Sewell SilverbackSL Gold Pin Banana Plugs for Spring-Loaded Inputs, 12-Pack (SW-30006-12)

I’ve recently been giving my home theater a massive overhaul and completely replacing my old Sony “home theater in a box” surround sound with a legit receiver (Marantz) and speakers (Klipsch) setup. Unlike the htib set up my new speakers do not have thin, built in wires with proprietary connections. So I needed wire and I’ve never been a fan of bare wire connections so I also wanted connectors to properly terminate the wire connections so that they could be moved around as I continue to upgrade and build up my system, without having to waste time and effort trimming back wires each time.The other caveat is that the Klipsch Reference 5.1 set I am starting with have spring connections. They are sturdier than other spring clip speakers I own but they are still spring clips and the holes were only just barely big enough for me to fit my 16 awg speaker wire. After a lot of research I came to the conclusion that pin connectors were needed. I looked to Sewell first because I bought their Deadbolt banana plugs for the receiver connections and I really really liked them, very high quality and easy to use plus they really clean up what can easily become a mess of wiring in my media cabinet.The Sewell Deadbolt pin connectors were sold out so I decided to give the Silverback a try and I’m glad I did, I feel like they make a more solid connection with my relatively thin 16awg wire.The double screws on the Silverback connectors are perhaps a bit more of a pain than the teeth on the Deadbolts, but I think they work with a wider range of wire. My 16awg wire was just barely enough to spread around the teeth of the Deadbolt but I discovered that with the Silverback the thinner wires work fine just so long as I folded a loop of bare wire at the end and put the loop in the connector as opposed to just straight strands of bare wire.I figured this out through good old trial and error. The difference when I used the doubled over wires in the connector as opposed to going straight in was immediately noticeable. My new setup was quiet when I used straight wire connections. I had to turn the volume up to at least 80% to hear properly. After I went back over the connections and put looped wire in each pin connector I rarely turn the volume past 50%, the sound is coming out of the speakers loud and clear.I also like these pin connectors over others because these are flexible which makes them ideal when a speaker is mounted close to a wall, etc. The “pin” connector on these seems thicker than most, its about the same thickness as my 16awg wire but its braided with a solid tip so its very easy to insert into spring clips as opposed to bare wire which is a pain. The red and black “positive” and “negative” are clearly marked, easy to tell the difference at a glance even inside a dark media cabinet.The covers on each connector aren’t conductive so that even if they touch each other they wont create a short.In summary; I highly recommend these if you are looking for a really solid, attractive, easy way to set up your sound system. These are a great choice even if you are using thinner (like 16awg) wire because you can just double it over at the end then screw these on and get a really solid connection.

I purchased this set of speaker pin cable ends because I was intrigued by:1. The pin is actually movable/pliable - which will make them easier to insert into the various clip type of type of inputs on various speakers. If you've ever used the hard pin cable end connectors, you would know that with certain speakers, their rear inputs leave very little room to hold the hard pins in place. That's why when you insert just wire ends (that have no pin), it is easier to hold the wire in place. These pliable pins are wonderful and found them most useful and helpful - providing support to the speaker wire ends, and also ensuring a tight fit/hold in the connectors on the rear of the speakers.!2. You don't have to solder them to the wire (which many of these types of pins you'd have to do). You just separate the inside piece from the outside border piece - accomplished by grasping the pin portion and turning the bottom portion with the other hand. You will see two screws on the inside piece - loosen them so that the end of the screws are not protruding into the channel. Then slide in your speaker wire into the channel, tighten the screws back down, and then reattach the outer portion of the connector - that simple.These are quality made connectors and it helps to have that many in a package for the price. I connected these to audiophile quality 12 gauge wire for short 6 foot runs between my Edifier desktop speakers located by my desktop computer. I'm so glade that I found these pliable pins.Your mileage may vary as all reviews are always subjective. I'm giving them 5 stars - they are functional and well designed.Ben HerrmannFuquay Varina, NC

The product itself gets 4 stars because of the quality/price ratio. It performs as expected, and is easy enough to use. Just make sure you have one of those little flat head screwdrivers around. I can confirm that these are insulated, and it is ok to let the silver jacket parts touch, as they won't pass current to each other. I give it 4 instead of 5 because there are some manufacturing irregularities in a few of them. They would be easier to use if the wire tips were smoothed out more uniformly before being gold plated. You will get a lot of them that the wire tips were flattened/spread out before gold coating, and you have to mash them back into shape a bit before using, which isn't difficult to do. I don't mind that a whole lot, but it seems like it would be easily preventable with just a little extra effort on their end.Also, I got a few that the outside collar didn't screw on correctly. Turn and turn and turn and turn... and it never became tight. This was on 3 of them out of 24, so not a real biggie, but once again, quality control.The last issue is the only one that really irritated me. I paid for a new product. What I didn't pay for was a product that had been opened, and then poorly taped closed and returned. I realize that it wasn't the packaging I was purchasing, but the items inside, but it isn't customary, or in any way ok to make somebody pay for a new product, and then ship them an open box item.The 4 star review is for the product itself, because despite some minor quality control concerns, they are solid plugs, and easy to use, and the quality is comparable to more expensive equivalent products.Tips:Just keep in mind that this 12 pack contains 24 individual connections, and each speaker will use up four of them. So this is enough for 6 speaker to receiver connections. So if you're getting this for a 7.1 or 7.2, you will come up one speaker short. If you're getting this for a 5.1, you will have 4 connectors left over. (which is handy since you can use the best 20 out of the 24 like I did)Be careful when you're screwing out the little screw plugs. Just back them out enough to get the speaker wire in there. If you go too far, the little plug falls out and is a bit of a pain to get seated back in there.It's easier to just sit at a table and prepare all the plugs in one go by pre-unscrewing all the little plugs for all the connectors you need at the same time.Despite the packaging issues, and the minor manufacturing flaws, I would order these again for the price.