Splicing Speaker Wire Together? (1 Viewer)

[Ralph Summa]

How do you guys feel about this?

I just upgraded my speakers from a Bose Acoustimass system. My speaker wire runs were previously split to go in and out of the bass module. Now, I would need an additional 65 feet of wire to get the rears connected with "home runs". I was thinking about splicing the split wires together and connect with electical wire nuts. All my wire is either 12 or 14 gauge Monster XP so I hate to just replace it completely since it was expensive.

The current wiring is contained under the floor and within the walls and so it's not a slam dunk job. I can use the current wiring as a fish so it will be easier than the initial install. It's also a pain in the ass to get behind the receiver and I may have to disconnect most of the components to do so.

Should I buy all new speaker wire go through the hassle and rewire totally?

Should I splice and solder? (Wanted to avoid soldering of possible.)

Can I splice and use wire nuts and not degrade sound quality?

Any potential damage to the speakers receivers?

Thanks,

Ralph

 

[Ralph Summa]

I should learn to use the search function.

Great info from Wayne as usuall.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Ralph,

I was going to drop my “Comprehensive Guide to Splicing” on you but I see you’ve found it.

Lots of good info there, but at the end of the day my personal preference for splicing just about any wire is in-line butt splices – they make for a nice streamlined connection. A decent crimping/stripping tool can be had for a mere $10-15 - a must-have for anyone's tool box, IMO.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Ralph Summa]

Wayne,

I just looked up Kleintools.com and realized that I have a combination stripper/crimper already. I looked up the connectors on radioshack.com and I now know exactly what these are. I'm going to pick some up on the way home. These will slide through the wall much better than wire nuts too.

Thanks for your help.

Ralph

 

[Allan Jayne]

>>> ... slide through the wall much better than wire nuts ...

I would suggest not having any non-soldered joints inside the wall in the finished installation. Any non-soldered joint could oxidize over time causing the quality of connection to gradually worsen, and no one would suspect that the reason for failure of the speaker line was a concealed joint.

In some cities, building codes require that speaker wiring inside the wall must be approved house wiring for AC power. No joints of any kind are permitted inside the wall thus you would need a junction box with an exposed cover wherever a joint exists.

Video hints:
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