Connectors:Banana's OR Spade's


Before I order my new speaker cables!Please help
If you have the option to use either banana or spade connectors between speaker and equiptment,which are better?
Which ones give you better contact?
?????What are the pros and cons?????
What do most high end audiophiles use?
dgordonl
Spade ends definately!! Much better contact on the Binding posts... more surface area... was never a fan of the plug in... plus bananas get loose over time.
Good luck,
Joe
Custom Audio LLC
I always went with spades, but I'm sick of them. It is a total bitch to do comparisons. I have two separate biwire cable runs to the amp, so stacking space lugs at 180 degree angles without scratching things on the back of the amps is not my idea of a good time.

A friend has a highly resolving system and uses bananas, and that's the route I'm going to take.
I tried a set of speaker cables with locking banana terminals and found they would work loose. Even though they are a pain to tighten sometimes, I would recommend the spade style termination.
Can people really hear the difference between spade or banana connections? If so, what are the differences you've experienced? I use banana since they are easier to swap cables, and I do not experience any discernable differences.
Viggen - Loss of extreme highs, loss of bass weight - loss of soundstage depth. This is really bizarre to me but I use spades and even with identical wire I noted those differences and could only say because had to do with the quality of the connection.
Note I was using "jumpers" on my bi-wire speaker terminals and this may have also been a reason.
I you don't hear a difference then try again in six months - after you give all the connections a good cleaning / retightening and see if you hear an improvment.

Interconnects were different. ALl sound or none at all.