There are three types of wire connectors that you can use with your speaker cables: banana plugs, spade connectors, and pin connectors. Each is easy to install, requiring only a few simple tools. In order to choose the right kind, you first have to take a look at the terminals available on your equipment.

Banana plugs are designed to work with binding posts, inserting straight into the holes on the ends (note: not all binding posts have this). There are also dual banana plugs, which are used for bi-wiring/-amping speaker cables.

Spade connectors (typically u-shaped) also work with binding posts, maintaining contact with the base of the terminal (as would bare speaker cables) once the binding post screw has been tightened down.

Pin connectors work with spring-loaded terminals (also known as spring clips), but can also work with binding posts that have a hole in the side of the inside connector (you have to unscrew the top back far enough to see it).

It’s quite possible that you can have different types of connections on the backs of stereo equipment. Sometimes you might have more than one type on each (e.g. receivers and amplifiers). So, for example, if your speaker cables has spring clips, then you’ll want a pair of pin connectors. And if your receiver/amplifier has binding posts, then you would pick either a pair of banana plugs or spade connectors.

This article comes from lifewire edit released