No new ideas. I use bare wire connections because they sound better on my Kimber Kables. It's the easiest solution in your case depending on your speaker cables. I asked a knowledgeable gentleman at my local shop (where I purchased the Kimber) why people use connecters short of pure silver or gold, which may sound better. His answer was "because they look better and they are more convenient". Only the dust bunnies have a regualar view of the back of my amp and I do not detach my speaker cables very often. He advised that I go with bare wire connections and so did Kimber the manufacturer. The only drawback is that the ends need to be kept clean to prevent oxidation. The web sight that I picked up here at Audiogon in a tread is www.caig.com for a good contact cleaner.
Old McIntosh speaker posts
Does anyone have any solutions for adapting the tiny sspeaker posts barrier strips on older (up to the early 90's) Mac amps? The posts are in barrier strips, and the largest thing you can fit in there is 11/16". This is too small for most good quality spade terminators on speaker wires, even if you clip off one ear. Any ideas short of putting in new posts or using bare wire?