Why terminate speaker wire?

• Convenience connecting
• Lack of oxidation
• Reduced chance of shorts (no rogue strands)
• Looks
• Most surface area to surface area connection

so it's an oxidation issue?

One of the reason for silver plating the copper wire is to stop the copper from oxidation. Second reason is for ease of soldering. I use the wire below 12 AWG M22759/11-12 PTFE wire (bare ends /12'' long.) It makes excellent speakers cables. IMO: Speaker wire termination adds more resistance to the cable. My rationale, is shorter speaker wire with less connections is a good thing.

Mike

Makes a better connection.Spades are the best.

So now silver doesn't oxidize? And why would adding an extra connection point be better than just a solid wire? It's not connectors don't improve sound they are just convenient. On loudspeakers, I also try to not use binding posts those negatively affect sound to a larger degree than a wire termination. Keep in mind much of what you think is proper about audio is more about convenience and ease of production and profits it is not about sound quality. 

If an engineer cannot design a better connection than wrapping a wire around a post, he must be an electrical engineer.  fire him and get a mechanical engineer to work that job. 

You have a point that adding connections can introduce degradation if not done right.  do it right.

Also, adding a huge chunk of mass into your circuit can be an issue.  Look at low mass connectors.  

Jerry