evil speaker wire!

[Pirate]

Hey,

I hate speaker wire. I always have a hard time twisting it and fitting it into the speakers and the amp. I always feel like im not getting it in right. Does anyone know if theres a better way? Like a cap of some kind where i wont lose quality. Or a tool of some sort?


thanks
-PH

[NotaNumber]

Sure, cut the insulation with your wire strippers but pull the cut piece off with your fingers and twist it while you do so. This takes some practice.

Then get a soldering iron, some solder and "tin" the bare wire Some soldering flux will make this a lot easier, just be sure to clean the flux residue off.

Basically just heat the wire up enough so the solder will melt and flow and just apply the barest minimal amount of solder.

[RedBaronF2001]

Don't use solder with tin. Tin is one of the worst electrical conductors. Aluminum would be better (that's not saying much).

Head over to "The Shack" and pick up some gold or copper banana plug ends. They make really thin pins just for receivers (spring loaded terminals) and they work quite well and are inexpensive.

[Pirate]

Great! Thanks for the help!

-PH

[NotaNumber]

Yep, the gold plated plugs are the best, but you still have to twist the ends of the wires to get them into the plugs

*edited after having my morning coffee, get rid of the blather.

[SilentBob]

I had to comment on speaker wire being evil. I have just re-arranged my room so i no longer share a bunk bed with my brother. . . but still share the same room. I was able to change some speaker locations and with that i had to fiddle around with some new wire. My finger tips have scrapes, swore a lot to find the damn whole on the receiver connectors and i'm still not done yet for locations. Speaker wire is evil but the sound is pretty awesoem for the pain i went through.


Oh my speaker wire is a silver colour. I got it from the left over wire of my theaters renovations from about 2 years ago.

[Frank Z]

If you opt to tin the wire, use a Silver Bearing solder. Cuts down on signal los due to oxidation. You should also prep the wire with denaturd alcohol before tinning to insure a clean surface, and after to remove any flux.

[Jellodyne]

Twist the wires together well and use a rosin core solder -- flux can cause you problems, and the rosin core is instead of the flux. Rosin core solder can be gotten at Radio Shack and is specifically for electronics. Makes a nice conductive solder joint.

[Ruined]

I would go with radio shack gold banana plugs and their "airtight" termination tape to make a sealed connection.