I have never seen bare copper wire ends being reccommended as they will oxidize quickly. After years of trial and error I have found that $40.00 cables pretty much sound like $40.00 cables. I have found that cables are a very important component and should not be taken lightly. Why spend thousands of dollars on components and then start scrimping on cables? Good plug for MGD though.
Against everything that high end cables stand for
I just received a pair of Michael Green speaker cables. 10 ft pairs, $2 ft, totaL cost $40. They are unterminated bare wire and appear to be 3 twisted solid core 20 gauge wires. I spoke with an employee of MGD and he stated that they do not recommend terminations of cables as the spades, and required solder only serve to add more colouration. My impressions from 2 hours of initial listening, is that vs other wires Ive tried, it trounced my Yamamura m4000 and PAD cables in every area except bass definition. I will give them further listening this eve, but MGD has these theories that make logical sense (Tuneable Speaker, Room Treatments, Clamping Components, Racks etc) which to the T so far have resulted in sonic superiority and improvement.