[MikeJason]

I want to get some Banana Plugs for my speakers. Should I have plugs that connect from the speaker wire into the speaker as well as plugs that plug from the speaker wire into the receiver?

Are they both recommended, or is only one of these connections really needed?

[Chu Gai]

That's your call. Personally, I find bare wires just plain sloppy and an accident (stray short) waiting to happen. You can also consider spades on the speaker end (need to check the diameter and buy the right ones) and bananas on the receiver. This way you've always got a nice secure connection at the speaker yet your free to readily remove the bananas to monkey around the back of the receiver.

[Scott Merryfield]

I use banana plugs at both the receiver and speaker ends. The binding posts on the receiver side are too tightly spaced for me to thread bare wire through easily, and I prefer the clean look and easy connect/disconnect on the speaker side.