DIY biwire speaker wires - Any interest?

[Boomzilla]

Having looked at the prices of commercial biwire speaker cables, I'm tempted to just solder up a pair myself. I'm thinking 8-ga. or 10-ga. and about 9 feet long for my rig.

The two-to-one wire collection at the amplifier end will be the tricky part with that large a wire. Would anyone else be interested in seeing this project come to fruition? If so, I'll post photos & how-tos as I go. Otherwise, not worth bothering to document.

Your call.

Boomzilla

[mshump]

Boomzilla, Yes of course !! Any DIY is worth checking out !!

And thanks for asking !!!

[Boomzilla]

OK, mshump - I'll document the birthing...

I'm thinking of just using whatever wires I have in the bin rather than buying more. I have a wide variety - 14-ga Belden twisted pair (I'd run two of these as a single wire), 12-ga. Monoprice twisted "in wall" pair, some no name (Radio Shag?) clear insulated wires, and some tag ends of 8-ga. leftovers from the "short jumper cables" project.

I want a single pair of bananas on the amps and dual pairs of bananas for the speakers. Should take a dozen bananas unless I booger any up while trying to solder them. (I once let the solder run down into the springy tynes of the banana plug itself & had a solid lump too large to fit into the jack).

Unless I opt to go 8-gauge, this should be a simple "soldering iron" job. If I have to join three strands of 8-ga., I'll be needing the propane torch.

Boom

[Boomzilla]

So - some theoretical questions first:

1. How small a wire gauge (how large a wire) is "large enough?"

2. Provided all locations where the insulation ends and the bare wire begins are "gas tight," is there any need for every exposed strand to be solder-covered?

3. If the solder flows slightly up the wire below the insulation, does it matter?

4. Provided that all junctions of dissimilar metals are sealed from the atmosphere, is galvanic corrosion still an issue?

5. Is electrician's tape plus heat-shrink sufficient atmospheric isolation, or should all joints be "painted" with liquid rubber also?

Thanks - Boomzilla

[bub]

This is great Boom.. Calling PartsExpress as soon as you have a parts list. I've been using straight cl2 12 gauge and Belden. 14-4 for speaker wire and seems to work fine but will follow you're lead.

[Boomzilla]

Well, I may eventually do both - The "on hand" wires at minimal cost and later some "Godzilla Cables" if I feel the urge.

I need to inventory the wire bin to see what's here.

Boom

[Darksky]

I am getting ready to build some wires too. I bought some interesting wire from WesBell. It is called primary hook up wire. It is ten gauge 105 strand copper that is individually tinned.

[deltadube]

Oct 13, 2013 10:25:18 GMT -5 Boomzilla said:

So - some theoretical questions first:

1. How small a wire gauge (how large a wire) is "large enough?"

2. Provided all locations where the insulation ends and the bare wire begins are "gas tight," is there any need for every exposed strand to be solder-covered?

3. If the solder flows slightly up the wire below the insulation, does it matter?

4. Provided that all junctions of dissimilar metals are sealed from the atmosphere, is galvanic corrosion still an issue?

5. Is electrician's tape plus heat-shrink sufficient atmospheric isolation, or should all joints be "painted" with liquid rubber also?

Thanks - Boomzilla

what gauge.. how long is the run?

what kind of solder are you using ? silver solder i hope!


good luck

[bub]

I've wanted to go big myself at some point. Thanks Boom for the lift.

[RightinLA]

Don't you think that 8 ga running 9ft. is a little overkill? If you get to that extreme, then you might as well rewire your speakers and amp.

[Boomzilla]

Yeah, it's almost certainly overkill - That's the point - Wretched excess (at an affordable cost) is often FUN!

My total run length will be between 8 & 10 feet. Bananas everywhere.

Since it's cheap copper, I figured that cheap resin-core solder was appropriate. Silver solder would be like putting lipstick on a pig.

The large diameter wire is in keeping with the "no resistance is good resistance" camp of speaker wire design. At least in theory, it makes sense. In practice, I suspect that the interfaces (wire to solder - solder to gold-plated connectors - connectors to other connectors) may have more resistance and diode-effects than the whole wire combined.

Nevertheless, the cost difference between lamp wire and 8-ga. is trivial so I'm game.

[dally]

If you have a multimeter, maybe you could measure the resistance of the wires before and after? Could be interesting.

[Boomzilla]

Who DOESN'T have a multimeter? Yeah - I'll check it out.

[Darksky]

Go into detail about your process for putting on the connectors.i am curious about how others do it. I imagine I go a little overboard.

[Boomzilla]

Normally, I tin the wire tips, stick them into the wire sockets of the plugs, tighten the setscrew(s), and then solder the whole works into a solid, sloppy ball. My motto is: If a little solder will do, then more's GOT to be better LOL

[Boomzilla]

OK - Here we go. I didn't pretty these up, so let's call them "Boomzilla's quick & dirty bi-wires."

First, the implements of destruction: A big old-style soldering IRON that puts out LOTS of watts. Note that I've got this one stuck in a Radio Shag iron holder that was actually made for a soldering pen, but it'll suffice. The other item is a Shimano bicycle cable cutter. I use this because it easily cuts copper wire (it was designed to cut steel cables!). It can also be opened wide enough to get just about any wire into its jaws in a single chomp.



So now I chop up the wire into four equal lengths (I'd only need two were this not a "bi-wire" set that required four conductors). I've cut the insulation back in this photo, but (mostly) haven't stripped the wire ends yet.



Next, strip the insulation from the ends of the wire. For this task you need a wire tool:



Actually, you could just do it with a pocket knife, but the tool sure is handy. Here are the wires with the ends stripped:



Don't make the mistake that I did in the photo above. I stripped about a half-inch of insulation from the end of each wire and THEN discovered that my banana plugs had a 3/4" socket for the wire! Measure BEFORE you strip!

Now I'm ready to use some solder to tin the wire tips. First, you twist the strands together:



Don't worry if it isn't too neat - the solder is going to make it significantly messier! A word about soldering since some of you may not have done it before: You need to use "resin-core" or "electronics" solder. There's another type out there (used for plumbing) called "acid core." Although the acid core leaves everything looking nifty while you're soldering, the "acid" in the solder continues eating away at your wires AFTER the soldering is done. So what's with the "resin?" It helps the solder to flow into all the voids between the wire strands! There'll be some yellow resin left on the outside of the wire after you melt the solder on the wire. If you're anal, you can wipe it off, but leaving it there doesn't really hurt anything.

Also, before you solder, look at the tip of the iron. Does it look dull? That's because oxide has formed on the old resin & solder on the iron tip. It will act as an insulator if you leave it there. It doesn't hurt anything - it just delays the heat transfer from the iron to the wire. See that yellow sponge at the base of the iron holder? It's wet. Wipe the tip of the iron against the wet sponge and you'll have a bright silver tip on the iron. If it's a brand new iron, you need to "tin the tip." This just means melting some solder over the tip of the iron & then wiping the excess off on the sponge.

As the solder melts, the stuff smokes a tad. Don't worry - it isn't hot enough for you to be inhaling lead vapor! It's just some of the resin vaporizing from the heat. It is harmless and won't hurt you.

To solder, hold the iron against the wire for a few seconds. More contact is better. Having a vise to keep the wire in place helps a lot too. Otherwise, you need three hands - one to hold the soldering iron, one to hold the wire, and one to hold the roll of solder. Despite the allegations of a few former girlfriends, I only have two hands, so the vise is handy.



You'll know when the wire is hot enough to melt the solder. The solder will begin to flow into the wire strands (the insulation will also probably begin to smoke - DON'T breathe the insulation smoke if you can avoid it - nasty stuff there...). The solder will probably flow by gravity to the lowest point it can get to and then form a big ball. I normally flick the wire slightly to dislodge the ball (careful - it's HOT). Then remove the iron from the wire and blow a few breaths on it to cool it down.



Now put the iron back in the holder & sip your coffee while the wire cools.

Get a banana plug and back the setscrew out until it's almost loose. Back it out too far & spend 10 minutes crawling on the floor & cussing while you look for it. Put the tip insulator onto the tinned wire tip & slide it up out of the way. Now stick the tinned wire tip into the socket. Won't go will it? Darned solder! Next, get a file and smooth off the solder lumps until the tinned wire fits in the socket. Now tighten the setscrew onto the wire in the socket. Here's where I always stab myself with the (&%)(&)*&^_ tiny screwdriver. This pair of wires only cost me one bandaid. Here's a tip with the tinned wire in the socket and the setscrew tightened:



If you want, you can put the whole tip back into the vise (tip down) and fill the socket with solder. I didn't because I may change these wires or reuse these tips. You get a better connection (long term) if you fill the sockets with solder. Sometimes I do, sometimes not.

Now slide the insulator up over the tip with that darned setscrew sticking out. Tough, isn't it? This is one of the design defects of ALL tips that are held on with setscrews. Here's a finished tip with the insulator over the protruding setscrew:



I normally use a few wire-ties to strain-relieve the wire pair. That way, if I trip over the wire, I don't rip them apart:



And here's the same with the excess tips clipped off:



Repeat on all other ends, and there you have it: Boomzilla's quick & dirty biwires:



If you wanted to "pretty them up," you could get some mesh wrap from Parts-Express and bundle the wires together. Since these are experimental (until I hear how they sound), I'll leave them "au natural" for now.

For those on the DIY forum who actually are able to DO things, this entire process was not as "professional" as it might have been. Nevertheless, pretty is as pretty does. These are cheap, functional, durable, and will probably sound as good or better than anything you could buy for under $500 a pair. My bananas came from Parts-Express.com for about $1 each. The wire can be had from any source (12-gauge is 12-gauge until you get to fancy metals etc.).

Hope this is helpful!

Cordially - Boomzilla

[Deleted]

What sort of tip/plug is that ? I thought banana plugs were of the sort of spring metal type (if you know what I mean).

[Darksky]

Nicely Done.

[Boomzilla]

Oct 13, 2013 16:30:03 GMT -5 fattykidd said:

What sort of tip/plug is that ? I thought banana plugs were of the sort of spring metal type (if you know what I mean).

There are numerous types of bananas. The most common, as you note, are the "spring" type where four bowed sides connect to the tip & the base. As the banana is slid into the socket, the bowed sides contract and provide a "friction fit" that provides good contact and prevents the plugs from coming loose. A variant of the spring type is the "locking" banana where a screw collar is used to expand the bowed sides from the inside. My preference, I don't know the formal name of, is what you see in the photos. It is a curled design that is just slightly larger in diameter than the plug. It fits well, doesn't loosen as easily, provides what I think is a greater surface area for contact. The plugs are available from a variety of sources. I buy mine from parts-express.com. I get 16 of the plugs for $17 and they fit up to 8 gauge wire.

[Deleted]

Oct 13, 2013 16:35:55 GMT -5 Boomzilla said:

Oct 13, 2013 16:30:03 GMT -5 fattykidd said:

What sort of tip/plug is that ? I thought banana plugs were of the sort of spring metal type (if you know what I mean).

There are numerous types of bananas. The most common, as you note, are the "spring" type where four bowed sides connect to the tip & the base. As the banana is slid into the socket, the bowed sides contract and provide a "friction fit" that provides good contact and prevents the plugs from coming loose. A variant of the spring type is the "locking" banana where a screw collar is used to expand the bowed sides from the inside. My preference, I don't know the formal name of, is what you see in the photos. It is a curled design that is just slightly larger in diameter than the plug. It fits well, doesn't loosen as easily, provides what I think is a greater surface area for contact. The plugs are available from a variety of sources. I buy mine from parts-express.com. I get 16 of the plugs for $17 and they fit up to 8 gauge wire.

Thank you sir