I use them fairly extensively for work and play. That line, 221-4xx is UL listed for up to 20A (a 12ga wire is NEC rated at 20A) and can accommodate solid, strand and fine strand. The 221-6xx are good for 10ga-20ga @ 30A (NEC 10ga/30A). Both current ratings are higher in the CE approval.
The 5 port connectors are super handy on the test bench and it's how I connect everything for testing. A meter lead locks into the ports perfectly 👍
Scottmoose,
I guess I have to find and purchase 10 feet of [Real old, real Correct] ladder line. No carbonized spacers need apply.
Then I will measure the loss using my amplifier to drive the line, and terminate the far end with a non inductive resistor.
The measurement requires 2 properly compensated probes (at the V/division setting that they will be used for both channels).
Then Measure voltage loss, and Measure Input to Output Phase. Good enough?
That will be fun, but not as fun as using a $60,000 dollar Rohde & Schwarz VNA and Cal Kit.
I will steal the US Navy's term: "Test Methods and Practices".
As a former US Navy person, I think I have as much rights to that term as anybody else.
OK, who has 10 feet of old real ladder line they can sell me?
I know, that was over 50 years ago that I used such ladder line.
Get me 20 feet, and I will install it in my Hi Fi Stereo. Listen, Listen, Listen
The high frequency roll off of my 78 year old ears is my major factor.
How many of you have had your ears tested within the last year?
If your hearing test shows any deficiencies . . .
Do not be discouraged, you could have one dead ear, or even worse you could have 2 dead ears.
Ludwig van Beethoven conducted and performed with dead ears.
I guess I have to find and purchase 10 feet of [Real old, real Correct] ladder line. No carbonized spacers need apply.
Then I will measure the loss using my amplifier to drive the line, and terminate the far end with a non inductive resistor.
The measurement requires 2 properly compensated probes (at the V/division setting that they will be used for both channels).
Then Measure voltage loss, and Measure Input to Output Phase. Good enough?
That will be fun, but not as fun as using a $60,000 dollar Rohde & Schwarz VNA and Cal Kit.
I will steal the US Navy's term: "Test Methods and Practices".
As a former US Navy person, I think I have as much rights to that term as anybody else.
OK, who has 10 feet of old real ladder line they can sell me?
I know, that was over 50 years ago that I used such ladder line.
Get me 20 feet, and I will install it in my Hi Fi Stereo. Listen, Listen, Listen
The high frequency roll off of my 78 year old ears is my major factor.
How many of you have had your ears tested within the last year?
If your hearing test shows any deficiencies . . .
Do not be discouraged, you could have one dead ear, or even worse you could have 2 dead ears.
Ludwig van Beethoven conducted and performed with dead ears.
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Has anyone tried these? They should allow for a very solid connection with good compression of stranded wire.
Attachments
If your wire is fine strand, a screw lug is less than desirable unless it uses a pressure plate. I generally see those splices used for solid conductors or stranded thhn/thwn which uses much heavier strands and is less prone to strand breakage and settling after tightening. The marine electrical field uses a lot of fine strand and crimp lugs are the preferred methodology. Where FStrd is used under a bare screw terminal, ferrules are generally used
It does seem like wire nuts would work. They can be tightly screwed onto the wires, compressing them tightly together, using pliers
It also seems that wires spliced, in crimp and mechanical splices I've seen, don't contact each other. Based on that it would seem that, if a simple disconnect capability is desired, a wire nut might be the best connection because the two wires are twisted/forced into intimate contact. If one spent the $$ for pure or OFHC wire, the benefit might be partially lost because the wires are not touching each other, and the copper splice material is very likely not pure or OFHC copper. I realize that wire nuts in an audio system don't look good, but my wire nut splices will be hidden in an enclose bench. Any thoughts on that would be appreciated.
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Thanks for the input but there is just so much snake oil about everything related to audio. I just believe that two wires tightly twisted a in wire nut would allow the signal to pass without interruption. I actually think that maybe the wires without solder but in compressed connection might be better. Any electrical experts' comments would be greatly appreciated.
Electrically it is, assuming it's done well (that last being the potential heffalump in the room), which is why several of us favour them, but except in some fairly extreme conditions, it's not going to be audible. Soldering & sleeving as Chris etc. advocate should be fine & it really comes down to which you feel you can implement most effectively / conveniently & will if necessary provide you with the best mechanical integrity in-use. FWIW, as far as the latter goes, wire-wrap was always considered the optimum by the British military & defence contractors and was used exclusively for connections on wire-guided missiles back in the early '70s as nothing else was sufficiently reliable. However, that's a rather different set of conditions (hopefully! 
) & it can be a complete PITA, so it tends to get overlooked.
All this being said -is there a particular reason why you're wanting to keep that XLO biwire? If it were me & I didn't have any specific attachment to that particular length of wire (e.g gift from family member / whatever), I'd probably just retire it or sell it on, & use the proceeds to buy, say, a 50ft spool of quality 10ga zip cord / studio lead / ring mains cable. Based on the N803's published 3Ω impedance minimum, & assuming you're okay with about 1.0v voltage drop & roughly 0.08dB SPL loss, that should be ample for a 46ft loop length. If you wanted to go more perfectionist & no more than 0.5v voltage drop, then you'd need 8ga; harder to find, so unless you're happy with a fine-stranded car battery lead / copper welding cable (which was pretty much what the old Fulton speaker wire was), easiest just twist two lengths of your choice of 11ga or 10ga together & parallel two conductors for a 7ga - 8ga lead per leg. Job-jibbed, no need to worry about connections except terminiating to preference. YMMV as always, obviously.
) & it can be a complete PITA, so it tends to get overlooked.All this being said -is there a particular reason why you're wanting to keep that XLO biwire? If it were me & I didn't have any specific attachment to that particular length of wire (e.g gift from family member / whatever), I'd probably just retire it or sell it on, & use the proceeds to buy, say, a 50ft spool of quality 10ga zip cord / studio lead / ring mains cable. Based on the N803's published 3Ω impedance minimum, & assuming you're okay with about 1.0v voltage drop & roughly 0.08dB SPL loss, that should be ample for a 46ft loop length. If you wanted to go more perfectionist & no more than 0.5v voltage drop, then you'd need 8ga; harder to find, so unless you're happy with a fine-stranded car battery lead / copper welding cable (which was pretty much what the old Fulton speaker wire was), easiest just twist two lengths of your choice of 11ga or 10ga together & parallel two conductors for a 7ga - 8ga lead per leg. Job-jibbed, no need to worry about connections except terminiating to preference. YMMV as always, obviously.
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These are pretty fool proof. After assembly, you could wrap with some rubber, then vinyl electrical tape, to seal the connection.
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/43597939
A little less convenient, but better for larger gauge wire: (the above wrapping of tapes is mandatory in this case).
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/29229242
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/43597939
A little less convenient, but better for larger gauge wire: (the above wrapping of tapes is mandatory in this case).
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/29229242
I thank all for the many replies. Now some have said I shouldn't splice two runs of speaker wires, and just run full lengths from the amp binding posts to the speaker binding posts.
But wires running from an amp to a speaker are made up of many splices/connections, and the results can be excellent. In fact, wires inside the amp are soldered/connected to the amp binding posts. Then wires run from the amp binding posts to the speaker binding posts (more splices/connections). Then the wires run from the speaker binding posts to the crossover, where there are more splices/connections. Then the crossover outputs are wired to the individual drivers in the enclosure, and the result can be excellent sound reproduction. It seems counter intuitive that one more splice will undo the resultant sound reproduction. Any thoughts will be appreciated.
But wires running from an amp to a speaker are made up of many splices/connections, and the results can be excellent. In fact, wires inside the amp are soldered/connected to the amp binding posts. Then wires run from the amp binding posts to the speaker binding posts (more splices/connections). Then the wires run from the speaker binding posts to the crossover, where there are more splices/connections. Then the crossover outputs are wired to the individual drivers in the enclosure, and the result can be excellent sound reproduction. It seems counter intuitive that one more splice will undo the resultant sound reproduction. Any thoughts will be appreciated.
This was meant as a rhetorical question. I've spliced speaker cables and not given it a second thought. Twisting corroded ends together can only be a temporary solution.