Linn Bananas

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ThomasOK
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Post by ThomasOK »

The Knekt Bananas are still on the Linn Spares parts list and were readily available from Linn the last time I ordered them. One reason a Linn dealer might not stock them is that you have to buy them in quantities of 100 - 50 Red and 50 Black. Since they sell for about three times the price of the big Deltron a dealer might not sell that many and doesn't want to order 100 just to make a sale of 8 or so. But if they care about musical quality they should make them available.

We keep them in stock here in Ann Arbor but then we also order in the Deltrons in quantities of 1000. By far our most popular speaker cables are K400 and K20 and we use Deltrons and Knekts exclusively on anything that can take bananas. If a dealer needs the part number to order it is KNEKT 100/1.
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Post by fettspeck »

k_numigl wrote:I once tried gold plated spades with K400/600 feeding A242s. This was a complete desaster and I quickly changed back to Knekts. I had no idea that such a tiny piece can make such a difference.
Thanks for your answer. I didn`t pay attention to this detail until a Linn-enthusiast soldered in a new pair of tweeters in my Kabers. He draws my attention to this. Unfortunately I just have some of the older version
of the Linn bananas left. I only can change the spades on the speaker side, because my Mark Levinson amplifier needs spades. I think I´ll try
Linn K400 again. Actually I feed my speakers tri-wired. Would you recommend tri-wiring with K400 / K20?
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Post by fettspeck »

ThomasOK wrote:The Knekt Bananas are still on the Linn Spares parts list and were readily available from Linn the last time I ordered them.
Thank you for the good news. I´ll ask my Linn-dealer to order me the bananas.
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Post by fettspeck »

Now I have changed the bananas to Knekt. The connectors are new, the k 600 is used. The result at the moment is not satisfying. The soudstage is flat and two-dimensional. Instruments and voices have no body. Timing is not right. All in all: No fun. Will this change after a time? Can a cable sound so much different when new connectors are soldered and change to better after some times?
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Post by lejonklou »

No, if you've soldered them the right way, with the right solder, at the right temperature, they should sound great from the first moment. There is a long (3.5 months) burning in period in which performance varies, but when done right it starts and ends on 'Great'.
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Post by fettspeck »

I'm wondering about the result of changing the connectors. The person who soldered the connectors is very expierienced especially in Linn products. One fact is that I cleaned the connectors before soldering with Deoxit also at the soldering areas. Could this be an explanation?
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Post by anthony »

fettspeck wrote:I'm wondering about the result of changing the connectors. The person who soldered the connectors is very expierienced especially in Linn products. One fact is that I cleaned the connectors before soldering with Deoxit also at the soldering areas. Could this be an explanation?
It may well be, soldered many and never cleaned them.
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Post by lejonklou »

Deoxit is terrible. Tried it once long ago and it resulted in a significant degradation of sound quality.

And, sorry to be negative, but... Whether a person is experienced with Linn doesn't really say anything about their soldering skills. So many are on the "that doesn't matter" bandwagon.
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Post by Rufus McDufus »

lejonklou wrote:Deoxit is terrible. Tried it once long ago and it resulted in a significant degradation of sound quality.

And, sorry to be negative, but... Whether a person is experienced with Linn doesn't really say anything about their soldering skills. So many are on the "that doesn't matter" bandwagon.
Talking of cleaning connectors, is (e.g) isopropyl alcohol safe to use provided it's pure enough to leave no residue, or is it best to avoid any kind of fluid altogether?
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Post by lejonklou »

I avoid all fluids. Mechanical cleaning is great. When Linn Knekts have been used for a long time, they can become black. This can be removed with the green polishing paper normally used for cleaning stylus tips. Then just rubbing off the dust with a dry cloth.

And after repeated plugging-unplugging, Knekts loose their elasticity. This can be solved by cutting a piece of a thin rubber o-ring and inserting it in the middle of the Knekt's four "blades".
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Post by fettspeck »

Thank you for your handy tips about cleaning and handling the KNEKTS. I´ll try your mechanical cleaning method. I disagree with your opinion that cleaning fluids generally lead to a degraded sound. I often used Deoxit to clean contacts and never noticed a degradation of sound. Others used it too and never reported a bad influence. What is obvious in my opinion is the fact, that cleaning the KNEKTS with Deoxit before soldering leads to a poor performance of the cable. An explanation may be that a thermal reaction between Deoxit and solder avoids best contact conditons between cable and connector. I´ll try uncleaned KNEKTS.
By the way: I got no notification email that there were replies. Is it a technical problem?
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Post by k_numigl »

Can some informed member drop a note whether Linn Knekt Bananas are still available? I can't see them in the price list......
I'm presently in need of a new speaker calbe 1 m longer than it was before, and wonder also what kind of solder one should use today - with the lead containing solders being banned in the EU.
Thanks for any advice! Klaus
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Post by fettspeck »

I have bought some recently from Speakers Corner,Kiel.
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Post by ThomasOK »

I believe they are only on the Linn price list as a package of 100 (50 Red and 50 Black) although I just received a new spares price list late last week and haven't checked it yet so it might have been removed. (I don't have it here at home or I'd check right now.)

I just ordered a new bag of 100 two weeks ago as we were getting low at the store and received them last week so they appear to be available.

I use the Lejonklou solder. I don't believe it is RoHS certified but it does make really good sounding connections.
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Post by k_numigl »

Received a couple yesterday. Comes in bags 50 red 50 black.
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Post by paolo »

I agree with Fredrik on Deoxit. Tried it a number of times in the past on variuos contacts, bananas, RCAs, mains plugs, and it always caused a marked degradation of sound quality.
In this case cleaning away the Deoxit residues with isopropil alcol have a good effect. Anyway I would avoid isopropil alcol or any other liquid for standard cleaning purposes, they all have a clear effect on sound and in my experience invariably not a good one. Mechanical cleaning is much better.

I still have some bottles of Deoxit and Pro Gold if anyone is curiuos to try.

Paolo
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Post by clasch66 »

I have purchased a pair of k400 to connect my 212. What would you recommend ? Cutting into k200 running single wired or connecting biwired?

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Post by donuk »

Hi Claus
If you have a pair of 400s, you can try both ways before doing any cutting. Personally I have experimented with bi-wiring in the past and never preferred it. IMHO, bi-wiring can sound initially exciting, but is tiring and less musical. But each to his own.

On the matter of cutting K400: I find using a sharp blade a bit scary - I prefer using secateurs. Find the sort where on blade cuts against another blunt blade usually about 4mm wide. This slides easily along the groove of the K400, and although it takes a while, you still have the same number of fingers left when you finish.

Good luck.
don dark downtown York. Just off to a jazz concert!
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Post by clasch66 »

Thanks for the idea with the secateur! If deciding for k200 I will try this for sure :-)
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Post by clasch66 »

Cut the k400 in 2 pair of k200 with the advantage of equipping my 2nd hifi as we'll with the cables. :-)

Nice performance! Very musical!

Found out by comparing with the pic at the beginning of this thread that linn knekt are used at the one side (speaker) :-) The other side is soldered with some gold plated plugs I cannot identify.
I would like to change them to some linn knekt at the other side as well, could anybody do me the favour and send me 8 of those (not for free of course)?

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Post by k_numigl »

F's findings about the optimum length of K200/400 makes me think of exchanging my only 1.8 m long cables. Can I re-use the Knekt bananas or do I need to use new ones?
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Post by anthony »

k_numigl wrote:F's findings about the optimum length of K200/400 makes me think of exchanging my only 1.8 m long cables. Can I re-use the Knekt bananas or do I need to use new ones?
I have never had the same success in re using the plugs as using new.
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Post by pdcman »

What's the general word on using gold plated crimp connections?
Better, worse or the same as Linns Knekt soldered plugs?
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Post by lejonklou »

pdcman wrote:What's the general word on using gold plated crimp connections?
Better, worse or the same as Linns Knekt soldered plugs?
Worse!

I have tried many different brands and models.
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Post by Sound Hound »

lejonklou wrote:My advice if you consider changing plugs is to either

1) Fit Knekt bananas, properly soldered, OR

2) Fit Deltron's cheapest tin-plated plugs called type 550, properly soldered. These are so far the second best I have found and in my opinion better sounding than the Komponent plugs (or any of the Deltron spring-loaded gold or nickel plated brass plugs). They also cost next to nothing, I sell them for 10 SEK each - that's less than 1£.
Hi Frederik. I'm guessing you have tried "Z-plugs" (hollow BFA type) and would like to know what you think of them? They appear to be pretty flimsy, but I've seen them used in an instructional video entitled "Terminating K400 (and K600) Speaker Cable" by an avid contributor here (Sunbeamgls/audiophilemusings) and so thought they might be worth considering?
Last edited by Sound Hound on 2018-02-12 21:12, edited 1 time in total.
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