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Good sources for speaker wire terminals?

whoaru99

whoaru99

Epic Member
Any of you guys or gals have a source(s) for decent, inexpensive spade terminals to use for speaker cables?

The type I need are crimp/solder on and preferably would have dual capability for 1/4" and 5/16" binding posts, 12-10ga and 8-6ga sizes. Certainly someone has something half-decent for less than $10 each.

Appearance and brand name aren't real big factors, but they need to be decent and of the preferred size(s) and fairly inexpensive...probably not more than a couple bucks each, give or take.

Thanks!
 
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I've seen some interesting doohickeys on eBay that attach to screw terminals and allow either bare wire or banana plug connections. I'm thinking about getting some for my Sansui 3000A and EV Sentry 100As.
 
You really don't need to get something designed and more precisely marketed for audio purposes. You can go with generic spades from any electrical supply / hardware store or get them from McMaster-Carr:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#spade-terminals/=54dxvc

The purpose of the connector is to give you a good / solid connection with no losses. In reality no connector (bare wires) should sound as good or better then the finest esoteric connector.

If you want to save dough just go with something basic and crimp / solder it on and cover with heatshrink.
JimB
 
w1jim said:
You really don't need to get something designed and more precisely marketed for audio purposes. You can go with generic spades from any electrical supply / hardware store or get them from McMaster-Carr:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#spade-terminals/=54dxvc

The purpose of the connector is to give you a good / solid connection with no losses. In reality no connector (bare wires) should sound as good or better then the finest esoteric connector.

If you want to save dough just go with something basic and crimp / solder it on and cover with heatshrink.
JimB
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm just looking for something relatively basic. Problem with the hardware/electrical store stuff is that they usually don't have large enough opening in the spade end. #6, #8, or #10 is common, 1/4" or 5/16" isn't. They make large enough rings and I have used those with the end cut out, but looking for something just a scoche nicer than that.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions so far. Looks like some of the Vampire brand shown on the Soniccraft website might fit the bill. Right size and price is not too outrageous.

Anyone else?
 
Excellent. I also found some on HD Labs website, but they look about the same as those on Vampire's website.

BTW, how big of a soldering iron (or gun) do you suppose I'd need to lightly solder (after crimping) the bigger terminals on about 8ga to 6ga wire? Think the Weller 100/140W gun will be big enough to do it without having to heat the joint too long?
 
I'm sure the weller will do the job nicely but if you get a good solid crimp the pressure (which is enormous) will "meld" the wire and connector housing into a solid mass. The problem with soldering is that the solder wicks it's way up the wire and then the wire losses it's ability to bend and therefore can crack. This is a more critical factor in situations where vibration is a concern such as in planes, trains & automobiles.
JimB
 
Exactly my concerns with terminals and wire that large...how to get a good crimp and enough heat fast enough into the joint to solder but not wick far up the cables.

I'll have to look around at work when I get back from holidays to see if we have any type of industrial-strength crimper. I know we used to have one for large battery-type cables but that's probably too big.

My plan is to make some short (~6ft) but stout biwire cables, just for the halibut, using some 8ga wire for the lows and some ~12ga (or maybe it's ~10ga) Litz-type wire for the mid/high cable.
 
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whoaru99 said:
Exactly my concerns with terminals and wire that large...how to get a good crimp and enough heat fast enough into the joint to solder but not wick far up the cables.
Click to expand...

A few years ago I ran into this issue with some #0 welding cable that I was using to make battery cables for my Corvette. Soldering at the end was desirable to provide a solid, corrosion-free connection. I ended up using a propane torch to provide fast heating without setting the insulation completely on fire.
 
whoaru99 said:
Excellent. I also found some on HD Labs website, but they look about the same as those on Vampire's website.

BTW, how big of a soldering iron (or gun) do you suppose I'd need to lightly solder (after crimping) the bigger terminals on about 8ga to 6ga wire? Think the Weller 100/140W gun will be big enough to do it without having to heat the joint too long?
Click to expand...
What I do for the larger teminals and wire is to crimp, then flux the end of the wire, put the gun tip on the end of the wire and fill the end with solder. I figure the only reason to do this is to prevent corrosion of the wire and I usually am only doing this in auto installations.
 
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