speaker wire termination

I've done some testing and conclude whatever you choose effects the sound. Of those available aftermarket, assuming you are not buying completed factory terminated speaker wire, Cardas is among the best known and George makes a very fine product.

I've also had good luck with Vampire Wire connectors, especially their copper binding posts but I don't know if they still offer wire terminals for DIY. Cardas "parts" page on the WWW shows their current offerings.

Hopefully someone else can toss in additional brands based on their experience.

Basically you want a good, solid "mechanical" connection that exposes as much of the surface of the connector to the binding post. Bananas, spades, and bare wire all offer more than sufficient mechanical connection provided they are done correctly.

If you use bare wire, avoid tinning the wire with solder as that introduces an additional metal into the connection and it generally is not as good a conductor as the wore itself.

As for the sound difference between the various connectors (spades, bananas, etc.) I think most of that is in the head of the listener. Electrically they are equivalent...

-RW-

The "best" connector is no connector. If you have to use one, I agree with Albert. Cardas makes some excellent choices.