DIY Speaker Cable Questions

dkg999

I am looking at doing some upgrades to my speaker cabling. For my RTI70's and CSI40 I want to replace the metal connector plate with a good cable with banana plugs on each end, and also replace my current speaker cable with ones that terminate with a banana plug at the amplifier end and a spade connector at the speaker end. I plan to use the Sound King 10ga speaker wire and Dayton banana plugs from partsexpress.com. What I am having trouble finding is a good quality spade connector. I would be looking for something comparable in quality to the Dayton banana connectors. Any ideas?

tryrrthg

Spades from Parts Express

dkg999

THANKS! Somehow I missed those when I was searching their site!

hellotheworld

but those fit up to 12 gauge...

Pauly

Why not do nanners on all ends? Much eaiser...IMO

Pauly

Frank Z

Unless you plan on disconnecting your speakers often, why bother at all? You're simply adding more connections. The fewer the better.

pjdami

Just another option, I like the Analysis Plus spades:

http://www.audioadvisor.com/store/productdetail.asp?sku=ANAGS4&product_name=Gold%20Spades%20-%20Set%20of%20Four

Whatever you get make sure that they fit your binding posts.

dkg999

OK, maybe I am confused! In searching thru the forum, it seemed that replacing the metal plate connector between the binding posts on the RTI70's and CSI40 was a pretty highly rated DIY upgrade. I noticed some nice connectors made out of a short piece of good wire and a couple of banana plugs. I also read about how a spade connector improved the signal transfer due to more surface area and less corrosion. So I figured this would be an easy DIY upgrade! I am using some pretty old Monster Cable 12awg that is showing some green corrosion spots that you can see thru the clear wire coating that is now pretty much yellowed with age. I thought I would go with a good 10awg speaker wire and bannana plugs into the back of the amplifier or reciever, and spades to connect to the lower post set of the RTI70 and CSI40.

So maybe this is all a waste of time???????? Just order the new 10awg cable and some nanner plugs and be done with it???? I have new 14awg running to my CSI30 rear center and FXI30 rear surrounds. Help!

Frank Z

Alot of people here do replace the metal strap with a short length of wire. Whether or not it makes a difference is subjective.

As far as your speaker wire is concerned, if it's corroded you should replace it. 10ga is a bit extreme though. Pick up some 12ga Carol SuperFlex from Home Depot ($.44/ft) and your all set.

There are members here that believe in the benifits of more expensive wire, I'm sure they'll add a comment or two as well. If you opt to try more expensive wire, make sure that you purchase from a store that will give you a 100% refund if you return the wire. If you don't hear a difference it doesn't make sense to waste your money on it.

pjdami

I agree with Frank.

Go with the 12 gauge wire for the jumpers.

gmorris

Replace the metal jumpers with speaker wire at once!!!

This past weekend, tryrrthg & I did some speaker wire comparisons on his rig. We first listened with his Kimber Kable speaker cables. We then listened with the Home Depot 12 AWG outdoor extension cord cables (same ones as the article in Stereophile) that I made.

The difference was obvious & immediate. We both noticed it and were in complete agreement as to what had changed. What happened was this: the Home Depot Outdoor extension cord cable totally KILLED the highs. It was almost as if we disconnected the tweeters. The music sounded dull & lifeless.

We then put the Kimber Kable cables back in, and VOILA! the highs lived again!! I think we were both astonished that such a huge difference existed between the cables. After all, the review in Stereophile said the HD Outdoor extension cord cable sounds great, as good as all the "High End" cables he tested. So what happened in our test? I don't know..... But the cables made a HUGE difference in our test with tryrrthg's equipment.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, Speaker Cables DO make a difference. You'll have to try for yourself to see (hear) if the cables you are trying make any difference.

Willow

Thanks GM i was thinking of getting kimber I am use HD cables right now....what kimbers were you using ??

gmorris

Originally posted by Willow
Thanks GM i was thinking of getting kimber I am use HD cables right now....what kimbers were you using ??

I'm not sure which Kimbers tryrrthg has, maybe he'll chime in again.

Also, we tried the HD 12 AWG outdoor extension cord, NOT the HD 12 AWG speaker cable. (just to clarify, not sure if you understood what I meant)

dkg999

Has anyone tried the AR Master Series speaker cables that accessories4less.com has for $49.99? This gets you a pair of 15ft cables with banana plugs, and it's 10awg wire.

Willow

GM sorry I read that but forgot it was extension cord. Friday is off to a good start

dkg999

I went ahead and took the plunge and ordered project supplies from bluejeanscable.com! I decided to use the Canare quad cable in non-biwired configuration for my Polk SDA's. I went with the Belden 12awg for my HT set-up to use for both the speaker cables and the jumpers for my fronts and front center. I also ordered a set of audio interconnects to run from my HT receiver to the HK and Outlaw amplifiers. Seems to be pretty good stuff at reasonable prices. Their banana and spade connectors looked pretty good and reasonably priced so went with them also. Hopefully this will be a fun and rewarding upgrade project!

tryrrthg

Originally posted by Willow
Thanks GM i was thinking of getting kimber I am use HD cables right now....what kimbers were you using ??

We were using Kimber 4PR, Kimber's lowliest speaker wire. I bought it at Audiogon for $20 (two 10' runs).

Early B.

Has anyone tried the AR Master Series speaker cables that accessories4less.com has for $49.99? This gets you a pair of 15ft cables with banana plugs, and it's 10awg wire.

Yeah, I use these on my fronts (RTi70's) on the HT system. They replaced some Canare Quad DIY speaker cables and they made a tremendous difference. Very thick wire and the banana plugs are of the highest quality. Don't expect to hide the speaker cable, though. I got them for a lot less than accessories4less.com on ebay.

dkg999

Ill keep the AR speaker cables in mind! I just built a set of speaker cables for my SDA's using the Canare quad cable from bluejeancables.com and the Canare banana plugs, and I have to say for the money I am pretty impressed. This replaced some Monster Cable bought in the late 80's that had turned pretty green inside from oxidation.

tryrrthg

Any one that is interested in getting the Canare Quad cable (the 4S11, the cable Blue Jeans has on their site). You can get it for 69 cents a foot from Markertek. Markertek's price is about half of what Blue Jeans is asking for it. Markertek also has banana plugs and spades.

tryrrthg

Ahh just read this thread where hellotheworld posted a better deal on Canare 4S11. The site he recommended is below

http://www.westlake-electronic.com/