How you wire your speakers will determine the sound quality of your audio system. Even the best speakers will have poor sound if they are not properly wired. To wire your speakers appropriately, you will need to determine the right speaker wire to use. This includes the wire’s length, gauge, and type. Below are some pointers that will help you:
Determine the right gauge
The gauge of the speaker wire is defined as its thickness. The thicker the wire is, the more gauge it has. Low gauged wires are better suited for passing amplified sound signal. Most wires today range from 12 to 16 gauges. Things to consider when purchasing the wire include your budget, the sound quality you want and your speaker’s components.
Wiring basics
The speaker wires have two leads that are usually insulated in a plastic casing. One of the wires is meant for the negative signal, while the other is meant for the positive signal. Look out for the (-) and (+) markings on your speakers or any other visual markings that will help you distinguish them and connect the negative signal and positive signal wire accordingly. To avoid possible short circuits on your speakers, consider using connectors at the end of the speaker wire instead of the bare threaded wires. This is because the bare wires may fray with time thus causing a short circuit on your audio system.
Connectors available for use include the pin connectors, banana plugs, spade connectors and the dual banana plugs. While determining the connectors to use, you will need to consider the connecting terminals that your speaker has. There are two types of terminals: the spring terminals and the binding terminals. While the spring terminals can take pin connectors, banana plugs, dual banana plugs and spade connectors cannot fit in them. The binding terminals are however more accommodative and can take all kinds of connectors.
Series/Parallel wiring
Series wiring will require you to connect several speakers to the amplifier. As such, connect the (+) to the (+) in the first two speakers, using a separate wire, connect the (-) of the second speaker to the (-) of the amplifier. In a parallel connection, all speakers have wires connecting to the same point of the amplifier. Thus two (+) wires will connect to the (+) of the amplifier, and two (-) will connect to the (-) port of the amplifier.
