7
SPEAKER WIRE PREPARATION
Before attempting to make any connections it is best to look at the situation, get all the
necessary materials together, and then make all the connections at once.
First, look at the back of your amplifier or receiver to determine what options it offers for
making connections. Amplifiers and receivers typically employ either 5-way binding posts,
spring-loaded terminals, or push terminals for the speaker connections.
A 5-way binding post can accept bare speaker wire, spade plugs, pin plugs, and banana
plugs, while spring loaded terminals and push terminals can accept either bare speaker
wire or pin plugs. Refer to the documentation that came with your amplifier or receiver to
determine the maximum size/gauge speaker wire the speaker terminals can accept. These
speakers feature push terminals, which can accept pin plugs or bare wire up to 14AWG.
If your amplifier can accept it, you should use 14AWG speaker wire. Using pin plugs is
highly recommended for several reasons. Plugs are easier to connect, don't run the risk of
stray wire strands shorting the connections, allow for use of heavier gauge speaker wire in
most cases, and it is much easier to identify the polarity from a color coded ring on a plug
then from a subtle marking along the length of a wire.
Because the speaker wires will necessarily be run through your walls and/or ceiling, you
must use in-wall rated wire. This is required by fire safety codes and ensures that the wire
jacket will not act as an accelerant in the event of a fire.
Rather than using fixed length speaker wires, it is best to get a roll and cut the wires to the
length you will need them. This ensures that there is a minimum amount of excess wire.
However, even if your amplifier is off-center, the lengths of wire used for each speaker pair
should be identical. This keeps the impedance on each channel the same, which ensures
that the volume levels, frequency ranges, and tonalities are identical. Any excess wire
should be snaked back and forth, not coiled, to avoid creating an inductor/antenna for
stray radio signals.
Before making the actual connections, cut each length of wire to size. Note the markings
on the wire that differentiate between each conductor. Sometimes the marking clearly
identifies a positive and negative side. Some common clearly positive and negative
markings or identifiers are:
