9
Speaker Connections
Five-Way Speaker Terminals
You can connect bare wire up to AWG 12, speaker wire terminated with 1/4" spade lugs, or
banana plugs (provided) to the 5-way speaker terminals. The terminal positions are staggered
to give you more room to make connections using bare wire or spade lugs.
If you use bare wires, remove only enough insulation so the exposed bare wire can fit through
the hole in the terminal’s binding post. Before inserting the wire, twist its strands between
your fingers tightly to prevent strays that might cause a short circuit. You may want to “tin”
the stripped bare wire with solder to prevent it from fraying and oxidizing.
Observing Correct Polarity
When you connect speakers to your amplifier, you will notice that one side of each two-
conductor speaker wire is marked with something to let you know which wire to connect to
the positive and which to connect to the negative speaker terminals at each amplifier channel
and speaker. Speaker wires are usually coded with printing or ridges on the insulation of one
of the two leads. Be sure to be consistent with polarity throughout the installation.
Terminating the Banana Speaker Plugs
Your Z-12 includes 24 gold-plated brass banana plugs for use with all 12 channels. They
accept wire up to AWG 12. To properly terminate the banana plugs, follow these steps:
1. Remove the insulating boot from the banana plug and slide it up onto one of the speaker
wires. Be sure to use the red boot for the positive wire and the black boot for the negative
wire.
2. Strip a half an inch of insulation from the speaker wire and insert it into the barrel of the
banana plug. If you are using a AWG 16 or thinner, you should strip one inch of insulation
from the speaker wire and bend the exposed wire back on itself to make a fatter bundle
before inserting into the barrel of the banana plug.
3. To insure the best connection, allow solder to melt into the barrel by heating it from the
outside.
4. If you don’t solder you can use a crimping tool or a vise grip to crimp the barrel of the plug
onto the wire. Part of the barrel may split, but as long as the wire is held firmly this isn’t
a problem and the rubber-insulating boot will cover it.
5. Test the solder or crimp by firmly trying to pull the wire out of the barrel.
6. Slide the insulating boot over the barrel.
Bridged Mono Operation
Each channel pair of the Zonemaster Z-12 can be configured for bridged mono operation.
IMPORTANT! You must set the Input Assignment Switch to the Local position for both
channels of the channel pair you wish to operate in the bridged mode.
We recommend an 8
Ω
minimum speaker load for each channel pair you operate in the bridged
mode. When bridging, the Impedance Select Switch should also be set to its 4
Ω
position.
