Speaker cable termination

Buy the Audioquest(I forget what the model name is) lugs. They are silver, and were used for all speaker cables, from Indigo on up. They are cheap. Solder them yourself(or have your local tech do it) with silver solder.

I agree 100%.

Dekay, I used to worry about this also. But, if your amp and speakers have good quality connectors(which can be tightened down a good bit), you are in effect making a gas tight connection. Now I do not say this is the same force being applied during crimping(cold welding) with a real crimper(not what is used 99% of the time), but I feel the connection I am making is good. I see metal deformation of the wire, and absence of oxidation at the contact with the speaker or amplifier. By the way, I got a real crimper from the Boeing helicopter assembly plant outside of Philadelphia. See if you can get one of this type. To compare the connection it makes to what most people call a crimper is an absolute joke.