banana or spade for 12-ga wire

[Alex Barnett]

Hello everyone,

I use 12 gauge solid copper wire (Hope Depot) for speaker cable. Looking for reasonably priced banana or spade terminals that will accept wire this thick and are easy to solder. Any suggestions appreciated--A. Barnett

[jackinnj]

i would suggest using the heavy duty extension cord from Home Depot -- it is stranded and much easier to work with -- comes in colors other than orange by the way. you can get nice spade, pin or banana connectors made by Monster at most Radio Shacks in NJ. These are a breeze to work with.

hey, what the heck -- you can connect one end of the green line to a 1.5V battery and tell folks that you have replicated those cables which cost $20/ft and are advertised in Stereophile.

[davidlzimmer]

This is my opinion.

The advantage of the banna plug is the ability to make quick connections and disconnections.

A spade lug is normally used on terminal strips where the advantage is for the installer to make safe clean connections and to insure no shorting of strands.

Using solid wire, why use either? Why add something that could become a problem later?

Any time I can eliminate a connection point, I go that route. Just one thing less to cause resistance.

[Alex Barnett]

Hi David, thanks for your response.

I'm worried about the binding posts on the amp (NAD) and speakers. The wires are stiff, and I have to screw down pretty hard to secure them. I don't want to damage anything in the posts.

Seems like good banana plugs also would give a better contact--more surface area, snug fit.

I understand that oxidation isn't a big deal--I can tin the ends or just snip off occasionally.

I'm using the wire to save money, also the runs are pretty long. I've seen people say good things about solid copper wire.

Alex

[davidlzimmer]

As for the type of wire, I seen disscusions go on forever.........

I don't want to get into that argument.

You are there and I am not. Sounds as if you have put good thought to it and are probably right.

I'm sure you can get the bannana plugs at PE or many other suppliers that will handle that guage. My concern is that it is solid wire, you wierdo Might I suggest you concider soldering the banna plugs to the wire?

Good look. Let us know.