Does the 3805 take banana plugs?

[John Langton]

As the title says and if it does is there any benefit of using banana plugs instead or the open wire just pushed in and then tightened?

Thanks

John

 

[Cable Monkey]

The plugs preventing use of banana plugs can be removed, though how easily I am not sure. The advantage is no messing with loose wires and risking shorting something out, as well as less issues with corrosion.

 

[Knyght_byte]

if they like the plugs on most surround amps, they should come out fairly easily, altho u might find it useful to have a thin edged blade to help tweak them out......(like you would use a screwdriver with a tin of paint)

 

[John Langton]

Thanks but tweak what out? The whole red and black screw thing or the tops of them? Can someone confirm this for definate before I ruin my Amp

John

 

[samjet]

the 'centre' piece of each socket is removable - use a fine screwdriver

you will find the piece removed is a small plastic plug

hope this helps

 

[John Langton]

thanks guys. Also in my question is there any benefit from using banana plugs? Apart from it maybe looking neater

John

 

[spl23]

The bits you need to remove are the small black inserts in each socket - they are basically thin plastic tubes that fit into the space where a banana plug would go. The easiest way to get them out is with a small self-tapping screw - screw it into the insert half a turn or so, until it bites, and then pull the screw straight out - the insert should come with it. Repeat another 17 times...

The main advantage to using banana plugs is that the screw terminals on the Denons are pretty poor quality, especially if you are using speaker cable which is any thicker than bell wire. I use 79-strand, and the terminals just wouldn't hold it securely without tightening them up to the point where the terminals were bending. If you're using thin cable, the screw terminals are ok, but for thick cable, bananas are definitely the way to go. They're also a lot easier to plug in and unplug when you want to move the amp for dusting etc.

 

[John Langton]

Thanks now I just need to get info on a good set of banana plugs. Im going to make my own speaker cable with CAT5 cable

John

 

[MWP1985]

Size 8 Wood Screw did the trick perfectly on my 2805.

 

[Colgate7110]

Guys,

I've often thought about fitting banana plugs to my cable on the 3805. Since I'm using QED leads, I'd considered the Airloc plugs but I'm not sure how much of the Airloc plug brand is worthwhile high-grade sonic improvement and how much is hype

Anyway, so as to avoid going OT on this one, why do they fit those inner parts to the binding posts if they ultimately just get in the way? I've not had a look at the speaker binding posts since the first hellish time I tried to screw the cables in and don't relish the thought of having a look to find out why it's there

Cheers,

Colin

 

[spl23]

Anyway, so as to avoid going OT on this one, why do they fit those inner parts to the binding posts if they ultimately just get in the way? I've not had a look at the speaker binding posts since the first hellish time I tried to screw the cables in and don't relish the thought of having a look to find out why it's there

In some parts of the EU, the mains sockets use 4mm round pins. As a result, in their infinite wisdom, the EU decided to ban the use of 4mm plugs and sockets on audio equipment, so as to prevent the normal operation of natural selection. Naturally, the Japanese largely couldn't care less about this, so they use banana plugs and sockets on their equipment, and then block up the sockets if they are selling the product in the EU. Thankfully, most of them (like Denon) do so in a fashion that doesn't prevent you unblocking the sockets and using them.

(Or if you are Arcam, you develop a completely new speaker connector - hence the CamCon...)

 

[spl23]

Thanks now I just need to get info on a good set of banana plugs. Im going to make my own speaker cable with CAT5 cable

Maplin sell a nice range of reasonably priced gold banana plugs - they are intended for in-car systems, but they are decent, solidly-built items with double grub screws on each plug. They are better suited to thick cables, but they are much cheaper than so-called "audiophile" equivalents - 3.50 for a pack of 4. When you are running 5 channels, the costs of 20 plugs can mount up!

I'd also be wary of CAT5 as a speaker cable - it's pretty thin, and is therefore fairly high-resistance. Given the high-ish currents going to speakers, I wouldn't use anything thinner than 13A mains cable - I seem to recall Quad recommend Black & Decker extension leads... ;-)

 

[John Langton]

Thanks guys. spl23 I wont be using one strand of CAT5 it will be 3 pieces in a plaute (s?) and then all joined together at the end to give a thicker cable. There are enough posts on here about it

John

 

[Colgate7110]

In some parts of the EU, the mains sockets use 4mm round pins. As a result, in their infinite wisdom, the EU decided to ban the use of 4mm plugs and sockets on audio equipment, so as to prevent the normal operation of natural selection. Naturally, the Japanese largely couldn't care less about this.....

Thanks for the speedy answer spl23 - answered one of those "always wondered why" questions!