Is there any type of speaker wire connector to plug into the back of amps that just accept bare wire
- Thread starter hugz
- Start date
TudorTurtle
Well-Known Member
You can "tin" the ends of the wire, covering them with solder.
Chip Chester
Super Member
Well, if you want a little project...
Grab some old-school microphone cable that has braided, tinned copper shielding. Disassemble about a foot of it to get the braid (or order a whole spool online if you want.) Strip your speaker wire about 3/4", and tin. Expand the braid and slip over tinned speaker wire. Solder them together. Heat shrink connection with color-coded tube of "x" length. (We'll come back to that in a second.)
Now, get some 3M VHB tape, the red stuff, at an auto parts store. Make a bracket to stick on to the back of the receiver/amp that spans the width of the push-on connections, and provides support for you to tie wrap the speaker cables so they hang straight down, about 3/4" or so away from the connectors in the horizontal and vertical direction. Now, tie-wrap the speaker cables to the stuck-on bracket, and determine what length will allow you to form a gentle 90 degree bend in the braid from vertical to horizontal. Pull the braid tight, (so it gets skinny), tin just a small bit where the cut will be, and trim braid to length. Your heat shrink length should be just long enough to cover all but about 1/4" of the added braid. The goal is to have the tinning hold the end of the braid together so it doesn't fray (like about 1/8"), and small enough in diameter to get all the way into the connector, but keep that bit short enough that the pinch connector can grab un-tinned braid for a good hold and electrical connection. (Clamping on a tinned wire would give just a few points of contact, instead of max contact.)
Repeat for all 4 (or 8) wire connections, and keep the heat shrink lengths and loops of braid the same length to, umm... enhance tonal clarity and darkness, and expand the visceral soundstage. Yeah, that's the ticket.
Way too much work for me, but it'll look nice enough. I'm sure you can buy oxygen-free, cage-free organically grain-fed versions on the interwebs, too.
If it's not an uber-collectible, I'd retrofit 5-way binding posts in a non-destructive, reversible way. Bag and label the old connectors and store them safely inside the unit with tie-wraps, for the next guy.
Another approach would be to put the speaker wiring on the side you don't look at very often.
Chip
Grab some old-school microphone cable that has braided, tinned copper shielding. Disassemble about a foot of it to get the braid (or order a whole spool online if you want.) Strip your speaker wire about 3/4", and tin. Expand the braid and slip over tinned speaker wire. Solder them together. Heat shrink connection with color-coded tube of "x" length. (We'll come back to that in a second.)
Now, get some 3M VHB tape, the red stuff, at an auto parts store. Make a bracket to stick on to the back of the receiver/amp that spans the width of the push-on connections, and provides support for you to tie wrap the speaker cables so they hang straight down, about 3/4" or so away from the connectors in the horizontal and vertical direction. Now, tie-wrap the speaker cables to the stuck-on bracket, and determine what length will allow you to form a gentle 90 degree bend in the braid from vertical to horizontal. Pull the braid tight, (so it gets skinny), tin just a small bit where the cut will be, and trim braid to length. Your heat shrink length should be just long enough to cover all but about 1/4" of the added braid. The goal is to have the tinning hold the end of the braid together so it doesn't fray (like about 1/8"), and small enough in diameter to get all the way into the connector, but keep that bit short enough that the pinch connector can grab un-tinned braid for a good hold and electrical connection. (Clamping on a tinned wire would give just a few points of contact, instead of max contact.)
Repeat for all 4 (or 8) wire connections, and keep the heat shrink lengths and loops of braid the same length to, umm... enhance tonal clarity and darkness, and expand the visceral soundstage. Yeah, that's the ticket.
Way too much work for me, but it'll look nice enough. I'm sure you can buy oxygen-free, cage-free organically grain-fed versions on the interwebs, too.
If it's not an uber-collectible, I'd retrofit 5-way binding posts in a non-destructive, reversible way. Bag and label the old connectors and store them safely inside the unit with tie-wraps, for the next guy.
Another approach would be to put the speaker wiring on the side you don't look at very often.
Chip
whoaru99
Epic Member
I tin too, but usually just the tip to keep individual strands in check.
You could use something like these.
http://www.parts-express.com/lil-pi...wire-adapter-set-red-and-black-pair--091-1262
Or they make a terminal with a flexible gold banana plug that works well too.
http://www.parts-express.com/lil-pi...wire-adapter-set-red-and-black-pair--091-1262
Or they make a terminal with a flexible gold banana plug that works well too.
rave0035
Disassemble first, ask questions later.
I strongly dislike these spring connectors. I try to tin the wires going into these as well, but am often too lazy and just complain instead.
I understand 'ease of use' I guess, but it's so odd that this is the standard on many manufacturers' gear. For such a critical connection, these things are sub-par most of the time.
Mike
I understand 'ease of use' I guess, but it's so odd that this is the standard on many manufacturers' gear. For such a critical connection, these things are sub-par most of the time.
Mike
1tumbleweed
Kozmik Kowboy
A good idea, but they appear to have been discontinued. Ultralink/XLO is/has been a bit flaky, with products coming and going all the time.
Cheers,
Larry B.
