Question for users of bare wire ends speaker cable

Put some solder on the iron first and use the solder blob to heat the wire (better heat transfer ... faster results). When the solder begins to flow on the wire add more solder until the wire is completely coated. You'll know when the wire's hot enough because surface tension will draw the solder onto the wire.

To clean I would just wipe with electrical cleaner, or rarely just resolder with some fresh solder. I wouldn't cut the ends off .... but then I'm a cheapskate.

I really haven't compared tinned (soldered) wire versus bananas versus spades for sound quality. I have had difficulty in fitting the tinned wires through the holes in the speaker terminals, though.

Sugarbrie ... to be clear I wasn't vouching for the audio quality of soldered wire ... just letting you know how to solder large pieces of wire (where getting the wire hot enough can be a challenge, especially with a small soldering iron).

With 5 cats and an infant roaming the house mechanical integrety rates high for me, so if the wire's too fat to go through the holes in the speaker terminals then I put spades on (Soldered just like Bob said to do) and do them up really tight.

Good post Sean. I'm always intrigued by the concept that soldering connectors (on interconnects or speaker wires) is going to degrade the sound. After all there are a gazillion solder joints on the PCB of each component, including the power transistors in the amp, and the speaker binding posts. Fusing the metals together is obviously better, but beyond the means of most of us.

PS I also keep some electrical cleaner handy to wipe off flux residue (brown gunk) which is messy and can be damaging over the longer term.