Bananas rule, spades drool. End of discussion.

@akgwhiz  I remember asking for a no solder banana recommendation, and I might have even asked for a spade.  Eventually I went with some affordable silver plated bananas recommended to me by another A'goner and they were perfect for the 12 and 10 gauge cables I needed to make.

I want to put in a vote of agreement with E_S, with one qualification…BFA bananas, not the regular spring loaded kind, whose metal quickly fatigues. Screw-lock or Cardas’ with the little rubber plug to maintain contact are OK too.  The problem with spades is the increased chance of causing shorts due to the lack of any standardization in how they fit.  Old school barrier terminals fitted with correct spades are great, but not what most of us have.

BTW, I'm sure you can get good spades to stay tight... but if you ask me over all the time I've been working with speakers, plugging and unplugging them and troubleshooting them, bananas have been head and shoulders more reliable.

Oh, and PS, the contact area of a split banana is quite large.

Let me go a little Youtube snake oil on you all:

With banana plugs the electricity doesn't bend!! The electrons coming off the wire keep going straight, ,but with spades it has to do a 90 degree turn!! Of course this affect sound staging because of all the phase noise. 

🤣