Good but cheap speaker cables.

bobpaule

New Member
Nov 18, 2013
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Shopping list:

1. Belden 10AWG wire.

2. Orange speaker spades, the weld-ins.

3. High silver solder.

4. Butane torch.

5. Radio Shack soldering station with clamp and magnifier.

6. Vinyl tape.

Put some nice iTunes music on the Roku Soundbrigde in the workshop
and get to work.

Of course, only do this is you have been trained.
 

DonH50

Member Sponsor & WBF Technical Expert
Jun 22, 2010
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Big cables, silver solder, weld-on spades = lots of high heat needed. Good luck.

I assume the reference is to the little handheld torch RS and others carry (or did, have not looked recently). I have done it with a solder gun; takes a little longer. Also used a small spot-welder though had to borrow that from friend (much cleaner/faster; the breakthrough came when I borrowed not just the welder but also the friend who knew how to use it!)

I would add heat clips to the list -- Al clips that help dissipate heat during soldering. They will help protect the insulation which will otherwise cook off near the connection. Or, or perhaps "and/or", put some heat-shrink tubing over the end for a cleaner look and to protect the weld, err, solder joint.
 
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bobpaule

New Member
Nov 18, 2013
2
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Big cables, silver solder, weld-on spades = lots of high heat needed. Good luck.

I assume the reference is to the little handheld torch RS and others carry (or did, have not looked recently). I have done it with a solder gun; takes a little longer. Also used a small spot-welder though had to borrow that from friend (much cleaner/faster; the breakthrough came when I borrowed not just the welder but also the friend who new how to use it!)

I would add heat clips to the list -- Al clips that help dissipate heat during soldering. They will help protect the insulation which will otherwise cook off near the connection. Or, or perhaps "and/or", put some heat-shrink tubing over the end for a cleaner look and to protect the weld, err, solder joint.

I also started with a gun, unfortunately the mass of the connector is too much to be able to heat properly and poor "cold" welds can follow. Keep the torch too close too long and you melt off the gold or burn the copper and melt some insulation.

It is a straightforward learning process, guaranteed you will destroy 1-3 connectors so buy extra.

The Autobarn model works very well for me:



W-mart has Ronson butane look like my Euro Nivea spray deodorants a bit.

Heat shrink tubing works great, first make sure you crimp at leat 3-4" past the weld point then slide the heat shrink tubing and cover far away over the cable, that way the insulation will not melt. Then bring back the heat shink tubing, shrink it over, then slide the silicone cover for that clean look.
 
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DonH50

Member Sponsor & WBF Technical Expert
Jun 22, 2010
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That is a nice looking little torch! My old 100/140 W gun worked fine on 10 AWG IIRC. For bigger stuff I had a 210/260 W gun (do not have that one anymore). I almost always lost some insulation near the connector due to heat transfer from the wires melting it off. I have very rarely used silver solder, too much hassle for questionable electrical benefit (for me, YMMV).

"W-mart has Ronson butane look like my Euro Nivea spray deodorants a bit." Probably want to be careful about sticking the torch in the bathroom medicine cabinet... :)
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
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www.genesisloudspeakers.com
Problem with a butane torch with large gauge wire is that butane is not hot enough to get the solder cooking fast. You might want to try a MAPP torch instead as that works faster, melts the silver solder faster so that the wire itself doesn't heat up too far up the insulation. One that we use is by Bernzomatic.
 

drunkenrabbit

New Member
Dec 1, 2013
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Sydney, Aus
I am running Graham Slee Spatia Speaker Cable. Graham Slee is a UK brand, mostly known for phono amps and head amps.

A 3 m pair cost £185 direct from GS. They seem to perform well, with good transparency. Not the fastest cable around, but get out of the way well enough.

spkr-449.jpg

Other than for the Slee's, I like DH Labs Silversonic - alot of cable for not alot of money. IMHO, YMMV etc.
 
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Ronm1

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Feb 21, 2011
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wtOMitMutb NH
Stealth Pure Silver shotgun
 

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