I have a number of speaker leads on hand, but one particular pair of leads have copper coloured multi strand wire in the +ve path, and silver coloured multi strand wire in the -ve wire.
None are magnetic.
Is this an issue?
Could these wires have different conductive properties which could either affect sound or cause issues with electronics such as the Amp?
thanks
Cliff
None are magnetic.
Is this an issue?
Could these wires have different conductive properties which could either affect sound or cause issues with electronics such as the Amp?
thanks
Cliff
If old: One is copper, the other is a thin tin plate on copper. So you can maintain polarity.
No, it won't hurt anything.
No, it won't hurt anything.
I had a closer look.
These are new speaker leads (7 metres).
I picked them up for a $1 each, brand new in the blister pack.
Wire approx 3mm diameter.
Positive is copper (colour).
Negative is sliver (colour).
I scratched the silver coloured wire and it's silver coloured all the way through.
Should these be avoided?
If so, I can separate each lead into 2 separate insulated leads and discard the silver coloured lengths??
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Weird.
If still silver after scratching the silver coloured one might be Aluminum, big problem being that Aluminum is not solderable by us mere mortals (ok, it CAN, somehow, but it´s a PITA)
So you mkay twist bare ends and wrap them around a screw terminal, clamp it in press-fit cabinet terminals, etc. , but you can not solder it to , say, a connector.
You CAN crimp it to a terminal.
Cheaper than dirt price means anything is possible, in a bad way.
Scrap one end again and try to tin it, with a hot iron and good solder.
If it doesn´t "take", then it´s aluminum.
Do the same to the other wire, at this stage in cheapness the gold coloured one might be coloured Aluminum 🙁
You can discard the aluminum section, keep the copper one (if verified copper that is) and loosely twist them simply to keep them reasonably together.
If still silver after scratching the silver coloured one might be Aluminum, big problem being that Aluminum is not solderable by us mere mortals (ok, it CAN, somehow, but it´s a PITA)
So you mkay twist bare ends and wrap them around a screw terminal, clamp it in press-fit cabinet terminals, etc. , but you can not solder it to , say, a connector.
You CAN crimp it to a terminal.
Cheaper than dirt price means anything is possible, in a bad way.
Scrap one end again and try to tin it, with a hot iron and good solder.
If it doesn´t "take", then it´s aluminum.
Do the same to the other wire, at this stage in cheapness the gold coloured one might be coloured Aluminum 🙁
Yes.
You can discard the aluminum section, keep the copper one (if verified copper that is) and loosely twist them simply to keep them reasonably together.
I didn't experience this when soldering both the silver coloured and copper coloured speaker wires onto RCA plugs this afternoon.
It seemed to readily solder.
On the other hand I did experience difficulty tinning banana plug terminals with solder yesterday to ready them for soldering onto internal speaker cabinet cabling. They wouldn't readily take to the solder, even after roughing them with steel wool.
It seemed to readily solder.
On the other hand I did experience difficulty tinning banana plug terminals with solder yesterday to ready them for soldering onto internal speaker cabinet cabling. They wouldn't readily take to the solder, even after roughing them with steel wool.
Speaker wire needs to indicate polarity. VERY common is to use bare copper on one lead and tinned copper on the other in zip cord. ANother very common method is to have both wires either bare or tinned, but the insulation over one is smooth and over the other is grooved. Less common but not rare is zip cord where the insulation of one wire has a strip or other pattern printed on it. All of those allow you to run say 50 feet of wire and still know which wire was wich at the other end.
Of course in jacketed wire or just twisted pair, the insulations can be different colors.
I agree with PRR, this is nothing to concern over.
Of course in jacketed wire or just twisted pair, the insulations can be different colors.
I agree with PRR, this is nothing to concern over.
Hi Enzo
PRR said it won't hurt anything if the silver wire is thinly tinned copper.
We've discovered it isn't tinned copper but an unidentified metal with even colour through the gauge.
Do you think this is still nothing to be concerned about.
Keeping on top of polarity is definitely an issue.
If I end up using identical wire and insulation for both +ve and -ve I'd use short lengths of shrink wrap for identification.
Thanks
Cliff
PRR said it won't hurt anything if the silver wire is thinly tinned copper.
We've discovered it isn't tinned copper but an unidentified metal with even colour through the gauge.
Do you think this is still nothing to be concerned about.
Keeping on top of polarity is definitely an issue.
If I end up using identical wire and insulation for both +ve and -ve I'd use short lengths of shrink wrap for identification.
Thanks
Cliff
That sort of cable is pretty common hereabouts, but it is tin-plated copper on the negative side.
A lot of cheap figure 8 wire nowadays is steel cored, sometimes with a copper/nickel/tin plate on top. It might be possible to detect it with a magnet, or not. I'm not sure how fine 304 can be rolled. anyhow it might be the copper plated version on the positive side with a tinned version (for soldering) on the other.
A lot of cheap figure 8 wire nowadays is steel cored, sometimes with a copper/nickel/tin plate on top. It might be possible to detect it with a magnet, or not. I'm not sure how fine 304 can be rolled. anyhow it might be the copper plated version on the positive side with a tinned version (for soldering) on the other.
You said these are commercial speaker wires in a blister pack. They won't bother to make such items with weird metal alloys, it is just speaker wire. I would go back and carefully re-explore the silver wire. I would bet my lunch money it is merely tinned copper, about as common as it gets.
Hi Enzo.
What will I be eating? 🙂
The packaging was unlabelled.
I performed a number of tests on the wire.
Same colour all the way through. 😕
One was a bright silver colour.
The other was a copper colour.
Both are non magnetic.
What will I be eating? 🙂
The packaging was unlabelled.
I performed a number of tests on the wire.
- I cut it to view its core.
- I sanded it with emery paper.
- I roughed it with steel wool.
Same colour all the way through. 😕
One was a bright silver colour.
The other was a copper colour.
Both are non magnetic.
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If you are still concerned about different conductivity, don't be, it doesn't matter where resistance is in the wire-speaker-wire circuit.
Hi G.
Before taking the photos I performed a more rigorous scraping of the copper colored wire.
Sure enough, it was silver underneath and identical in color to the -ve wire.
Both still remain non magnetic. 😕
Should I avoid these cables or use them on my cheaper systems?
Before taking the photos I performed a more rigorous scraping of the copper colored wire.
Sure enough, it was silver underneath and identical in color to the -ve wire.
Both still remain non magnetic. 😕
Should I avoid these cables or use them on my cheaper systems?
Attachments
The latest evidence suggests that the conductors are aluminium.
Provided the conductors are of sufficient diameter (I think you said 3mm) then the cable is good for short runs of up to, say, 3m per side.
For longer runs, use pure copper cable of a similar diameter.
Provided the conductors are of sufficient diameter (I think you said 3mm) then the cable is good for short runs of up to, say, 3m per side.
For longer runs, use pure copper cable of a similar diameter.
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He said the silver-coloured wires soldered OK. Would be very surprised if they were aluminum (unless their judgment of a good solder joint is very poor)
Hi 454
I duplicated my experience just a few minutes ago in this order.
I went to the garage and put a CD on (Wonderous Stories by Yes).
My garage speakers are a pair of Alessis Point 7 Monitors on tall stands so the tweeters are at ear height when I'm standing at the bench.
They do the job. 🙂
I plugged in my soldering iron and then sheathed some fresh wire on the said speaker cables.
Once the iron attained good heat I dipped the tip in flux and then wiped it on soldering iron sponge material to clean the tip.
I then placed the tip of the iron onto the bare wire and let it heat up a little.
Then I fed the area with solder supplied by SpeakerBug.
Soon after the solder melted and coated the bare metal.
The solder then solidified giving a nice coating over the bare wire.
This was repeated to both the copper colored and silver colored wires.
Both yielded similar behavior in that the solder evenly spread and adhered ok.
While doing this I tried to sing along with Jon Anderson, but I had no hope of reaching his high pitch. 🙁
I'm very disappointed with some speaker terminals which I bought from China.
Try as I did, I had great difficulty in getting melted solder adhering to the binding post terminals, but the experience taught me that some metals won't solder.
Hope this helps.
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This only leaves me to suggest that the individual strands of each conductor are, in fact, tinned copper.
I suspect you just can't see the copper when cutting a strand as the strand is so thin.
At any rate, the wire is perfectly suitable for connecting to the small Realistic open backed. wall mounting speakers that you illustrate in your parallel thread. These are distinctly Lo-Fi and intended mainly for the reproduction of speech in a small office environment.
Right now, however, your immediate problem is that one of those speakers doesn't work, so I would concentrate on that problem instead.
See my suggestions in your other thread.
I suspect you just can't see the copper when cutting a strand as the strand is so thin.
At any rate, the wire is perfectly suitable for connecting to the small Realistic open backed. wall mounting speakers that you illustrate in your parallel thread. These are distinctly Lo-Fi and intended mainly for the reproduction of speech in a small office environment.
Right now, however, your immediate problem is that one of those speakers doesn't work, so I would concentrate on that problem instead.
See my suggestions in your other thread.