Monoprice Gold Plated Speaker Banana Plugs – 5 Pairs – Closed Screw Type, For Speaker Wire, Home Theater, Wall Plates And More

These things work and save a lot of time. I bought a Lepai amplifier and Micca MB42 bookshelf speakers. The Lepai requires bare speaker wire be used in its clips. The speakers will take either the twisted copper wire around a pole or a plug like the banana plug.After they plugs arrived, I could not figure out how the wire should be inserted in and attached to them. I did a Google search for videos about banana plugs and found several short videos. When you see a video, you get it immediately in seconds. Pages of instructions would be required otherwise. So, if you are new to banana plugs, a few minutes looking at videos will save you time.The wire is inserted in the back of the barrell. Once attached, the wire/plug assembly is solid. The plugs are marked with a red or black band.As I found out, the advantages of the banana plus are (a) you can have any length of wire you want, (b) the bare wire can stay attached to the Lepai amplifier as you reposition your speaker, and (c) you can disconnect the plugs from the speakers quickly. With bare wire, you have to unwrap the wire from a speaker pole, move the speaker and re-wrap the pole. The wire gets frayed and you have to cut off a segment, strip the wire, and wrap again. With the banana plugs, you remove the plug, move the speaker and insert the plug.If you constantly attach and detach speakers, my guess is you will have to re-wire the banana plug. However, if you are like me and set the speakers up, you probably aren't going to move them anytime soon.Well worth the money. Easy. Timesaving.

They are cheap and work great. They plug right into my Pioneer vsx521 receiver and my Paradigm Atom monitor speakers.I wish they came with instructions, because it took me about 10 minutes to realize the bottom part unscrews in addition to the top part.Here are my instructions for installation:1) Unscrew the bottom part of this connector (the thin metal underneath the red/black ring).2) Make sure the Banana Plug (which may be loosely screwed into the top part of the connector) is fully tightened down3) Strip your wire tips to 3/8 of an inch (or just slightly under)4) Run the first newly stripped wire end through the bottom part you removed in step 1, such that the stripped end of the wire is entering through the flat end and exiting through the smaller threaded end.5) Leave about 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch of stripped wire hanging past the exit hole.6) As evenly spaced as possible, bend the over-hanging wire strands over the exit hole (all around it, like a hat). If done properly, the wire should not fall out if you give it a VERY GENTLE tug.7) Screw the top metal part (with the actual banana plug) back onto the bottom part. It may be difficult if your stripped wire is hanging too low. I've used a pair of pliers to grip the bottom part of the connector while I twist the banana plug side with my hand.If done correctly, you should be able to put a lot of tension between the wire and connector without removing/damaging it.UPDATE:I just recently helped my dad install his 5.1 system without these... it sucked... This item (5 pairs of them in this case) and a good wire stripper can save you alot of pain (both physical and mental). The connectors on the back of his receiver are the kind where bare wire comes in from the side and then the connectors screw down (with a banana plug hole in the center which is where this product would come into play). I felt like a surgeon trying to get a bare wire end into the little slot, and then holding it there while I tighten the connector which is almost impossible since they are so close together...GET THESE!

i bought these over 6 months ago and i just installed them to the front left and right floor standing speakers - sony ssf-7000 i have them for over 10 years hooked up to a yamaha 7.1 AVR.alot of people have had trouble installing this - one single banana plug comes in 3 parts - the bottom and top (the banana plug tip) can be unscrewed.what i did was tightened the top first (top being the tip of the banana plug) then unscrew the bottom off completely - make sure you have like 3/4" - 1" (depending on your gauge of wire) of exposed speaker wire that is straight - then thread it through the hole at the bottom up - i then rolled the exposed 3/4 - 1" exposed copper wiring into a ball that is bigger than the hole of the banana plug bottom piece so the wire doesn't fall back through where it came from. then i screwed on the top and middle piece back with the bottom piece - tightening it a bit so i know there's good contact. also make sure the tip is screwed in all the way as well as a double check. what you don't want to do is have the copper wire touch the threaded part of the bottom piece - the wire will cut off from the screwing action.i plugged it into my sony speakers and it wasn't a real snug fit - a bit too loose to feel secure - it didn't seem to go all the way in - but it fit fairly well in my receiver. my intention was to use these banana plugs with my 2 channel set up but i decided to go pre-constructed mediabridge 12 AWG speaker cable instead - those fit my 2 channel set up on my receiver and elacs really snug and secure.i tested it and it works fine. i didn't hear any loss of signal or any extraneous noise. none of my (14 awg?) wiring fell through the bottom and it sounds good. so no complaints there.i bought 5 pairs - but i find that it is an odd number to include a package - even numbered pairs would be better.anyway they seem constructed well - easy enough to install and they do work.thanks for reading