Spades with NAD c320bee? HELP


Hi All--

I just recieved a NAD c320bee in the mail, that I purchased via private sale. Having previously used a NAD 314 integrated, I thought that I could use my Cardas speaker cables with large spades with it, but alas, there is a problem!

The NAD c320bee has some sort of "guard" piece that blocks the end of the speaker terminal. There is a small horizontal slot in the "guard" but it is not nearly wide enough to fit the Cardas spades inside. Is there any way to safely remove this bothersome piece of metal? Why is it even there?

I've managed to jam (delicately, mind you) one of the ends of the spade into the slot, forming a connection as one would with bare wire, and I get sound from my speakers, but I'm wondering if this is a good long-term idea, or if the sound quality is at all being affected...

Can anyone help who was experience with this amp, or with large spade connectors in general? Do I have to go out and buy banana plugs and get rid of the spades? Would changing out the spades affect the quality of the Cardas cable?

I got the cables for free, but I was told that they are quite expensive... I'd like not to damage them.
satlos
As Swampwalker suggests, there are spade to banana adapters that will solve the problem. I use them in a situation just like yours with Cardas cables and a backup amp not designed for spades. Here's one source for them.
I think that this has been addressed before; try searching the forums. IIRC, this has to do with EU safety issues and the only solutions are either to have the cables reterminated (preferably by Cardas) with bananas, or use a spade to banana adapter. If you decide to go the second route, email me off line; I may have a surplus pair.