Is there a difference between banana plugs? Here is something you did not know.

In this video I show you why not all banana plugs are made of pure copper. This is what I found and this is how you can test your own plugs.

[jozno]

I think you would want copper or silver speaker wire and gold or silver plated connections and coatings for connectors. Copper would likely be much too soft to make a banana plug from. Copper would also oxidize very quickly were that much of it exposed to the air. That would make for unsightly, high-maintenance plugs.

[llee]

The flexible and thin part of the plug may not be pure copper as copper doesn't have high tensile strength so may be easily deformed and not make reliable contact.

[MagicGuitara]

They put some iron to make it strength because cooper alone is week.

[musicstevecom]

Nakamichi Speaker BFA Banana plug N0534E (Ebay) and other Nakamichi fin types - The tips are non-magnetic and the base is Magnetic so its not pure copper But that being said I found that They are the best for a tight fit and a lot of surfaces area (#1) and have 2-screws (#2) and are made for bigger wire (#3). The base is durable and will not strip out (#4). I think real copper will strip out But its not pure copper But I will take #1 to #4 and keep buying these

[golfman]

A TEST! Hi Ivar, colour both types of plug you have with a magic marker/sharpie,
plug them in to a speaker socket and pull them out, when i did this only tiny
arears of the pen colour were scrapped off indicating a small contact surface,
much better to put cables through, or wrap around, the terminal post, way
larger surface area and greater clamping force of cable to speaker post, and
doesn't cost anything, although i can see if you change speakers alot plugs
are more convenient. Give it a go, it'll make an interesting vid.Great vids BTW.

[webking]

Save time and use bare OFC wires. They are the best. No distortion, or lost contact from banana plugs to plugs. You're going right to the source. These marketing gimmicks have gotten so many people to believe they have a golden ear.

[mcplutt]

The spring metal has to be partly steel/iron.

[gingerninja]

I assumed most banana plugs are iron, with gold plating usually 24 carrot 🥕

[horbus]

To me it looks strange, because if there would bei iron Inside, the plugs had been pulled towards the magnet like the screw driver not pushed away from it. It could be that the ferromagnetic material in these plugs had been magnetized by the production process and therefore behave like magnets and get pushed away.

[IliyaOsnovikov]

Usually the process of gold plating includes a layer of nikel under outer layer of gold. And nikel is mildly magnetic material. However the AudioQuest specifies Direct Gold Plating process without nikel layer. That's why AQ plugs are not magnetic. But that kind of gold plating looks less bright and shiny.

[andrewalberico]

Pretty sure these are fake Nakamichi banana plugs, I just checked my plugs and they are not magnetic.. oof

[bitTorrenter]

If they were pure copper they wouldn't last very long at all. Lol!

[fullwaverecked]

If it sounds good, I don't care if it's made of moon cheese. Durability is king, not what they taste like... Cheers!

[j.t.cooper]

Those Nakamichi plugs are made from Chinesium.

[andredevries]

Hoi ivar leuke video.
Als men twijfelt over pluggen dan kan men ook de kabel rechtstreeks in de speaker en versterker draaien dat is en blijft nog altijd het beste contact.
Alleen sommige versterkers hebben geen draai aansluiting zoals linn bijvoorbeeld.
Ik heb persoonlijk het verschil nooit gehoord heb voordat ik audioquest ben gaan gebruiken.
Ik heb heel lang met nacamici pluggen gedraaid.
Mvg André de vries.

[jram]

So there’s no difference -since the magnetic material in the signal path -if that’s the point of using copper

[donkeyearrs]

The screws stip out easier with full copper.

[terrywho]

Hold on sir! The Nakamichi uses a leaf spring design. Its likely that the conductors (the springy copper strips on the outside) are indeed copper with gold plating as Nakamichi states. The center pin that adds rigidity to the assembly (which is not important for signal transfer) may be the small bit of steel (which is mostly iron) that is magnetic. To know for sure, clip the copper strips off a connector and see if they conduct. There is another issue... nickel is usually used as a barrier between copper and gold to keep the metals apart. Nickel happens to be one of the metals that are ferromagnetic (attracted to magnets.) I'm guessing there isn't enough nickel plating to overcome the weight of the underlying copper or maybe they have a better way than I know of depositing gold onto copper (for example the Audioquest BFA connectors don't seem to have much attraction to the magnet) but it's something to take into consideration. Zivjeli!

[BelfastBiker]

just tested these nakamichi ones, fulfilled by amazon, and they're veeery minorly magnetic, so I'm disappointed. I'll see how they work though.

[athealth]

what happens if you remove the screws and then check with the magnet??? I think the screws are causing the magnetic attraction ...