Are RS compression bananas usable for 4s11... (1 Viewer)

[Ryan Libby]

I'm about to buy some 4s11 for .69/ft. I found a previous thread that discussed using RS compresion bananas to terminate. I just want to make sure this is a decent option before I pull the trigger.

Also, how do I strip this, I was going to use the old trusty method...brute force and ignorance.

Thank you.

 

[Ryan Libby]

After looking at some input it appears the RS, actually NXG, compression bananas should work fine.

I am still curious how the stripping will work.

 

[Chris Keen]

Ryan,

I just did some 4s11 myself here over the past month or so. I purchased my cable, techflex, compression bananas and spades from Markertek.

I bought about 85 ft worth to make cables for all 5 speakers (L,R,C,LR,RR).

As for stripping, I used a utility knife along with a nice cable cutter stripper I have. You can use any X-acto, disposable utility knife or the like to strip the outer grey jacket. I used a sharpie to mark the outer jacket where I wanted to cut, then used the utility knife to cut through the jacket by pressing just hard enough to break through the jacket. There's a paper liner underneath it. Inside the paper liner, there's 4 independantly jacketed wires and some cloth string bundles. The string bundles are there to take up space in the bundle while all the cords and twisted inside the outer jacket. This may not make much sense in reading this, but one you get your cable, it will. It's really pretty easy.

I didn't make bi-wire sets, I just twisted the two reds and the two whites together to get a larger achieved wire pair. I stripped about 4" of the outer jacket to leave 4" of the inner wires exposed. I twisted the two reds together in a "twist" the entire 4" length. I did the same with the white pair into a "twist." Then I took a section of almost 4" in red heatshrink to the red pair and shrunk them together. I did the same with some black heatshrink on the white pair. The length of the outerjacket I covered in Techflex, with some black heatshrink covering about 1" over the Techflex, and 1" over the other two twists (2" total). I used spades on one end (at the speakers), and bananas on the other (at the amp). The results were great. I am very pleased!!!

 

[Ryan Libby]

Thanks for the response Chris.
Markertek has their awgs screwed up on the site, 4s11 is listed as 14 awg.

I'm going to attempt something similar to what you did because the ends of my cables will be out where people can see them and I'll probably have them for a long time. I'm going to basically copy Catcable's Cattail dressing, the techflex will be white and the split ends will have chrome techflex on them. The heatshrink at the split spot will be light grey. This will match everything else in the room.

I'm going to need 5 analog interconnects for a 5 ch. amp soon and I'd like them dressed in white flex with grey shrink. I'm not going to invest in the tools. So I have to find somebody that I can send the shrink and flex to who would be interested in making them. When I do then I'll buy all the stuff. I'm really anxious to get started since I'm going to build some speakers soon also!!!

 

[Ryan Libby]

Hey Chris,
What size techflex and heatshrink did you use? This would help me out.
Thanks

 

[Brian Bunge]

Ryan,

4S11 is 14awg. It's 4 conductors of 14awg. If you twist two conductors together it's 11awg.

 

[Ryan Libby]

Thanks Brian.
I showed my dad the kit you suggested and he is stoked. We're going to to build a pair together. If they turn out satisfactory then it's on to 5 or 6 AV-1+s in quilted maple. More people need to try this DIY route. I'm on a serious search for grill material that isn't black. I'd like to find grey.

 

[Dan Hine]

Ryan,
From our friends at Parts Express:
Grey grill cloth.
I have some white grill cloth that I'm going to dye. That way the sky will be the limit on color. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

 

[Ryan Libby]

Very cool, thanks Dan. How could I have not gone straight to our friends? I might just go with white since the enclosure will be natural maple.
I'm having trouble keeping my mind on other things, DIY is taking over my brain. I may need professional help.

 

[Ryan Libby]

Hey Dan,
How transparent is the white grill cloth. Will black drivers show through quite easily or do they not show through much? thanks.

 

[Ryan Libby]

I found someone using 1/2inch flex and 12mm heatshrink to finish the flex ends. Now I just need to find out what size of heatshrink to put around the twisted ends.

 

[Dan Hine]

Ryan,

I don't have the white cloth handy but I will be near it this afternoon. I'll let you know!

 

[Chris Keen]

Sorry for the late reply. I can't remember what the size was for the Techflex, well... lets see. Here it is - I just dug up my receipts for the stuff.

PET2-C-WE for white Techflex, 1/8" to 7/16"
PET2-C-BK for black Techflex, 1/8" to 7/16"

I used the following spades and bananas:

DELUXE-BANANA-? where "?" is B ok R for red or black
DELUXE-SPADE-? see above for "?"

One thing to keep in mind - For whatever length of 4s11 you order, know that you'll need more than this amount of tech flex. Why? Well, as it expands, it also gets shorter. As for the heatshrink, I'm not sure. I bought my heatshrink locally at Altex electronics. You should need any "special tools" to do this. You need some sort of utility knife or Xacto knife, a heat gun (or heat source) for the heatshrink, some cable or wire cutters to cut through the wire to set your desired length(s), some wire strippers. That's it.

FWIW, I had ordered the white and black techflex, because I wasn't sure as to what color I would use. I tried both, and settled on the White for my speaker wires. I can use the black to make some interconnects and such later.

I would post a picture as to what mine turned out like, but I don't have a place to host the picture. If you want to see a sample, let me know and I can snap a few digitals and email them to you.

 

[Dan Hine]

Ryan,
Regarding the white grill cloth: You can see through it a little bit 1) depending on how tight you stretch it and 2) since most drivers are black they contrast greatly against the white. If you do not want to see the drivers at all then the white cloth probably won't fit the bill. If you're looking to add some style and protection to the drivers from prying hands then it would work great.

 

[Ryan Libby]

Dan,
Thanks for checking that out. I figured that the drivers,(AV-1+s), would show through some. Sounds like I need to give it a shot though. I'm not too picky, dim grey circles will suit me just fine. Hopefully I'll be putting up pic's so you can see them finished within the next month!
Chris,
Your posts have been very helpful. I would really appreciate some pictures, that would be awesome. Here's an address you can send them to if you get the chance: [email protected]
If I am reading this right, you used 1/8 flex to cover the twisted pairs. I was going to go with 1/4 for the most coverage with out being too loose. And 1/4 is the smallest size they have in chrome.
Since the outerjackets of the interconnects,(I'm going with Heartland) and the speaker wire aren't white, I'd like to get the size that would provide the greatest coverage. I've been thinking that 1/2 inch flex would expand the least,yet not be too loose.
I am thinking that 1/2 heatshrink will work for the end of the main section and for covering the twisted pairs I'd use 1/4.
Since you did something similar to what I'm doing your pictures should help clear things up.

 

[Chris Keen]

A few pics (rather large in size) are on their way to you. They aren't the greatest pics, but give a good idea. If you need something more close-up, give me an email back and let me know, I can do it tomorrow evening.

 

[Ryan Libby]

Chris,
I got your pics. From what I can tell you have a beautiful home and some beautiful rockets. I believe we have the same area rug. Now I can see exactly how you built the wire and how mine might look, and they look great.

I am interested in seeing a close-up of the flex. I'm trying to figure out if 1/8 will give me the fullest coverage or 1/2. I'm pretty sure 1/2 would since the gaps between the threads wouldn't expand as much. But looking at your cable would help me figure out what I need.

I appreciate the help Chris and can't wait to put my own together!

 

[DerekF]

Great info guys! I've got a bunch of 4s11 on its way to me, and I had planned on simply going with bare wire, but I'm having second thoughs on that. Could you please email the photos to [email protected] ?
Thanks!