I make no claims to being an electrical engineer, and thus can't state with certainty that one method (crimping) is better than the other (soldering) with regard to preserving the integrity of the audio signal. I have found, however, through my own empirical experience, that doing both ensures that you have an excellent and fail-safe connection.
There is no doubt that having a sound mechanical connection (crimping) is a good starting point. This assumes that the connector itself is of high quality, that the interconnect or speaker wire is clean, and that the crimp is tight. The metal-to-metal connection can be problematical, since metals of two different types can pose electrical interaction problems at their interface.
Because the best crimp can only ensure tight metal-to-metal connection at the actual points of contact, thereby leaving gaps between the wire strands and the connector itself, I think that adding a good solder connection makes a lot of sense. I therefore solder the connections, in addition to having a really tight crimp.
The soldering itself must of good quality (i.e., avoid cold solder joints). I like to use a solder with silver content -- there are several good brands with 4% (or more) silver. The solder must be heated enough to flow smoothly and fill in all the gaps, but you don't want to overload the joint with excess solder (too much solder will only add unnecessary resistance to the flow of electricity). Further, you should use a soldering pencil with relatively low voltage, since using excessive heat will melt the insulation around the wiring, and contribute to oxidation on the wire.
In short, your question is akin to wearing both belt and suspenders. Based on my own experience, a good crimp combined with expert soldering ensures an excellent connection. And, like the belt and suspenders equation, none of my connections have fallen down on the job.
There have been a few threads before on this topic, so you might want to look in the archives. I found one thread from last January that might be a useful starting point for you:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?fcabl&1011120005&read&keyw&zzsoldering=connectors
There is no doubt that having a sound mechanical connection (crimping) is a good starting point. This assumes that the connector itself is of high quality, that the interconnect or speaker wire is clean, and that the crimp is tight. The metal-to-metal connection can be problematical, since metals of two different types can pose electrical interaction problems at their interface.
Because the best crimp can only ensure tight metal-to-metal connection at the actual points of contact, thereby leaving gaps between the wire strands and the connector itself, I think that adding a good solder connection makes a lot of sense. I therefore solder the connections, in addition to having a really tight crimp.
The soldering itself must of good quality (i.e., avoid cold solder joints). I like to use a solder with silver content -- there are several good brands with 4% (or more) silver. The solder must be heated enough to flow smoothly and fill in all the gaps, but you don't want to overload the joint with excess solder (too much solder will only add unnecessary resistance to the flow of electricity). Further, you should use a soldering pencil with relatively low voltage, since using excessive heat will melt the insulation around the wiring, and contribute to oxidation on the wire.
In short, your question is akin to wearing both belt and suspenders. Based on my own experience, a good crimp combined with expert soldering ensures an excellent connection. And, like the belt and suspenders equation, none of my connections have fallen down on the job.
There have been a few threads before on this topic, so you might want to look in the archives. I found one thread from last January that might be a useful starting point for you:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?fcabl&1011120005&read&keyw&zzsoldering=connectors