At the bare wire ends, tin the exposed surfaces with solder to prevent oxidation. The soft solder also gives the post something to grab onto without chewing up the conductor too much. Spades are the connector of choice because it's said they offer the most contact area to the binding posts. Bananas are more convenient if you like to move things around alot. When mating a spade to overly thick wire you may need to open the spade's collar up by mechanical means to get all the strands of wire into it easily. Then crimp the collar and solder as usual.
If you haven't soldered before, practice on some scrap wire until you get the feel for it. Just remember to press the heat onto the parts, maintain the heat, then feed the solder into the junction of the hot parts. If you're doing it properly the solder will never touch the iron. It will flow into the desired joint all by itself. Wire loves to soak up solder!
Some more tips: I prefer to work atop a flat piece of corrugated cardboard box because it isolates the heat from the tabletop and keeps it from draining off. It often helps to prime the hot iron by melting some solder onto it and then wiping it off with a dry cloth. You can drain excess heat from parts by clamping something massive, like pliers, to the point where you want the heat to stop. And if you apply too much solder, use cold scrap wire to wick up the slop.
If you haven't soldered before, practice on some scrap wire until you get the feel for it. Just remember to press the heat onto the parts, maintain the heat, then feed the solder into the junction of the hot parts. If you're doing it properly the solder will never touch the iron. It will flow into the desired joint all by itself. Wire loves to soak up solder!
Some more tips: I prefer to work atop a flat piece of corrugated cardboard box because it isolates the heat from the tabletop and keeps it from draining off. It often helps to prime the hot iron by melting some solder onto it and then wiping it off with a dry cloth. You can drain excess heat from parts by clamping something massive, like pliers, to the point where you want the heat to stop. And if you apply too much solder, use cold scrap wire to wick up the slop.