Old Mac Amps Banana to Spade Adapter Plug
- Thread starter mozcho
- Start date
-
- Tags
- adapter speaker cable
I’m not saying they won’t work if you’re careful, I used a couple of sets on my Mc240 and IIRC my 2105 some time back but just didn’t like the multiple extra connection points of the banana jacks and the way my wires (very heavy 10ga x 4 braided together) would hang from them on my MC240, three feet of cable from the amp to the floor.
They work, I just feel that having an amplifier that’s designed for spade lugs isn’t optimal when I can buy or make cables with the correct spade-lug ends. Decent gold-plated spades (linked above) are less than $4.00 and it takes maybe 30 minutes to re-terminate.
Sure if you’re worried about resale of your expensive cables, ... but I don’t buy cables for resale they’re for me to use.
If you’re worried about flexibility of cables for other gear it makes more sense to adapt, but again I prefer to have the right cables for the right equipment, I have cables with banana-jacks and some with spades, some with pins. Not all of my speakers accept banana-jacks either (yet),
I will say that the size of spade-lug has changed through McIntosh history. The early barrier-strips used the lugs dimensioned above. Later, around mid-‘90s they went to a larger barrier strip that takes a larger spade, still later then went to large binding posts.
They work, I just feel that having an amplifier that’s designed for spade lugs isn’t optimal when I can buy or make cables with the correct spade-lug ends. Decent gold-plated spades (linked above) are less than $4.00 and it takes maybe 30 minutes to re-terminate.
Sure if you’re worried about resale of your expensive cables, ... but I don’t buy cables for resale they’re for me to use.
If you’re worried about flexibility of cables for other gear it makes more sense to adapt, but again I prefer to have the right cables for the right equipment, I have cables with banana-jacks and some with spades, some with pins. Not all of my speakers accept banana-jacks either (yet),
I will say that the size of spade-lug has changed through McIntosh history. The early barrier-strips used the lugs dimensioned above. Later, around mid-‘90s they went to a larger barrier strip that takes a larger spade, still later then went to large binding posts.
Never an issue after seven years with MC240 and plenty of others. I think the "crowbar" issue is a bit exaggerated... unless using garden hose size speaker cable.
Nice Gen IV MC240 @62caddy
Mine also has the S/N stamped partially on the bend / slightly off-square, I have never seen another like it until now.
Is this yours?
Was until a year ago when I decided to lean out the collection. This MC240 was I believe the latest version (w/o voltage switch) and it was super sharp 9/10. In hindsight I probably should have kept it considering the recent upsurge in prices...
As you can see by the simple lamp cord, I'm no exotic cable believer.
Last edited:
miketuason
Ferrari & McIntosh
Where can I buy these?
I made my own some time ago, made a second set with speaker pins on them instead of spades so that I could plug them into some of the spring-terminals on my vintage gear.
Handy.
Handy.
AlphaEcho35
Super Member
I tried using those on my Fisher 800B speaker terminals and did not like them. They were too wide, necessitating screws with a wider footprint. In order to insure they didn't loosen and cause a short, I covered them with shrink wrap. I eventually went with proper spade terminals soldered
directly to the speaker wire.
directly to the speaker wire.
AlphaEcho35
Super Member
They are on Amazon - part #717351273563
edwinh
Active Member
I have used these and my experience is that they will break before they could cause leverage problems. Despite the gold plating, they seem to be made of really soft, crappy metal. I just soldered some spades onto my cables. Much better solution.
For old amps like the MC2205, what's the best and most convenient way to connect speaker cables?
I am currently using these: Banana to Spade Adapter Plug/Speaker Cable Connector. I found prices vary from very cheap to expensive. Do I need to buy copper? Gold plated? Would the material matters much?
AlphaEcho35
Super Member
Same thing happened to me. One of the legs just snapped off. I wouldn't use them again unless they fit perfectly and had full support. Spades are a much more reasonable solution.
damacman
Resident Psycho
That’s just silliness, considering the 20-22AWG wire on the other side of the rear panel …
AlphaEcho35
Super Member
What part about my response is silly? Please elaborate.
damacman
Resident Psycho
The photo. That little corroded black lead to the left goes to the other side of the (+) terminal on the speaker output strip.
I just use uninsulated crimp types, and add my own solder and heat shrink (they are both crimped and soldered)
AlphaEcho35
Super Member
Yeah, it probably does - that's the impedance selector. And your eyes must be deceiving you - it's not corroded. The point I was trying to make was that the whole arrangement was impractical. I was trying to convert the Fisher's terminal jacks to work with the banana jacks on my Belden house speaker wiring that runs in the walls. It was a kludgy setup as I point out - I removed all of it and soldered the proper size terminal jacks on the Belden speaker cable.
AlphaEcho35
Super Member
That's probably the most practical way to do it - and what I wound up doing in the end. Those adapters aren't a good solution in many situations.
arts
Addicted Member
I have absolutely no use whatsoever for banana plugs as speaker connectors. All of my systems are tube-type, and the loss of the load can easily fry an output transformer. I use heavy ring terminals soldered to the speaker cables. They are readily available for all terminal sizes and wire gauges.
Banana plugs no good with tubes?