Banana jacks on amps?

[Axtman]

When did they start putting banana jacks on amps? When did they stop putting banana jacks on amps? Thanks.

 

[Redbrangus]

I don't know anything definitive other than Crown DC300 amps, introduced in 1967, had 5-way binding posts on 3/4" centers that allowed the use of MDP dual-banana plugs. So it was already something more-or-less standard by then.

 

[FretRiff]

I know they became popular in hi-fi audio and test equipment, including amplifiers, starting in the 50s. Crown, McIntosh andother boutique speaker makers used them for speaker connections. Today some pro audio and PA amps might still accept banana jacks but it's faded out in favor of better options.

 

[agedhorse]

Started in the late 1950's (at least that's when they were on equipment that I worked on) and were pretty much done (with some notable exceptions) by about 2000.

They are still used on some pro audio amps used in installations, but for general purpose PORTABLE equipment they were abandoned because the spacing was close enough to the spacing and diameters of the European Shuko receptacle and there were some instances where people accidentally plugged banana plugs into 240V wall outlets. On the amps, as they got larger, there was a notable shock hazard (especially in bridge mode) because the standard jacks are not "touch-proof". Now, they either use a closure plug or recess the contacts deeper and this is generally on fixed installation equipment, or equipment classified as

Where they are still used, they are generally required to fall under the classification of "skilled user" or "instructed user" for IEC 62368 safety certification as part of the equipment safeguards.

 

[abarson]

I can't recall ever seeing a bass amp with banana plugs. Got an example?
That said, my Acme B2 Series II cabinet has them.
I've never liked them, even on my hifi equipment. They never felt really secure.

 

[agedhorse]

I can't recall ever seeing a bass amp with banana plugs. Got an example?
That said, my Acme B2 Series II cabinet has them.
I've never liked them, even on my hifi equipment. They never felt really secure.

Early SWR, Eden, Carvin come to mind.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

When did they start putting banana jacks on amps? When did they stop putting banana jacks on amps? Thanks.

Banana Jacks have been a standard way of hooking up speakers to home stereo equipment for just about ever. Don't know when they started using them for amps and cabs but it's been quite a while. MY Eden WT500/800 amp has them and when I got my first DNS cab from DNA in 2015 I had to make a cord that had banana jacks on one end and a Speakon connector on the other end.

One of the advantages with banana connectors is that, presuming you're using individual cords, you can wire your cabs in either parallel or series as needed when needed. Did a Google search to find out when banana jacks firs appeared and all I could turn up was that they originated in the "early 20th century", and became popular in the 1950's. Speakons were officially launched by Neutrik in 1987. With their twist lock connection they are safer to use with high powered amps like bass amps because they don't really come unplugged accidentally and you don't have to worry about accidentally shorting out a connection like you can with 1/4" plugs that get pulled loose while delivering power to the cabs

I checked the Eden manuals I have and it appears that they made the move to Speakon in either late 2004 or early 2005. In 2003 the manuals still refer to banana plugs for amp speaker outputs and 1/4" plugs. In 2005 they all have Speakon jacks for speaker outputs plus 1/4" jacks.

I've attached a copy of the Eden Speaker cab manual from 2005. It talks about using both Speakon and Banana plugs on pages 7, 8, and part of 9. There's a chart on the top of page 8 that shows how to wire speaker connections with both parallel and series using banana separate plugs.

 

[DeepHz]

I had them on my early Eden amps. Not a big fan of them.

 

[five7]

I got a bad jolt unplugging a banana plug from a yamaha rackmount amp in the 80's. Was using them for p.a. amps back them.
Had several swr cabs with banana plugs too.

 

[Zooberwerx]

I still use REAN banana plugs / binding posts on my Crown power amps but it's "feeding" a speaker patch bay further downstream. As already mentioned, my Acme enclosures had all 3.

Riis

 

[shirojiro]

I can't recall ever seeing a bass amp with banana plugs. Got an example?
That said, my Acme B2 Series II cabinet has them.
I've never liked them, even on my hifi equipment. They never felt really secure.

My Amoeg SVT 400T had banana plugs and binding posts.

I used banana plugs to bridge it to get 400w out of it.

 

[Tim Schnautz]

When did they start putting banana jacks on amps? When did they stop putting banana jacks on amps? Thanks.

I don't know when they were used on amps as of to say but they've been around for a hundred years.

 

[rmayer]

Early SWR, Eden, Carvin come to mind.

I had Bag End cabinets in the late 70s that had banana plugs. They've since made the switch to speakons.

 

[Wesley R]

In an earlier time at a large distributor of audio equipment, I saw a power amp manufacturers rep wash some nails and put them in the banana posts. He cooked hotdogs on the nails.

 

[bassfran]

In an earlier time at a large distributor of audio equipment, I saw a power amp manufacturers rep wash some nails and put them in the banana posts. He cooked hotdogs on the nails.

 

[DirtDog]

I can't recall ever seeing a bass amp with banana plugs. Got an example?
That said, my Acme B2 Series II cabinet has them.
I've never liked them, even on my hifi equipment. They never felt really secure.

SWR SM400S

 

[logdrum]

And the huge Aguilar all tube amps like the DB 728 had banana plugs

 

[shirojiro]

I had Bag End cabinets in the late 70s that had banana plugs. They've since made the switch to speakons.

Forgot about this. My red fur covered Bag End S15s have banana plug inputs too.

 

[rmayer]

I got a bad jolt unplugging a banana plug from a yamaha rackmount amp in the 80's. Was using them for p.a. amps back them.
Had several swr cabs with banana plugs too.

I had a rackmount Yamaha amp, possibly a P2200?, back in the late 70s/early 80s that had the banana plug/binding post setup. Ran a Ashley rack preamp and crossover biamped into the two channels and then to two Bag End single 18s for the lows and a double 12 for the mids/highs. The Bag Ends had banana plugs too.
That amp kicked butt, but weighed a ton.
We also had a PA rack with the Yamahas, great amps.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

I had them on my early Eden amps. Not a big fan of them.

They were a lot better than the 1/4" plugs back then. The Speakon plugs/jacks now are that much better than the Banana plugs were for the 1/4". There's a reason they would tell you to turn the amp off before plugging in or unplugging the speakers on those amps. The chance of shorting something out with the Speakons when plugging or unplugging them is pretty much non-existent. I had to make a speaker cable with banana connector on one end for the amp and Speakon plug on the other for my cabs.