Best speaker terminations with AVA

JerryM · « **Reply #20 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 02:42 am »

Quote from: timind on 25 Jun 2010, 02:27 am

Jerry, who does your nails? Very nice.

Just a random Google image there. Not nearly flamboyant enough for my nails.

Have fun,
Jerry

TjMV3 · « **Reply #21 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 03:29 am »

Okay, I think I partly get it. But I'm still a little confused as to why there are wires in the banana barrel hole and then another banana being plugged into the open end of it. What's the purpose?

I just want to hook up single wire stereo. Not interested in bi-wiring.

I ordered some from monoprice (the one's Wayne submited the pic of). I'm going to take pics of what I do, step by step and upload them to this thread. But I won't actually turn on the gear till you guys give me a thumbs up that I'm doing it correctly.

newzooreview · « **Reply #22 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 04:25 am »

Quote from: TjMV3 on 25 Jun 2010, 03:29 am

Okay, I think I partly get it. But I'm still a little confused as to why there are wires in the banana barrel hole and then another banana being plugged into the open end of it. What's the purpose?

I just want to hook up single wire stereo. Not interested in bi-wiring.

I ordered some from monoprice (the one's Wayne submited the pic of). I'm going to take pics of what I do, step by step and upload them to this thread. But I won't actually turn on the gear till you guys give me a thumbs up that I'm doing it correctly.

For step-by-step instructions with pictures, check out this pdf from Blue Jeans Cable. The bananas that you ordered should be mechanically similar to a couple of their examples.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/Speaker_cable_termination.pdf

Hope that helps!

Minn Mark · « **Reply #23 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 12:40 pm »

WOW !!

Just checked-in this AM and read all the replies. You AC and AVA guys are great ! What a resource.

I ordered 12 AWG cable and dual bananas from Parts Express.....now wait for them to arrive.

Thanks again for the really great comments and advice.

To AVnerdguy----for your Maggies (I have 3.6) how did you do the biwire. You indicated 12 and 14 AWG. Will dual runs of 12 AWG work for me. Your advice is appreciated.

Mark

martyo · « **Reply #24 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 01:13 pm »

I bi-wire and use the same gauge for both and always would.

Minn Mark · « **Reply #25 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 01:14 pm »

Thanks martyo

TjMV3 · « **Reply #26 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 01:19 pm »

I need to order 100 ft of speaker wire. Where can I find high quality copper wire?

Monoprice, Parts Express, Blue Jean Cable ...etc????

Does it make a difference?

I was looking at monoprice's speaker wire. Seems like it gets great reviews/feedback from the customers who buy it.

These are the two I was considering. What do you guys think?

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023901&p_id=2817&seq=1&format=3#specification

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023901&p_id=2789&seq=1&format=3#specification

I'm going to check out Parts Express and Blue Jean, too.

Minn Mark · « **Reply #27 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 01:25 pm »

I went with the Part Express cable because I like/need a very flexible wire, but didnt want to pay Monster cable prices. Blue Jeans cable gets a lot of good reviews, but many of their offerings are reported as rather stiff.

I dont believe in the many $$ per foot (audiophile) type speaker cables---'cuz in my limited experience I just dont hear difference I can attribute directly to the cable.

If you purchase decent OFC copper and terminate the ends appropriately--I think any differences may be aesthetic rather than sonic. Of course the length of the run has a factor, but I'm not expereinced enough to comment on that.

Others will post here who know a heckuva lot more about this than I....lets watch and learn.

Cheers,

Mark

mathgeek97 · « **Reply #28 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 01:54 pm »

Quote from: Minn Mark on 25 Jun 2010, 01:25 pm

Blue Jeans cable gets a lot of good reviews, but many of their offerings are reported as rather stiff.

I went with Blue Jeans 10 AWG. It's stiff, and really, it's probably overkill. I can't speak for the more reasonable 12 and 14 AWG cables...

AVnerdguy · « **Reply #29 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 02:06 pm »

Quote from: Minn Mark on 25 Jun 2010, 01:25 pm

I went with the Part Express cable because I like/need a very flexible wire, but didnt want to pay Monster cable prices. Blue Jeans cable gets a lot of good reviews, but many of their offerings are reported as rather stiff.

I dont believe in the many $$ per foot (audiophile) type speaker cables---'cuz in my limited experience I just dont hear difference I can attribute directly to the cable.

If you purchase decent OFC copper and terminate the ends appropriately--I think any differences may be aesthetic rather than sonic. Of course the length of the run has a factor, but I'm not expereinced enough to comment on that.

Others will post here who know a heckuva lot more about this than I....lets watch and learn.

Cheers,

Mark

No, I don't bi-wire my Maggies. I run them from a 44 and then I have a dual passive sub that I run from a GFA-5802.

If you don't like the stiff Blue Jeans cables (he uses Belden cable) contact me and I'll hook you up with the Gepco I use. Same specs but better flexibility - and made in the good ole USA. Some of the other's have moved offshore

These 2 companies are the leading manufacturer's of broadcast cable in the world and I speak with their design engineers on a regular basis. I'm a Broadcast Engineer and I do lots of work (design & test) on connectors and cables for HD, AES audio etc. I work for a firm that designed and builds the best BNC and RCA connectors in the world and I can hook you up with those as well. I'm the guy that made Canare admit that there is no way a RCA connector can ever be true 75 Ohms (but it really dosen't matter at audio frequencies). I speak to professional orgs across the world on high frequency transmission and the effect of passive components in the HD environment.

I'm in West St. Paul and since you're Minn Mike you must be somewhere close!

martyo · « **Reply #30 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 02:09 pm »

Quote from: mathgeek97 on 25 Jun 2010, 01:54 pm

I went with Blue Jeans 10 AWG. It's stiff, and really, it's probably overkill. I can't speak for the more reasonable 12 and 14 AWG cables...

I use Blue Jeans Cable- 10ga. Belden 5T00UP. It doesn't seem stiff to me.

WGH · « **Reply #31 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 02:17 pm »

Quote from: TjMV3 on 25 Jun 2010, 01:19 pm

I need to order 100 ft of speaker wire. Where can I find high quality copper wire?

Monoprice, Parts Express, Blue Jean Cable ...etc????

Does it make a difference?

I was looking at monoprice's speaker wire. Seems like it gets great reviews/feedback from the customers who buy it.

These are the two I was considering. What do you guys think?

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023901&p_id=2817&seq=1&format=3#specification

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023901&p_id=2789&seq=1&format=3#specification

I'm going to check out Parts Express and Blue Jean, too.

I use the monoprice wire with the clear jacket, it is very flexible. I have noticed the wire slowly oxidizes and turns dark inside, there is no change in sound though I do use a 25' double run with Kimber 4VS.

Wayne

AVnerdguy · « **Reply #32 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 02:23 pm »

Quote from: Minn Mark on 25 Jun 2010, 12:40 pm

WOW !!

Just checked-in this AM and read all the replies. You AC and AVA guys are great ! What a resource.

I ordered 12 AWG cable and dual bananas from Parts Express.....now wait for them to arrive.

Thanks again for the really great comments and advice.

To AVnerdguy----for your Maggies (I have 3.6) how did you do the biwire. You indicated 12 and 14 AWG. Will dual runs of 12 AWG work for me. Your advice is appreciated.

Mark

I inadvertently referred to you as Minn Mike in another post - my apologies. I'm not too good at talking on the phone and typing simultaneously! Lose my concentration.

No, I do not bi wire the Maggies (1.7s). I use the 440 and a separate sub system. I've thought about it but I'm happy the way it is now. When the weather gets cold and I'm stuck in the house this winter perhaps I'll expeirment.

avahifi · « **Reply #33 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 04:25 pm »

I use 16 gauge zip cord from Home Depot, its about 25 cents per foot.

Frank

Wayner · « **Reply #34 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 04:42 pm »

You don't need to piggy-back 2 sets of duals if you are going to bi-wire your speakers at the amp if you have just plain stripped wire. You can always put 2 sets of each wire (in their proper +/- terminal) and run the 2 set of wires to each speaker. That is unless your running something like 8 awg.

Wayner

Wayner · « **Reply #35 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 04:45 pm »

I'm not a big fan of bi-wiring. I really haven't noticed any improvement, and perhaps have even noticed a degrade in sound. I do see a benefit of getting rid of the jumpers on the speakers and running the wire thru the first set of terminals to the second set. You will have to strip the wire back farther to do this, but it's much more secure. I do not use bananas at the speaker end at all when I do this, just at the amp.

Wayner

TjMV3 · « **Reply #36 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 06:43 pm »

I ended up getting the speaker wire from monoprice.com.

100 ft each of the two......

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023901&p_id=2817&seq=1&format=3#specification

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023901&p_id=2789&seq=1&format=3#specification

But I also decided to have some fun and bought some techflex and heat shrink tubing; to dress them up

This is the first time I've attempted at making my own speaker cables. So it should be a learning experience and it should be..........."interesting"

I picked some groovy colors for the techflex and tubing........gonna' look like a case of Skittles exploded all over my cables

TjMV3 · « **Reply #37 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 10:23 pm »

Quote from: Wayner on 25 Jun 2010, 04:45 pm

I'm not a big fan of bi-wiring. I really haven't noticed any improvement, and perhaps have even noticed a degrade in sound. I do see a benefit of getting rid of the jumpers on the speakers and running the wire thru the first set of terminals to the second set. You will have to strip the wire back farther to do this, but it's much more secure. I do not use bananas at the speaker end at all when I do this, just at the amp.

Wayner

Wayne,

In order to make jumpers out of my speaker wire, all I have to do is:

Use the speaker wire below...

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023901&p_id=2789&seq=1&format=3#specification

....tear/split the wire so I only use one side/tube of wire and then connect lower terminal to upper terminal, with bare wire. Correct?

Or I suppose I don't really have to completely tear and seperate both of the wire tubes. Just cut them to correct size and split enough at bottom and top to bridge all four terminals. Right?

Wayner · « **Reply #38 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 10:54 pm »

I think you got it, if I understand your post. Strip the wire about 2" and feed it from the high frequency (+) to the low frequency (+) and then do the same for the (-).

Enjoy.

P.S. I'm spending a quiet evening with my Ultravalve and some David Gilmour "On an Island". Boy is it fun.

TjMV3 · « **Reply #39 on:** 25 Jun 2010, 11:03 pm »

Quote from: Wayner on 25 Jun 2010, 10:54 pm

I think you got it, if I understand your post. Strip the wire about 2" and feed it from the high frequency (+) to the low frequency (+) and then do the same for the (-).

Enjoy.

P.S. I'm spending a quiet evening with my Ultravalve and some David Gilmour "On an Island". Boy is it fun.

Thank you, Wayne. That's what I thought, but wanted to make sure

P.S. great album!!! I can only imagine how wonderful that sounds through the Ultrvalve. Sweeeeeet, I'll bet!