Bananas rule, spades drool. End of discussion.

It is true that some can’t avoid spades. My suggestions in those cases are:

• Consider WBT with the spring loaded spades
• Avoid rhodium at all costs (it’s too hard and poor conductor)
• Stick to soft spades, pure copper cores with gold plating for instance
• Avoid brass, again, too hard.
• If your binding post is not captive (most are) use a lock nut

The softer the spade, the more it will squeeze under compression and provide for a tighter fit. The harder the material on the spade and binding post the less likely you are to have a long term reliable connection.

Just the opposite for me. I prefer spades.

I have been told many times by folks more knowledgeable than I that the best sound is from finger tight connection and using more will degrade the sound. I have never gotten curious enough to test this. I tighten just enough to stay on… which means over time they loosen. Hence occasionally one falls off when I straighten the cables.

I have been told many times by folks more knowledgeable than I that the best sound is from finger tight connection and using more will degrade the sound.

I cannot comprehend why that would be, but there is a long long list of stuff in that category.  And maybe that would explain why B&W did not use hex heads for their binding posts. 

@immatthewj

Yes, me neither, but from my in depth studies on a dozen other things that shouldn’t matter, but do… little stuff that other folks with more experience than I recommend that don’t cost much, I’ll just do. Not worth the hours of fiddling to figure it out.

Yes, most speaker manufacturers put finger friendly devices that a wrench will not fit. I have Sonus Faber… oblong tighteners that the tightest would be to use your thumb to help turn.