Wiring speaker cabs

[rlord1974]

See poll. Cast your vote.

Oh, and here's what I mean by 'clips'.....

 

[maddnotez]

haha, No clips on mine, no solder...I want to, just havent gotten around to it.

Every now and then ill hear it fart and know its time to find that loose wire...Damn im a lazy p.o.s.

 

[mboogman]

Since I've got a professional, ratcheting crimp tool, I don't ever worry about just using the crimps. The ones I've used have a little notch in them that hold them on very tightly yo the speaker lugs. Never had any issues, even with plenty of bouncing around.

 

[TheMagicEight]

I use solder. It's easier for me.

 

[craftm1]

I salder every thing!

 

[blackba]

I use the connectors on most cabs. I had a nice set of wire crimpers and just make sure I tension the connectors. Only had an issue once.

 

[racerevlon]

The little rabbit goes through the hole, wraps around the lug, then gets buried in solder. It ain't coming off.

 

[tlingen]

I only use solder here. Pretty easy to do unless you have a cheap pencil iron to use.

 

[stephen sawall]

Never had any problems .... so I feel no need to solder. Have been doing gigs on & off since 1978...

 

[JCDenton6]

I use solder, all cabs I have owned has had the wires soldered on.

 

[metalmaniac93]

I had no choice since both of my cabs came with soldered connections!!!

 

[50MkII]

This really should not be a problem if the connectors are made well for the connection. For the purposes of the survey, I own both and how about the Celestion Heritage hook style terminals? I have a cabinet where they came off in the midst of soldering. I those that fell off or were loose changed over to modern style terminals. Are you taking the poll from a tone differences standpoint or stability issues?

 

[LukeCurd]

I have to solder my connections since I normally use 10-14 gauge wire. The "crimp connectors" work fine on 16-20 gauge wire. Its just a mater of taste that I like to go over kill. Now granted if I bought a new cabinet, I am not going to take the trouble to solder in heavy gauge wire just for fun. However if I am swapping out the speakers I would rather go the extra step for piece of mind.

 

[supersonic]

Crimped wire is another thing that can fail. What about soldering the wire to the clip? Clips are good for speaker swapping. I've had wires break at the solder joints a few times.

 

[rlord1974]

Are you taking the poll from a tone differences standpoint or stability issues?

Stability.

I've always soldered, but am about to wire a new 2x12 cab and just thought I'd see how many people rely on these clips. Admittedly, they make me a little nervous for a gig cab.

 

[glassjaw7]

When I put the Legacies in the mesa 212 I used clips. If I start gigging a lot again I'll probably solder them.

 

[50MkII]

If you decide to use the crimp variety, use the 3M variety. FWIW, the maker of a wiring harness who's background is in the high end audio-acoustics field uses them.

 

[BSRIAudio]

I have to solder my connections since I normally use 10-14 gauge wire. The "crimp connectors" work fine on 16-20 gauge wire. Its just a mater of taste that I like to go over kill. Now granted if I bought a new cabinet, I am not going to take the trouble to solder in heavy gauge wire just for fun. However if I am swapping out the speakers I would rather go the extra step for piece of mind.

Pretty much this for me. I use 12 AWG primary wire in all my speaker cabinets when I rewire them and it works out great. I solder all the leads and then make sure everything is tied down with zip ties. No more worries ever

 

[LukeCurd]

I have to solder my connections since I normally use 10-14 gauge wire. The "crimp connectors" work fine on 16-20 gauge wire. Its just a mater of taste that I like to go over kill. Now granted if I bought a new cabinet, I am not going to take the trouble to solder in heavy gauge wire just for fun. However if I am swapping out the speakers I would rather go the extra step for piece of mind.

Pretty much this for me. I use 12 AWG primary wire in all my speaker cabinets when I rewire them and it works out great. I solder all the leads and then make sure everything is tied down with zip ties. No more worries ever

 

[Scumback Speakers]

My demo cabs have clips that are crimped tightly and with the wire soldered to the clips. Never had a problem, they get bounced around in the demo room, shows, etc.

My personal cabs are all soldered just because they are mine and don't get the speakers changed.

So I do it both ways, but both are reliable if done right.