Bare speaker wire or?

_charizard

_charizard

Member
When i was restoring my apm, i bought new speaker cables from the same shop about 2 years ago. At the shop he recommended that i should put soldier over the bare wire to prevent it from oxidation and that it wont decrease the signal. Now that i bought nakamichi gold plated plugs i was wondering, should i cut the soldiered ends and strip them for bare copper or leave them be?
 
Register to hide this ad
First off, theoretically the more junctions you have the more signal lose there would be.
But in reality I doubt you’d notice.
The advantage of tinning (with solder) your wires is to keep them from fraying and to avoid corrosion.
I’d say it makes sense to tin them and then periodically (like yearly) loosening and retightening the connections to get around the corrosion.
 
w1jim said:
First off, theoretically the more junctions you have the more signal lose there would be.
But in reality I doubt you’d notice.
The advantage of tinning (with solder) your wires is to keep them from fraying and to avoid corrosion.
I’d say it makes sense to tin them and then periodically (like yearly) loosening and retightening the connections to get around the corrosion.
Click to expand...
I didn't get the chance to listen to them without the soldier on the ends but nonetheless it sound pretty good and they have done a nice job of soldering the ends, still in same shape and solid. So i can just screw the terminal over the soldier? This is how they look like:
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20210805_012958_edit_49874292105929.jpg
    IMG_20210805_012958_edit_49874292105929.jpg
    74.3 KB · Views: 92
IMCO, if you are going to use terminals of any kind in a permanent installation, solder them. I strongly dislike crimp or set screw connections.
 
If I use bare wire, I strip them a bit longer than I would normally. Then, I tin just the tip of the bare wire. This keeps stray strands from being an issue, and the compressible copper of the bare wire surely makes a better connection than the fairly solid solder.
 
David_NC said:
If I use bare wire, I strip them a bit longer than I would normally. Then, I tin just the tip of the bare wire. This keeps stray strands from being an issue, and the compressible copper of the bare wire surely makes a better connection than the fairly solid solder.
Click to expand...
Update: They didn't have nakamichi terminals in stock, so i bought the CMC ones (Model 0638-WF), said that they should be pretty similar. Sound quality has actually improved slightly. Only issue that i got is that they don't go all the way in. Don't know if they're supposed to, since they work fine like this and are pretty firmly in:
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20210805_211023.jpg
    IMG_20210805_211023.jpg
    65.9 KB · Views: 47
solder is marginally less conductive than pure copper, but in a compression fitting the bigger problem is that the wire won't squish and the overall surface contact is less. The thickness of the solder layer is so small that the resistance is tiny to the point of not mattering.
 
I've always used ' bare speaker wires ' since 1956, no tinning, never had a problem. :) I guess I'm from the old timer 'bare wire camp' of thinking. You know, why have anything in the 'path' from speaker wire to speakers.

Just twist them tight, insert them securely, & make sure they don't short out - which could ruin your whole day.

Just read a thread that said 'take them out once a year for an examination, cleaning, trimming, etc'. I never have before but it's a really good idea! Why not. :thumbsup:
 
Last edited:
I've found bootlace crimps to be a tidy and long-lasting solution, and I doubt they degrade the connection in any significant way. Seeing as it is the standard in electrical installations, I am sure it is a reliable connection, at least for screw terminals. They can be moved side-to-side in some spring terminals, but seem to make a good electrical connection nonetheless and cannot be pulled out easily.

That said, bare twisted copper wire has served me well for a long time in screw terminals or spring terminals. If the end ever starts to get too shabby, it's easy enough to cut it off and strip another length. I've also used tinned/soldered ends before, the main trouble is that the wire has a tendency to fray and break near the end of the tinned section, as the tinned portion has no flexibility, and after a few times in and out of screw or spring terminals these can still get quite out of shape anyway. As a result, I don't tend to use this method any more.

If I'm permanently attaching wire to a connector, though, even if it has a screw terminal, I prefer to solder it. More reliable and neater, in my experience. I recommend supporting the wire with some heatshrink to prevent it breaking near the connector.
 
in crimp type connections, bare wire is the way to go. the pressure applied by the spring compresses the soft wire and makes for a more stable connection.

google "malleability"

this would also apply to wires being inserted in connectors that are screwed tight.
 
I always thought the concern of soldered wires in a compression type of joint is cold flow. Over time, the solder displaces under the pressure and the joint becomes loose.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom