# How would you connect your speaker wire to screw on amplifier terminals?



## giantsfan10 (May 25, 2013)

I've never found a dislike for those connections, always have worked fine for me. Why the hate for them?


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

For screw terminals, I've always stripped the insulation back about 1/2", or enough to wrap all the way around the screw. Then I tin the exposed wire with some rosin cored solder and a small soldering iron. When cool, you now have a wire that is bendable into a loop to go around the screw and will hold up to the grip of the screw head. or to plug into and be held by a clamping screw. Never did like crimp on lugs. Always soldered them on too.


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## Livingfortheice (Apr 22, 2014)

Thanks Jim. I had a similar idea about tinning the wire. Sounds like my best bet. But now I ask, what do you do about your 8ga wire for the power and ground. I mean, I don't see how we could tin these as they are very thick and always a tight fit as is. 

And I do not like these terminals simply because of surface contact area. If you have a flat plate that you lay a metal connector on, and screw it down flat, you will have much better contact than clamping wire in a hole basically.


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## stanski1 (May 20, 2014)

Kinda costly, but you could go with wire ferrules. You will need to buy the crimper and appropriate gauge ferrules. I use these all the time in industrial electrical panels and they look very professional and tighten very secure into terminals. They are also required when wiring safety circuits in many automotive plants.

Greenlee WIRE FERRULES - Made for the Tradeâ„¢


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## stanski1 (May 20, 2014)

I do agree with you... I would have preferred terminating the with a spade connector also.

I have the Kappa Five version of this amp. All I did was I took my time and stripped the wire insulation back so that there is no exposed wire outside of the terminal, but yet the wire is all the way bottomed out inside. If you take your time and do it correctly, you shouldn't have any issues.


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

Livingfortheice said:


> Thanks Jim. I had a similar idea about tinning the wire. Sounds like my best bet. But now I ask, what do you do about your 8ga wire for the power and ground. I mean, I don't see how we could tin these as they are very thick and always a tight fit as is.


Bigger soldering iron, more solder. Then file, or grind, down to fit the socket.


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## Livingfortheice (Apr 22, 2014)

Okay. Good call jim. Thanks for the input everyone


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