It isn't just a speaker thing. It is standard wiring practice that terminals aren't used to hold cable strain. Over time, thermal variations, weather, vibration etc can produce metal fatigue.
A short 12" to 18" piece of 18 ga wire, even 16 ga, used to connect the output of a crossover to a driver should not be enough to cause the terminal to break off. Particularly if there is some slack left in the wire.
If the wire is installed to the exact length necessary with no slack left in it, then the constant tension might cause a failure. But if it's done right and the driver is made with decent terminals, there should be no failure.
And the things that you cite as possible causes, thermal variations, weather, and vibrations are going to be there regardless of whether the wire is support by some sort of strain relief or not.
If the wire is installed to the exact length necessary with no slack left in it, then the constant tension might cause a failure. But if it's done right and the driver is made with decent terminals, there should be no failure.
And the things that you cite as possible causes, thermal variations, weather, and vibrations are going to be there regardless of whether the wire is support by some sort of strain relief or not.
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Realistically you're probably going to get by, relative is as relative does.
Personally, I don't always trust myself not to yoink the cable when removing a driver.
Personally, I don't always trust myself not to yoink the cable when removing a driver.
What should also be understood is that electrical professionals are trained to think in terms of redundancy. This means it is taboo for them to think of a terminal as being used to support anything, even if it is well made.
People who design airplane control systems and electrical power grids certainly need to worry about redundancy. But for something as simple as a loudspeaker it is irrelevant and I can assure you it is not something that is taught to engineers.
So there is no taboo in allowing a terminal to be used to support a short piece of wire inside a box where that wire is not going to be subjected to someone pulling on it while in use.
This really isn’t very complicated stuff. Let’s just keep it simple as it is.
So there is no taboo in allowing a terminal to be used to support a short piece of wire inside a box where that wire is not going to be subjected to someone pulling on it while in use.
This really isn’t very complicated stuff. Let’s just keep it simple as it is.
Wire sizing is a function of voltage drop over distance, so one should calculate the speaker run
Speaker Wire
Voltage Drop Calculator
I think that the point some people are making here is that the length of wire connecting the output of the crossover to the speaker terminal is so short that the gauge isn't really that important. The resistance is fairly negligible, since the length is so short.
Some people prefer large diameter wires just to be on the safe side, particularly for woofers. Others think that you can get away with fairly small diameter wires, particularly for tweeters where the currents are relatively low.
Some people prefer large diameter wires just to be on the safe side, particularly for woofers. Others think that you can get away with fairly small diameter wires, particularly for tweeters where the currents are relatively low.