To terminate.. or not

Jea48:
When choosing between spades or bananas, is one connection type thought to be better than the other?

In my opinion BFA style bananas are the best compromise. They always fit tightly, but without the need to "lock" them. Because they maintain constant outward pressure onto the inside of the speaker binding post, they are "self-tightening. This is a huge benefit over bare wire or spades which can loosen over time.

BTW, you can buy BFA style bananas very inexpensively at Multi-Contact USA. I think they are $1.11 each. Here's a link to an excellent review of a DIY speaker cable that uses the Multi-Contact USA BFA style bananas:

http://6moons.com/audioreviews/whitelightning/moonshine.html

Enjoy,

TIC

Not every amplifier accepts bananas. Consider spades at least on amp side. From the purist's point of view spade provides the best sound but it's probably way above level of your gear and cables.

I think,-silver - Bananas are the best way to go. The contact area is in the plug.

Solid wire unterminated. No stray strands to worry about. Just as bad as the stray strands are the loose banana plugs... killed a channel that way. Spades over bananas if you can, but bananas for simplicity. Bare wire is first choice though.