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Speaker wire termination

#1
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7/1/08 at 3:20pm
  • Joined: June 2008
  • Post Count: 7
OK, I've done plenty of reading, now I need some help. What is the best way to terminate your speaker wire, at the component and the speaker?(I think room may be an issue on My NAD T762 recv) Seems like raw wire is the best, but is there a trick to making sure the ends don't oxidize? I have purchased some great 16ga wire from monster, THX rated (whatever that means) with pin attachments at the ends. This seems like defeating the purpose, wouldn't one want the MOST contact between the two surfaces. If you choose banana-type connectors, is one type better than another? Spades seem good if your spaker will accept them. As written, pins seem to offer the least contact. How do you terminate your ends?, why? Any thoughts/help is most appreciated before I hook all this equipment up. Thanks for your time to reply.
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#2
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7/1/08 at 3:57pm
  • Joined: June 2000
  • Location: Colorado
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Re: Speaker wire termination

Monster's pins are beyond worthless, for exactly the reason you state, virtually no contact area. No termination is needed. Oxidation is not the enormous an issue. At the least, cutting 1/2 inch off every year or two will take care of it. I set up my equipment and leave it, and I just use bare wire and a nice flexible bulk 12 ga wire from Home Depot. OK, my main system actually has the big Monster cable I bought about 15 years ago.


They flutter behind you, your possible pasts.
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
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#3
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7/2/08 at 2:10am
  • Joined: June 2002
  • Post Count: 393

Re: Speaker wire termination

Terminations are primarily for convenience. If you move your speakers around a lot and have to unhook/rehook them frequently then some form of termination is a big time saver. If you mostly just leave your speakers where they are then bare wire is pretty much optimal.

Oxidization is heavily dependent on environment. If you live by the sea in a humid/salty environment then you may have to cut back the ends of bare wire now and then, although other forms of terminations may need some care too. If you live in an arid environment you may never have to cut the wires back at all.

Monster cables are generally not worth the premium price. If you can still return them, you might as well do so.
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