Banana plugs, Spades or a little of each?

06-05-08: Unclejeff
"I have a hard time getting my spades to stay on the speakers. Whenever the maids come over I need to chech that they have not come off while cleaning.
Unclejeff "

AAAAUUUUGGGGHHHHH, You let maids near your equipment!!!

I don't even let my audio buddies that close. I have Gold-velvet rope across that end of the room. And just in case they are tempted, I have pictures of blood-dripping hands with severed fingers (and more blood). Can't be too careful.

Bananas for ease of use. I use both WBTs on Crystal Cable and BFAs on DIY cables and both work well. Cardas copper spades on the end of jumpers between sets of speaker posts.

I recently tried these BFA plugs. I believe they have more contact area than spades. I find with spades, even good ones, you need to check periodically for proper tension. They will almost always need a little tightening after a while.

Not to confuse the issue, but I prefer unterminated speaker cable ends. Yes, they can get tarnished and don't look as tidy, but in my experience, terminations tend to dull the sound. I admit that I've never used WBTs or anything terribly pricy to compare them with, just standard gold spades and bananas.

the amount of pressure is what determines a good connection, the size of the area does not determine a good connection

according to an article I read many moons ago...