connecting two runs of speaker wire

[henrylrjr]

I have question about connecting two runs of speaker wires together. I have an Aragon 8008bb bi-wired to B&W N803s with an 8-foot run of 12awg XLO cable. I plan to sell the Aragon and power the speakers with an amp in a different room. I would like to keep the XLO bi-wires connected to the speakers and connect their other bare ends to a 15-foot run of wires coming from the other room. I could solder them together and cover with shrink wrap or connect them using copper binding lugs. Would that work OK? What would be the best connection?

 

[rayma]

Other than installing mating plug-in connectors on the free ends of the wires, soldering the bare ends together would be the better alternative.
But make a strong mechanical connection first, and use several layers of heat shrink over the joints.
When this is necessary to do, I always stagger the solder joints so bare wires can never short together if the heat shrink is pierced.

 

[henrylrjr]

Thanks for the reply. Now a question about the new run wire. Would silver plated wire, like Mil Spec. wire, be better than tin plated wire?

 

[rayma]

Not really. Wire must be silver plated when teflon insulation is used. It isn't for sound. And you should use silver solder in that case.
I would just use the same kind and gauge of extension wire as the wire you are splicing onto.
Cut off a couple of inches of wire from all of the bare ends before stripping, so any oxidation near the old bare ends is removed.

 

[Michael Bean]

"Thanks for the reply. Now a question about the new run wire. Would silver plated wire, like Mil Spec. wire, be better than tin plated wire?"
Do you have any real reason to believe it would? And if so, better how...and why? And without evidence, why not wonder if it could be worse?

Mike

 

[rayma]

I would use the exact same kind of wire for the extension wire. If that is too expensive, at least use the same gauge.
But I never use silver plated wire, since tinned copper wire is fine for applications other than military or extreme temperatures requiring Teflon.

 

[seventenths]

Will the new wire run be in-wall? If so and you'd like to comply with the NEC, you'll need to use listed cable. CL2 and CL3 jacketed cable is suitable for most installations and is available in oxygen-free makeup if desirable.

 

[rayma]

Good point, if the wire is mounted in-wall, I would not recommend splicing regardless. Use a single continuous piece of wire.

 

[Cal Weldon]

I always stagger the solder joints so bare wires can never short together if the heat shrink is pierced.

 

[henrylrjr]

Good point, if the wire is mounted in-wall, I would not recommend splicing regardless. Use a single continuous piece of wire.

The splice will not be in-wall. The Aragon amp sits on top of a low enclosed bench that fills the space between the side of a fireplace chimney and a wall. The XLO cable runs from the amp, into the bench, and then runs out of the bottom of the enclosed bench, to the speakers. The new cable will run from the remote amp, into the wall and then into the bench, where it will be spliced to the XLO cable.

 

[henrylrjr]

I need to buy some speaker cable and would like to know if twisted pair is considered better than zip chord type where the two wires are joined together and parallel.
thanks

 

[rayma]

The twisted pair should have somewhat lower inductance and noise pickup.

 

[6A3sUMMER]

If you can hear noise or unintended signals in your loudspeakers, and on the extremely rare case that it is caused by your speaker cables . . .

You either have an amplifier output with its own noise and unintended signals; or the amplifier is too sensitive to low amplitude RF (due to Global Negative Feedback),
OR,
You are being radiated by Very High Level RF. In that case . . .
Build a Faraday Shield all around your house.
(and get a medical physical).

 

[rayma]

Many audio systems in large cities near transmitters have had RF pickup on the speaker wires.

 

[AllenB]

Via the amp, or would you hear the broadcast if you removed the amp and shorted the source end of the pair?

The twisted pair should have somewhat lower inductance and noise pickup.

Perhaps resistance would be more challenging to keep low?

 

[rayma]

From what I've heard, the RF is picked up by the speaker wire, and enters the power amp circuitry via the phase lead capacitor in the feedback network. An output inductor would have a too low self resonant frequency to be effective.

 

[GM]

Would that work OK? What would be the best connection?

Yes, though many decades of UL/CSA testing for industrial power and controls always proved a cold weld is best.

 

[henrylrjr]

I've read, but don't understand, that ptfe jacketed wire is better than PVC. Does type of cable play a part in lowering resistance?

 

[Scottmoose]

It is and isn't. Depends what you call 'better'. It has a lower dielectric constant, but at audio frequencies even PVC has shunt impedances in the mΩ regions, so despite the wittering of the audio wire companies (almost always strangely devoid of data ) it's irrelevant as it's decades past our HF hearing limit. Good for high frequency applications, but audio isn't one of those. Silver and teflon / ptfe is a dodgy combination from a triboelectric perspective though, so if you use that, you need to make sure no mechanical noise is getting into the wire or it may (may) induce some ringing.

Yes, for a given length, wire type determines the loop resistance. It's totally dominated by gauge and conductor material, with connections coming next, and everything else afterward.

 

[henrylrjr]

Does tinned copper wire provide a benefit over bare copper wire?