Correct way to attach speaker wires... Wait, what!!!


Okay this is going to sound ridiculous but I've always wondered if I'm connecting the wires in the proper way to the binding posts. I just picked up a Red Dragon S500 power amp and I figured I finally should ask the question. It has the screw down type of posts. Here is a link to the pic on their website. The wires I have are Mapleshade Clearview Golden Helix which terminate in a stiff single 3/4" wire. Any help for a dumb question would be greatly appreciated!
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Thanks Kenny!  I'm glad you replied since if I recall correctly you either have or had the same amp. I was pretty sure that was the case but I thought this would be a good time since I now have new equipment. 
Bare copper is bad due to oxidation. The best long term solution is a crimped on banana or spade.

Spades and screw materials should be SOFT! Cheap spades using pot metal or hard brass core are the worst. You want the spade to give and be pliable enough to give you the best contact area.

A symptom of having too hard materials is you can't finger tighten them well without a risk of them coming undone.

I think WBT has spades with spring loaded construction exactly to solve this issue.

Best,

E
Better to solder the connection to the spade or bananas you get a much higher contact area and it will stay secure longer then a simple crimp. Also more corrosion resistant. tin'd bare wire is also good or even bare wire. In the industrial military electronics world you would never use a simple crimped on connector unless you wanted it to fail or lose conductivity. Just my 2 cents 
Heat from solder can be bad for high-end wire that's why many higher-end manufacturers Just a use a quality crimp on connector I use Analysis Plus cables and they are by no means the cheapest they use a very soft brass pressed on terminations