Correct way to attach speaker wires... Wait, what!!!


Okay this is going to sound ridiculous but I've always wondered if I'm connecting the wires in the proper way to the binding posts. I just picked up a Red Dragon S500 power amp and I figured I finally should ask the question. It has the screw down type of posts. Here is a link to the pic on their website. The wires I have are Mapleshade Clearview Golden Helix which terminate in a stiff single 3/4" wire. Any help for a dumb question would be greatly appreciated!
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The internet will help you find several classic papers on this topic. Bare wire wins for quality of connection, banana plugs and spades for ease of switching connections. If you use silver wire, the oxidation is said to not degrade the connection per the properties of silver and it's oxidants. 

I have used all manner of connections, and do not have the ability to discern any difference in sound quality. However, I can tell you that if you like doing A/B speaker tests, bare wire connections will be the first to suffer repeated binding post torture. If you aren't swapping cables that frequently, bare wire should please you for it's connection and non-existing "connector" price...

If you want the absolute best connector, please contact me and I will be happy to provide you with the world's most expensive Unobtainium Connectors. I will charge you so much for them, you are bound to get otherwise impossible compliments for your intelligence and excellent choice. Your marriage may suffer, but if you are after Unobtainium to begin with, it's unlikely you have the problems that a marriage can entail. Good luck!
czarivey wrote,   I agree to bare wire, only what to do with that 3/4" thick sausage LOL? I doubt that it's going to be cooperative to the screw-in posts of amp or any posts technically. Need to check if Mapleshade doodz took such thickie from near-by power transformer..

Are you sure you have Mapleshade wire? No wire from them ends in a 3/4 diameter termination. Pierre uses thin solid core with NO terminations, just stripped bare wire. 
vicweast,
I prefer the Bareanakedium Wire Connection (BWC) to all others. Google it.  
I use bare wire when connecting to the speaker binding post. For those who mention oxidation, while true, it occurs ever so slightly and over such a long period of time that it is of no practical concern. Even so, every 18 months or so I'm inclined to clip off the bare wire, strip another half-inch or so of insulation and use the newly exposed bare wire. Sure, this shortens the cable, so you should start the process with a cable which is 2 or 3 feet longer than otherwise needed and the cable can last a lifetime. Also, I believe its a good idea to keep the binding posts *very* tight (by hand only but with the aid of a cloth or glove in order to tighten that much more), and to check the tightness of the binding post every two months or so as invariably it will loosen ever so slightly. Same on the amp side.

I have found, "finally" what I believe I will use until the end.

"De-oxit Gold", the 100% liquid solution. Swabbed on and then wiped off. It then dries completely over time.

And it somehow does, "improve" electrical connections of any type. I have both measured this and heard a difference as well.

And "However slight" the difference was? It is there. 

And even under my microscope, I could actually see it as well.

Which is amazing considering that I have looked at the same test-pieces over the   time that it took to dry. And watched as it first formed into an "AFFF".

(Aqueous Film Forming Foam). So, in a nutshell, it sealed the conductive metals from any type of corrosion that I normally would see. Then to a point, it dried up.

This film which it left, which is "very" thin, bonded at the molecular level with the metals involved and is conductive. It looks to work best with gold plating where it works at a "Higher conductive efficiency". But I saw good results with Cu and Ag also. And it stopped dendrites from forming. And thereby any additional or following electrolytic corrosion. It also put a stop to any galvanic issues after being applied too.

I like it!