Using non-terminated speaker wire?


From all that I have read here on A'gon, my speaker cables should be several feet shorter; but that's not my question.  If I was to shorten my speaker cables and then simply wrap the bare wire around the posts of my speakers, wouldn't that make a better connection than either bananas or spades?  I did read the "bent banana thread" going on here on this forum, and i did a search on the AQ banana terminals, and I could definitely go that way, but just wondering about the wisdom(?) of using bare wire versus terminals.

immatthewj

OP: you are absolutely right. Bare wire makes best connection by removing an unnecessary piece, aka connector. If you are not constantly changing speakers/amps, bare wire is the way to go. That's what I do. Just be sure to get all the litz threads in the binding posts to avoid shorts. 

Thanks, guys; if I remember correctly (I bought these cables nearly 30 years ago) the ones I want to shorten are Kimber 8TC with what looks like 4 individual and insulated blue wires/and 4 black wires on each negative run and the same on each positive run.

Bare wire is fine, but I would tin the ends with silver solder to eliminate stray 'whiskers' that can short amplifier outputs. Not good. 

The biggest issue for me is that most speaker connectors come undone very easily. The lightest movement of the speaker cable, whether you use bare wire or a spade and the nut comes loose.

For this reason and others I always prefer bananas and I like Viborg for the combination of cost and the way the banana pin and spring are shaped a great deal.  Needs a hot air gun to finish installation.

In fact I like bananas over spades by far. Basically I’ve come to not trust 99% of the speaker nuts (the part not the person). The threads are not fine enough to grip well and reliably over time. I’ve literally never had a banana come undone like I have had so many bare wires and spades.