Hello and welcome to another installment of Ask the Expert. As always, all questions have been submitted to us via the Ask the Expert contact form. This time, our question comes from Alex L, who is wondering about banana plugs.
Question
Hi there. I am planning to order your “AVHTB+ Surround Sound Home Theater 5 Speaker” system. Do I need banana plugs? What for and how many do I need? Sorry for the dumb question but this isn’t my cup of tea. Thanks for your help.
Thanks for the question, Alex – it’s not a dumb question at all! On the AVHTB (and all Fluance speakers, for that matter), speaker wire is connected to the speakers through five-way/universal binding posts. These binding posts allow speaker wire to be connected to the speaker in five different ways.
- With banana plugs inserted into the open end of the binding post
- With pin connectors inserted into the hole drilled through the binding post and clamped down
- With bare wire inserted into the hole drilled through the binding post and clamped down
- With bare wire wrapped around the binding post and clamped down
- With a lug terminal inserted around the binding post and clamped down
I know that may seem like a lot of audiophile mumbo-jumbo, but what it all boils down to is this: You don’t need banana plugs to connect speaker wire to a Fluance speaker, but it is an option. Speaking from personal preference, I find using banana plugs works best, as it’s much easier to disconnect/reconnect a banana plug than it is to screw/clamp bare wire into the binding posts.
In regards to the second part of your question, simply refer to this handy chart to find out how many banana plugs you would need for any set of Fluance speakers.
| SXHTB+ | Fronts: 2 or 4 (if you plan to bi-amp/bi-wire) Center: 1 Surrounds: 2 Total: 5 or 7 |
| AVHTB+ | Fronts: 2 or 4 (if you plan to bi-amp/bi-wire) Center: 1 Surrounds: 2 Total: 5 or 7 |
| ES1 | 2 |
| AVFR | 2 |
| SV10 | 2 or 4 (if you plan to bi-amp/bi-wire) |
| AVSC | 1 |
| SX8 | 2 |
| AVBP2 | 2 |
On that note, we come to a close on another installment of Ask the Expert. Thanks to Alex for his question, and remember that if you have a question about Fluance or home theater, you can let us know through the Ask the Expert contact form, or drop us a line in the comments.
Oh, and one last thing. Don’t forget to enter our newest contest. All you need to do is become a fan of Fluance Speakers on Facebook, and then fill out our entry form. It’s that simple!
