This is not a fault of Monoprice, because the connectors meet standard specified dimensions however, all banana plugs of this type (closed screw) do not necessarily accept all speaker wires in the sizes specified (18-12 AWG). The preferred connection is with the insulation inserted into the hole in the back of the connector, but the hole is only 5/32" diameter, and I have some 14 AWG "high performance digital speaker wire" from another source with an outside insulation diameter of 1/4". In other words, the insulation on this 14 AWG wire is too large a diameter to fit into the connector hole. The insulation OD on the Monoprice 14 AWG speaker wire still looks tight to me (4mm/25.4 x 32 = 5/32"+), so I would restrict my wire size to 16 AWG, even from Monoprice.

PROS: Easy wire attachment and plug-in with correct wire size.

CONS: Does not work with all speaker wire in sizes specified.

Nice plugs. They really cleaned up the back of my receiver, and made connecting up my speakers much easier. Great price and high quality, just like normal on monoprice.com.

PROS: Good looking

High quality

CONS: Wouldn't quite fit over the insulation on 12ga wire. One could strip the insulation off completely to the back of the plug, but I like having at least some insulation in the plug so the wire has more support when bending. Likewise the install video shows stripping only enough wire to make the wire fan out in order to complete the electrical connection.

As far as Im concerned, these banana plugs cannot be beaten for the price. I ordered four sets at $1.63 per pair! I used these to terminate some 16 gauge zip cord from RatShack and its a perfect fit. Like a previous reviewer, I removed the colored collar so that I could get a nice, tight connection on the wire. One additional thing that I did, since I no longer had color coding, is applied some red and black shrink tubing (just a hair over an inch) to cover the main barrel of the bananas. An added benefit is that they are a lot less likely to short against one another now.

The only downside to this plug, as some others have stated, is the fact that the tip unscrews. I really dont see the point of this. I was able to get mine pretty tight, so I dont foresee a problem, but I still wish that it was one solid piece.

I just got done doing a 5.1 install + 3 seperate rooms running from zone2... 35+ plugs later my hands/fingers were ready for a break!!

Best way I found:
strip outer speaker jacket 1.75", then strip inner conductors 1/4", take apart plug, insert wire into top of plug, then fold back wire back onto plug by 1/8". Don't let the copper get onto the threads or you will need pliers to tighten up plug.

I do recommend using a pair of pliers to tighten plug into mother plug just a tiny bit of "love" to make sure they won't come back loose.

PROS: Fantastic quality
Professional outcome

CONS: They don't install themselves

I am very pleased with these plugs. Note that the housing of a 12 awg cable is too thick for these.

I bought a pair of monster plugs from radio shack - the cheapest place I could find them - at just over $20 for 4. Then I took them back when I realized how much it was going to cost to do my whole system. Instead I bought these MonoPrice plugs for my entire system, *and* since they were so rediculously cheap I bought enough for my entire downstairs system too... I completed two entire surround systems the next day for less than the price it would have cost to complete two speakers with monster plugs. My thumbs are soar from screwing so many plugs on and off, but otherwise these are great :) So far the only speakers I actually have up and running with these plugs (I'm in the process of moving too) are my NHT Super Zero's on yamaha system - sounds great, all the clarity these speakers can offer comes through crystal clear. MonoPrice gained a loyal customer.

Note: tighten the banana portion, then unscrew the connectors. Take the plastic color-coded ring off, and slip it onto your cable first, then install the connector and screw piece together. It'll give you a tighter connection without the plastic ring on there, but you can leave it on the cable itself so it's still easy to ID polarity.

I just bought my first true A/V receiver, an Onkyo TX-NR646. I couldn't seem to get he bare wire in the terminals just right. It's a pretty tight fit behind my tv stand. I gave these banana plugs a try, and I'm satisfied with the result. A quick clean and easy setup of my 3.1 set up. The other 2 speakers for 5.1 are still on the way from Pioneer.


PROS: Easier than I thought for a first timer

CONS: I did thread too much wire thought the first time and cut through it instead of making a connection. That's more my fault, however.

Here's a good way to use the plugs. Slide black/red 20mm heat shrink tubing on the plug base and 2 inches of the speaker wire. Shrink them down with medium heat from a heat gun.

Now you have insulated plugs with an even more secure connection between the wire and plug. No need to worry about shorting anything. Already color coded so you can just toss the plastic insert.

5/5

PROS: Price-Quality-PRICE!!! easy to work with like the feel. plug in & out as needed
Bigbox Stores have similar plugs, 1 pair for $8 on the cheap side. What a rip off.
Needed over 20 pairs. Saved so much money.
They work perfect again as always with Monoprice !!
Fast shipping.

CONS: no fancy package )

I got these on sale and am super happy with them. I also bought the 14 AWG CL2 rated speaker wire with these and it worked great. Because MonoPrice was out of stock on their shrink tubing I went to Harbor Freight and got the 10mm x 5M Heat Shrink tubing (Black) along with the on sale heat gun. I cut the shrink tubing and put it over the Banana plug and shrunk it I then wrapped a piece of cheap red electic tape around the red plug. Note that the shrink wrap only shrinks down over the plug so only leave a couple mm on both ends. This has kept me from shorting out my system and looks nice and clean.

Excellent item. Great price Half of store price. Fast shipping

How to use this banana plug as twist-in type. Here are the steps.

1. Slit the cable to seperate the two (+ve and -ve) conductors.

2. Open the banana from its rear end. The one where the red or black color strip is.

3. Remove the sheath from the conductor about alength little more than the length of the end piece of babana.

4. Twist the strands together and insert them from rear of this piece (the one with color strip), till it comes out on other end.

5. Now you can untwist the end which has come out from other end and spread it a little bit.

6. Take the remaining piece of babana (almost the while piece) and screw in while pushing the wire forward from behind to ensure the wire does not come ot from behind while you twist).

7. Make it as tight as possible. The strnads which wre out are now jammed agains the twisted whole piece.

8. Give a little pull (not too hard) to the wire from behind to see that it is sitting and not loose.

9. Repeat the above for the other conductor with another banana on the same wire.

Once again, Monoprice delivers quality A/V accessories at prices unmatched everywhere else. These banana plugs delivered exactly the performance I was looking for, and were shipped out fast. Highly recommended.

I'm more used to side-entry (perpendicular) for terminals of this type, and these enter from the back. That's the one thing that I wish I knew when I bought these. The back entry is a nice touch, depending on the application. The 12ga wire enters through the center hole, and after splaying the wire around the edge of the compression screw, the fit is made.

Requires careful stripping and some exposure on the length of copper for bigger cables.

I like it. Gives a clean look on the back of my amp and front channel speakers.

- the plugs fit my Denon receiver just fine
- screws together nicely
- sounds fine to me
- great value

i'd definately buy again!

Rating 10. These banana plugs were very easy to install and made wiring of my new receiver a breeze. I can't believe I never tried these before.

These are solid, functional and easy to use banana plugs. They work very well for me. One reviewer said that these can barely accept 14 awg wire but that is not true. I have used up to 10 awg wire and right now am using 12 awg wire. You have to strip the insulation off the wire before inserting it into the plug. Just make sure to cut it so that there is no bare wire showing outside of the plug. Also, a hint: if the plug fits loosely in the speaker terminal or receiver, unscrew the plug/pin end and use pliers to very gently squeeze it to make the pin fatter (don't overdo it). Then it will fit more snugly. These plugs are just as good as anything else that costs way more money.

Watch the you tube video on how to install these (there is a link in the product description) especially if you are new to connecting speaker wires. A lot of people install these incorrectly which can create polarity interference if you're do it incorrectly.

PROS: Easy to install
Nice Price

CONS: None

Ordered 8 pairs of these a while back when they were on sale and realized I needed another 10 pair to finish the job last night. Other than a few of them binding a bit when unscrewed and screwed back together, they were simple to use, plug in solidly, and make my wiring much neater and cleaner. Much like many other products on this site, monoprice delivers an excellent quality product at a price that is affordable and MUCH cheaper than any of the local audio, retail, and parts places.

PROS: Easy to use solderless, solid construction, look good, worked well with 16AWG stranded wire.

CONS: Sometimes the threads bind, so you should have a couple of pairs of pliers to make sure you can unscrew and screw them back together snugly.

I found these very easy to use. I just watched the video first to understand the difference between the closed and open screw type. I chose these closed end for a neater installation. I fastened 12awg, 14awg, and 16awg to these. The only difference was that the insulation on the 12awg didn't slide into the end of the banana plug so I had to be more exact in the amount that I stripped for that wire. Other than that, these are great. Snug fit in the speaker binding post and strong connection between the wire and the plug.

PROS: Solid.
Easy to fasten to various gauge wire.
Snug connection to speaker/receiver binding post.
Makes it much easier to identify +/- on the wire.

CONS: None.

exactly what I wanted for minimal cost and shipped quickly

Overall, they are great. takes a few minutes to get them fastened in properly.

PROS: cheap, durable, looks good, functions as advertised.

CONS: You have to have just the right length of wire coming out the tip or the threads will bind up and it won't secure properly.

Well built and good-looking. I have completely ceased to worry about stray strands of wires shorting between terminals. I do occasionally like to swap out speakers for comparison, or for demos to friends, and nothing makes the process faster.

PROS: - Look great
- Inexpensive
- The best electrical connection for speakers and amplifiers using appropriate binding posts
- Quick and sure connection/disconnection

CONS: - Some have complained that thick, "audiophile-grade" wire won't work with these. If you are morally convinced that such wire makes a difference beyond lightening your wallet, I commend this article to you: http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/03/audiophiles-cant-tell-the-difference-between-monster-cable-and/
If you find that article of no value, I wish you luck.

To the neophyte, the method for attaching the wires might not be immediately obvious. Monoprice has produced a short (6:25) video tutorial to show you how to do it for different types of banana plugs, but it took me a little while to find. I'll link it to the review.

(Note: the instructions for the close-type banana plugs begin at 2:00 in the video.)

Stop thinking about buying these and just do it. It's a no-brainer.

PROS: * So simple a caveman could do it, really
* 30 seconds connection time for each wire and I was taking my time
* Good solid connection
* CHEAP!

CONS: * the plastic bags were a little bit tough to open! LMAO

Excellent plugs for the finishing touch on a home theatre installation. Be careful of the possilibilty of shorting the circuit due to no insulating sleeves on the plugs. Some heat shrink tubing on the ground side plug will easily solve this. Fit nice and tight into the back of the receiver, and the wall plate to give a professional look to the finished project.

PROS: High quality
Ease of use
The price!

CONS: No insulating sleeve

5/5

PROS: Material is as advertised and shipment was prompt.

CONS: None

I had been wanting these for more than a decade, but could not convince myself to spend the money they would cost. Then a comment about Monoprice.com on a forum made me curious, and I had trouble believing the low price. Right after ordering these, I was forced to replace my antique Receiver, and the new one will only accept four of these. I hate returning stuff, and it took me almost a month to get up the courage to ask for an RMA, but Monoprice took my excess back without question, issuing full credit with no restocking charge. I am hooked on Monoprice.

PROS: High quality, perfect finish - reminds me of jewelry.

CONS: None

This was the first time I used Banana Plugs and they were a piece of cake to install on speaker wire. They went on easy the first time. I set-up the connectors on all the speaker wires for a a 5.1 system in about 20 minutes.

PROS: Easy to install on bare speaker wire.

CONS: none

I spanked myself for not using these connector's years ago. They have saved me a great deal of time and headaches.

PROS: Super easy to use, very nice quality, real time saver

CONS: none

Not bad for banana plugs. I'm using these with Monoprice 12 AWG wire stripped and widelled edges so the tapered wire fits up into the gold lower section for a tighter fit. This does make a stiff end. So I use them only on my large floor standing speakers that have the jacks on the bottom. Reason being- if the jacks are higher, the speaker wire has to bend upward and inward into the connectors and since they are stiff, you'll need ample space behind the speaker. Mine are backed near a window and the speaker wire/ banana plugs pushes my drapes up against the window. Which looks stupid from the outside. The remedy was using different style banana plugs.

Also worth mentioning, the tips easily flatten therefor loosing connection, sound. Not good. So give them a good whack on the head to puff them up!

PROS: Easy to grip. Heavy. Screws tight. Usable for thick speaker wire if trimmed.

CONS: Connector easily looses its girth and plug has potential to become so loose it falls out. Not enough contact surface area.

If using Monoprice speaker wire and these banana plugs, the combination makes for a stiff connection.

Worked great!

PROS: Look nice, good form factor

CONS: A bit difficult to assemble, have to be careful to not get wire in the threads or end up with the wire not securely fastened.

I just received and installed these banana jacks this week. I used a variety of cables, out of curiousity.

With standard zip lamp cord, 18 gauge is a loose fit through screw fitting. With 16 gauge zip lamp cord, the insulation on the non-stripped side is a very snug fit. The monoprice speaker wire has thinner insulation, so you can go bigger with gauge. So, insulation diameter is an important factor in using these, not just wire gauge.

Like others reviewers, I do not understand why the nose is threaded on, and arrives loose, but tightening the nose works ok. Not sure if it will ever loosen in the future, as it is only finger tight and there is no lockwasher.

Like other reviewers, I removed the colored plastic color and put it on the wire, so that I could clamp the back down further. This resulted in tighter clamps.

I also quickly realized that there is a substantial gap in the two sides that clamp down on the wire, so you need to put a health length of wire strands over the clamping surface.

Finally, it makes me a little bit uneasy that the entire outer surface is conductive, rather than plastic, as after installing all of them on my AVR, there are now 14 large exposed conductors on my amplifier outputs. I plan on putting heatshrink over these this weekend.

In summary, yes I believe these are the best banana plugs out there, and a great deal. However, you need to understand the shortcomings before ordering.

Monoprice, if you are listening, it would be very easy to modify these to be perfect... Just solder or use a locking mechanism on the nose, lower the clamping gap, and make the outer surface non-conducting (plate it, coat it, or cover it).

I hope this review helps others decide.

The contact region for the speaker wire about half the length shown in the instructions for non-solder speaker plugs, making for poor and weak connections. This is the unique case where I wish Id bought overpriced Monster connectors at a big box store.

For me, these plugs are too loose and wobbly. In the back of my speakers and components, they wobble around enough to sometimes touch each other. My receiver detected the short-circuit and shut off twice before I figured out what the problem was. They slide in easily but also slide out too easy. If you use these, I'd suggest wrapping them in shrink wrap tubing to avoid short circuits.

Best you could ask for especially at this price, nice solid connection, I used 12 gauge, just trimmed the jacket and in it went. Very nice.

Used the plugs for my surround sound system on back of the receiver. worked great. not hard to use

just what I needed

I am happy with the plugs, they are of high quality. However I had a 12AWG cable and it was little bit too thick for the plugs. These plugs would work better with a 14AWG cable which is thinner. Other than that, I am satisfied.

Great plugs, great price, easy to connect the wire, solid connection to my speakers. I'll be back for more!

PROS: Solid build, easy to connect wire to

CONS: None.

Order was advertised, great deal for the price.

PROS: Order was on time, good quality, worked fine.

CONS: None

Just as advertised of high quality and very easy to connect to both speaker wire and terminals.

Bought 15 pairs with 4012 2-Gang 5.1 Surround Sound Distribution Wall Plate and it worked like a charm. I bought the mounting bracket at home depot just because with shipping it was a wash on what would be cheaper. I used the banana clips to connect the wires in the wall to the back of the wall plate, and then used the clips from the front of the wall plate to the back of my receiver. It was a quick and easy install. I've never used banana plugs before but after watching the video I decided it was worth it, no regrets it makes it look organized and clean.

PROS: Price
Construction
Easy install
Organization of cables

CONS: shipping was a bit pricey considering all I got was bag of clips and a wall plate, but its by no means a deal breaker. I didn't buy the mounting bracket because added shipping didn't make buying that worth the price.

Worth Every Penny. These made all my connection look so clean. But I wish I had seen the Monoprice install guide in the description tab before I installed them. I had to go back and fix some afterward because I had done them a different way (less efficient). Looks Great and Quality was great for the price. Worked great with my wall plate.

These plugs are great, as is the price. It's very easy and quick to install them (read how in the knowledge base). I was using 16 gauge wire without solder and it was as simple as could be.

If I only unplug my speakers from the receiver one time it will have been worth what I spent on these.

Meets all my needs

PROS: Easy to use

When I received the package and tried to use them with my stereo system they were the wrong item - no opinion since they are useless to me

Good quality and it works great

This is the first time I have used Banana plugs so I may not know what I'm talking about. But these plugs were fairly easy to install and priced right. I used 14AWG CL2 speaker wire and doubled-up. The double wires made it a bit of a tight fit but it worked out OK.

I'm sold on banana plugs because when came to connecting the wires to back of the receiver the banana plugs made it so much easier than just bare wires. I don't think I will will ever use bare wires again.

PROS: Price
Ease of use

CONS: They did not just fall out of the bag and install themselves. I actually had to do something.

Pretty standard stuff here, no flaws, beautiful, solid connections. Great product.

PROS: Excellent quality, sturdy, and easy screwing in of wires. Solid connection, and they look great.

CONS: none

Awesome. High quality connector at a small fraction of the price of inferior quality connector at Radio Shack