This one is more unique and simpler design requiring soldering or crimping. It involves more advanced DIY and a soldering iron to make it work, also it doesn’t have the heft of a shell that you can grab on. However, soldering will give you much better and more permanent installation of the wire. The small body will make for a very slick and compact speaker cable.

Gold 16-12 AWG Solder Type Banana Plug – PartsExpress

For the 6th plug I chose a BFA Gold Plated Screw Type Banana Plugs. BFA stands for British Federation of Audio, and it’s a European standard safety design to avoid people sticking regular banana plugs into the Euro 240v power sockets ⚡. It’s a more unique design at the banana tip, it makes great contact with the speaker binding posts and I think it is less complicated and less prone to the tip failing like the Sewell Plugs. I like it very much.

BFA Gold Plated Screw Type Banana Plugs – PartsExpress

BFA Gold Plated Screw Type Banana Plugs – Amazon

The 7th plug I chose is a  High-Quality Gold Plated Speaker Banana Plugs, Closed Screw Type. This one is one of the more expensive plugs and has a locking feature preventing accidental pullout from your speaker terminals. The knurled ring before the banana tip rotates pushing a pin and expanding the banana tip. It has two hefty screws for cable insertion and plenty of space to insert a cable jacket. One screw for the wire, and one for the cable jacket, making for a super neat installation. However it has some drawbacks, and this particular one is that I cant seem to tighten the ring enough to make a super tight lock to the binding posts on the speakers, it seems as tight as any other banana plug out there. This is a common design that can be found in various modified styles on many sites.

High-Quality Gold Plated Speaker Banana Plugs, Closed Screw Type – PartsExpress

For the 8th plug I chose a Angled Locking Stacking Banana Plug with Dual Set Screws Poly Shell and Insulated Thumbscrew. This one is one is the most expensive plugs and has a locking feature preventing accidental pullout from your speaker terminals as well as a polycarbonate insulating shell preventing any accidental shorting. The thumb screw at the back of the connector rotates pushing a pin and expanding the banana tip. It has two hefty screws for cable insertion and plenty of space for you to insert a cable jacket. One screw for the wire, and one for the cable jacket, making for a super neat installation. I think this is the ultimate Speaker plug! It creates a super tight lock to the binding posts (unlike the previous reviewed design), it’s fully insulated, easy to assemble, and I very much like the angled design giving the cable some strain relief. This is a very famous design by WBT (a boutique audio company) WBT-0645 and their original versions sell from $50 to over $100 per connector!

Angled Locking Stacking Banana Plug with Dual Set Screws Poly Shell and Insulated Thumbscrew – Amazon

Angled Locking Stacking Banana Plug with Dual Set Screws Poly Shell and Insulated Thumbscrew – PartsExpress

Thanks for reading and watching the videos! I hope you took something away from it and learned something new to DIY your own speaker wires.

I really like the top 4 in my list, although they are all great design. I have to say if price was no option I would get the Angled Locking Stacking Banana.

In closing I’d like to say that all those plugs are very common and are found in all sorts of variations but similar basic design. Most if not all are made in China and if they are not, they fetch a hefty premium like the WBT connectors making them less cost effective. The banana plugs that are made in the USA or Europe are more geared towards lab instrumentation and power supplies, they have different wiring installation for smaller wire and typically tin plated and rated for power handling. The Euro and US banana plug manufacturers that cater to Audio are more boutique types that that cost much more making cable builds more expensive. Also as I searched for the more value oriented options from USA and Euro manufacturers I kept seeing those common banana plug designs that don’t differ from the ones made in China and it wasn’t clear where they are made.

Thank you all for watching and reading! Happy DIYing! ✌😎🔨

p.s

Sometimes you do get unlucky and get a few crappy connectors. I think 99% of the time however those are simple to make so there shouldn’t be any issues. 😁😎✌