Welcome to your guide to connecting speaker cables! Whether you’re setting up a home theater system, upgrading your car audio, or simply connecting speakers to your stereo, this guide will walk you through the process step-by-step.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
- How To Identifying Positive and Negative Speaker Wires
- How To Extend speaker wire using splicing or connecting techniques.
Table of Contents
Identifying Positive and Negative Speaker Wires
Connecting the positive and negative poles of the speaker cable in reverse will not only cause the sound to become distorted, reduce the bass, and deteriorate the stereo effect, but may also cause damage to the amplifier or speaker. Therefore, you must pay attention to the correspondence of the positive and negative poles when connecting.
Which speaker wire is positive? Which is negative?
Typically, speaker cable color code to indicate polarity.Here are the most common ways to identify speaker cable positive and negative:
- Printed Markings: Look for a printed line or series of dashes on one wire. This often indicates the negative wire.If the line is a light color, the stripes or dashes are likely to be dark. If the line is dark, the stripe or dotted line is likely to be white.
- Color Coding: One wire is typically red (positive) and the other black (negative).For transparent or translucent speaker cables, there should be a positive (+) or negative (-) symbol, and sometimes text, to indicate polarity.
- Metal Finish: One wire might be copper-colored, while the other is silver. The copper wire is usually positive.
- Printed Symbols: Small “+” symbols or size information may be printed on the positive wire.
- Imprinted Stripes: A molded stripe or imprint can be found on the insulation of the positive wire.
The following table shows the four-conductor speaker cable color code.
| Speaker | Terminal | Wire Color |
|---|---|---|
| Left Speaker | Negative (-) | Black |
| Left Speaker | Negative (+) | Red |
| Right Speaker | Negative (-) | Green |
| Right Speaker | Negative (+) | Yellow or White |
If the speaker cable has no color markings, or the color has worn off, try the following methods:
- Check the equipment manual: The manuals of most audio equipment will indicate the wiring method, including the positive and negative poles.
- Use a multimeter: Set the multimeter to the voltage range and gently touch the two ends of the speaker wire. If the multimeter shows a positive value, the touched end is the positive pole.
- Use a dry battery to judge: When the speaker cone shrinks inward, the speaker terminal corresponding to the positive pole of the battery is the negative pole; on the contrary, when the speaker cone extends outward, the speaker terminal corresponding to the positive pole of the battery is the positive pole.
- Use a multimeter to judge: Turn the multimeter to the ohm range and touch the two poles of the speaker at both ends. When touching, the speaker will move. Pushing forward (extending outward) is the standard positive pole; backward (retracting) is the negative pole.
- The positive and negative poles of the audio can be directly tested by the car audio phase meter. Looking at the data displayed by the phase meter, you can simply judge the positive and negative poles of the speaker wire.
- If there are multiple speakers in a sound field that sound at the same time, you can unify the wiring direction of the input terminals of the speakers.
How to Speaker Cable Splice: Methods to Join and Extend Speaker Wire
Necessity of splicing and extending speaker cables
Splicing and extending speaker cables are mainly for the following reasons:
- Sound system layout restrictions: When the placement of the audio equipment is limited and the original speaker cable is not long enough, splicing and extension are required.
- Upgrade: When upgrading the audio system, the original speaker cable may not meet the needs of the new equipment and need to be replaced with longer cables.
- Wire damage: Speaker cables may age or break during use and need to be repaired or replaced.
- Special installation requirements: In some special installation environments, such as embedded installation or hidden wiring, the speaker cable may need to be spliced and extended multiple times.
Through splicing and extension, the length of the speaker cable can be flexibly adjusted to meet the needs of different installation environments and audio systems, thereby obtaining better listening effects.
Connecting speaker wire together with crimp terminals
The crimp terminal is a very convenient and reliable connection method that can be used to extend the speaker cable. It is not only easy to operate, but also has a stable connection and is not easy to loosen. The following is a detailed introduction on how to use the crimp terminal to extend the speaker cable.
Required tools and materials:
- Crimp terminal: Choose the appropriate crimp terminal according to the wire diameter of the speaker wire.
- Wire stripper: Used to strip the insulation layer of the speaker wire.
- Crimp pliers: Used to crimp the crimp terminal onto the speaker wire.
- Speaker wire: The section of speaker wire that needs to be extended.
How to crimp speaker wire correctly?
- Strip 3/8 to 1/2 inch of insulation from the end of each speaker wire. This exposes the bare copper conductor.
- Twist the exposed strands of wire together tightly. This ensures a solid connection within the connector.
- Insert the twisted wire into the connector. Push it in firmly until it reaches the metal contact inside. Make sure the wire is seated fully.
- Place the connector in the appropriate position of the crimping tool. This is usually near the end of the connector.
- Squeeze the crimping tool firmly. This will crimp the connector onto the wire, creating a secure connection.
- Repeat the process for the other end of the wire and the other speaker wire.
By following these steps, you can create a secure and reliable connection between your speaker wires and your audio equipment.When done properly, it’s very reliable and the wire won’t come apart.
Connecting speaker wire together by soldering
Soldering is a very strong and reliable way to connect speaker cables, especially for applications where high quality connections are required. However, it should be noted that welding requires certain techniques and equipment, and improper operation may damage the wire or cause safety hazards. Soldering takes about 10-15 minutes, while using crimp terminals takes about 1-3 minutes.
Required tools and materials:
- Solder wire: Choose lead-free solder with moderate melting point and easy operation.
- Soldering iron: Choose a suitable soldering iron according to the melting point of the solder wire.
- Flux: Helps solder to better wet the metal surface and improve the quality of welding.
- Wire strippers: Used to strip the insulation layer on the speaker wire.
- Pliers: Used to fix the welding part.
- Heat shrink tube: Used to insulate and protect the welding point.
How to solder speaker wire correctly?
- Preparation: Strip about 1/2 inch of insulation from both ends of the speaker wire to be soldered. Use fine sandpaper to polish the exposed copper wire to remove the oxide layer for better soldering. Twist the wires at both ends in opposite directions to form an “X” shape.
- Soldering iron tip: Wipe the tip clean and dip it in an appropriate amount of solder to coat the tip with a thin layer of solder.
- Heat the soldering point: Heat the part to be soldered with a soldering iron until the copper wire changes color.
- Add solder: Bring the solder wire close to the heated part, and the solder will automatically melt and flow into the joint.
- Distribute solder evenly: Move the soldering iron gently to evenly distribute the solder on the joint to form a smooth solder joint.
- Cooling: Wait for the solder joint to cool completely.
- Put on heat shrink tubing: Put on heat shrink tubing on the solder joint and heat and shrink it with a hot air gun to play an insulating and protective role.
By following these steps, you can create a secure and reliable connection between your speaker wires and your audio equipment.When done properly, it’s very reliable and the wire won’t come apart.
Conclusion
The guide highlights the importance of identifying the positive and negative terminals of speaker wires before connecting them. It explains different methods to identify the correct terminals and how to connect and extend speaker wires using crimp terminals or soldering. Safe and reliable connections are crucial to avoid damaging the amplifier or speaker and ensure good sound quality.
