Preparing Your Own DIY Speaker Cables
A Do-It-Yourself Speaker Cable Guide
Contrary to audio cable marketing; anyone can cut, strip, and install banana plugs on speaker wire. The following is a step-by-step guide on how to do exactly that.
The picture below shows all the wire, tools and banana plugs you will need.
All of the above can be found at your local hardware store or online.
- 50 ft roll of speaker cable, oxygen free copper with a rope lay construction for flexibility. (Parts Express # 100-150) $22.95
- Wire cutters and stripper. (Parts Express # 360-634) $4.95. You may also wish to purchase this at your local hardware store. Make sure it has the capability to strip 12 AWG wire.
- Xacto Knife: (Parts Express # 360-369) $1.85
- Dayton Audio Banana Plugs: (Parts Express # 091-1260) $6.95 for a set of four. There are two red and two black banana plugs per package.
Step 1: Cut the length of wire you need to go from your power amplifier to your loudspeaker.
Step 2: Lay the wire down on a flat upraised surface and using the Xacto knife cut in between the two separate wires to separate them. Approximately 1.5 to 2.0 inches will be fine. See picture below.
The following photo shows how the wires should look after you have separated them with your Xacto Knife.
Step 3: Take the Wire cutter and stripper tool and insert approximately 3/4 inch of wire in the 12 AWG section as shown below.
Step 4: Squeeze down with enough pressure to cut the clear insulation of the wire and then push the wire stripper toward the end of the wire to gently remove the insulation.
Step 5: Twist the wire with your fingers to tighten the loose strands together.
Left Wire: Insulation has been stripped.
Right Wire: Twisted with your fingers to tighten the loose strands together.
Step 6: Take one set of the red and black banana plugs and loosen the thumbscrew on each of the banana plugs so that the speaker wire can now be inserted into the opening you have just made by loosening the thumbscrew. Attach the red banana plug to the (+) wire and the black banana plug to the (ö) wire. Insert the speaker wire into the opening and then tighten down the thumbscrew. If you use a wrench to tighten down the thumbscrew, do be careful and do not tighten down so hard that you break the connector. You may also wish to add a small drop of ãLok-Titeä to the threads of the thumb screw to insure the thumbscrew stays in one position. See photo below:
Step7: Cut the excess wire protruding from the banana plug.
Step 8 : Repeat this process for the other side of the cable and for all of the other speaker cables you need to make.
Happy Cabling!
