I use the binding posts on my 3 amps (Neutrik connectors on the bass bin amp), as well as the EV bass bin (simple screw terminals with star screws - industrial style) and subs (Neutrik connectors). The EV compression driver sits exposed in free air, and so the Mundorf silver/gold solid-core wires are connected directly to its screw terminals from the Belles amp (no passive XO's in between; actively configured). Haven't tried bypassing the amp binding posts, nor the ones on the speaker sections mentioned - don't know if I care to, but I suspect there'd be a sonic advantage avoiding them, like Johns findings dictate.
What I don't use on the speaker cables is any kind of termination like banana plugs or spades, except the sub cables which have Neutrik connectors on the sub side. The Mundorf wires do get a silver sulfide layer after time exposed to air, but I polish that away on a regular basis.
I also don't use a power rail to my power cables, but have the respective bare solid-core copper wire ends bundled in copper screw terminals. Works very well.
@carlsbad wrote:
I am a believer in the low mass theory of connections. [...]
+1. At one point owned a pair of Raidho Ayra C1's (later upgraded to C1.1) which were born natively with rather chunky WBT gold-plated terminals. Then Lars and Michael invited me and some other Raidho owners to their factory/demo facilities in north Jutland for a demo of the yet-to-be-released new C4's, and at the same juncture asked us (if we cared) to bring along our Raidho Ayra series speakers to have their WBT terminals replaced with the own developed low mass, simple looking and pure copper dittos, and it made for an obvious sonic improvement.
Forest for the trees, as they say. Terminals amount to gadgetry in audiophilia; the more they cost and the more impressive they look the more they're very often sought after. In this case certainly: less is more.
