5 way binding post connection advice

Bare wire is best - the solder/tin advice is not advice I would take for a number of reasons. A crimped connection is better than a soldered one.

Also I do not believe the old wisdom regarding spades - they do not offer the most surface area contact with the post as commonly argued. The only part of the post that is conductive (this is true of most, but not all posts) is the actual post itself, not the thumb-screw part, or any other area. So you are really only coming in contact with the post on a very small area, the thin section of the spade _not_ the wide and flat section as most people believe, because the parts of the post that is touching are not conductive. Bananas, on the other hand, physically go into the post and the entire banana is typically making contact with the conductive part of the post as a result.

Therefore I have found that banans, and particularly Z-Plugs (a-la Nordost) are the best connectors, not spades. Some may disagree - that's life I guess.

If you're not going to redo the connection often, just run the bare wire through the hole and tighten it down hard. As long as it's really tight, it won't oxidize at the actual contact point. Don't tin it; that will just make it oxidize faster. Crimped spades are the best if you want to spend some money.

I wouldnt recommend tinning the ends of the speaker wire..
This would color the sound possibly or change the conductivity of the cable...
Try using a good anti oxidant... Caig Pro Gold to
dip the end of the bare copper wire into and then insert it
into the hole in the binding post and tighten down the
post... This will prevent conductivity loss and promote better contact with the binding post. The benefit of non oxodized copper is longer lasting cleaner signal.
Good luck,
Joe
Custom Audio LLC

I recall with my ProAcs, they recommended the use of untinned bare wire. I believe the owner's manuals indicated that once tighted down hard, the post cuts into the copper, creating a oxygen-free seal. If you are really worried about it, you could always trim the wire back a little and redo the connection every year or so...

Just a thought.

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.