Peter, if you're considering banana plugs, may I suggest
GLS Audio Safe-Connect Banana Plugs.
They are more expensive than similar
Banana plugs from Monoprice.com.
But, the GLS plugs have a couple of advantages over the Monoprice plugs. One, they have rubber grips which reduces the possibility of short circuits, and two, they are a tiny bit shorter which should be less strain on your receiver's and speakers' binding posts. Only you can decide if those slight advantages are worth the extra money.
If you click on any of the GLS plug packages, and then scroll down the page, you'll see they are easy to connect and require no soldering. Contrary to what is said on the Monoprice web page, their plugs connect similarly and also require no soldering. For some reason the web page says "Solder Type." I suppose you could solder them if you wish.
I recently had the occasion to use the GLS Safe-Connect plugs when hooking up my brother's system, and was quite impressed by them. They grip the wire (12 gauge) very well, look good, and seem well built. My only complaint was that the tiny red and black strips on the grips, which say "GLS Audio" and identify the positive and negative plugs, are not attached to the plugs well and could possibly come off with repeated usage.
