Ring Terminal Size for Most Amplifiers' Speaker Connections?

I'm back! Been doing a lot of research and comparisons once again as I'm slowly upgrading my system, so I've been away from the forum for a bit. Since I can't seem to figure this out on Google searches or from retailers, I figured someone would know the answer here.

I'm TRYING (without much luck) to find gold-plated ring terminals that fit the speaker connections on my amp. I'm about 95% sure most amps that had the old screw-down connections are the same size, but finding the right size terminals for my speaker leads is NOT an easy task!

I ordered what looked like the right size, 1/4" AND also some 5/16" because the terminals with the square washers are microscopically 5/16" wide. Well, it turns out what I end up getting are ring terminals with the INSIDE diameter of the hole as the 1/4" and 5/16, NOT the outer diameter!

During an hour-long search on eBay, I stumbled across what looks to be the absolute coolest fork (spade) terminals, made by Nakamichi (or at least have the Nakamichi name on them)! They weren't showing up in my earlier searches because they come up under banana plug searches. Apparently they're made to slide under a banana plug, maybe for connecting a second speaker to one speaker. They have little set screws, so you just push the wire into the terminal, tighten the set screw, then screw on the plastic sleeve! Way cool, and I ordered a bunch of them! BUT... I'm STILL looking for the correct size of ring terminals! I did find amp connection replacement screws with washers built onto them, and the ones for the speaker connections say the washer is 12mm X 12mm which I'm guessing is the right size. The same sellers also have the bigger size for power and ground connections.

I never figured out why most amps stopped using the screw-down connections and went with the push-in type, because screw-down seems more secure, especially with ring terminals rather than spade/fork terminals at the ends of the wires.

Anyway, if anyone could tell me the exact size of GOLD PLATED ring terminal I need to look for to connect 12g and 10g speaker wires to my Eclipse amp, I would be very grateful. I'm not good when it comes to screw numbers or metric conversions and stuff. Like what the heck size is a #10 screw? Or a #8? Are those the screw sizes on most amps?

The screw is probably a M4 size, thread pitch 0.7mm. This is close to a #8 screw. So a ring or fork terminal with a #8 hole for the appropriate gauge wire. M3 would be close to a #6, M5 a #10. The ring terminals probably won't be oversize in diameter, that is able to fit in the terminal blocks. Fork style terminals, if desired, are available in narrower widths to fit in the blocks.

THANKS SO MUCH! This is exactly what I needed to know! I'm kind of confused on screw size numbers. I prefer rings over forks only because they have a less chance of being tugged out, but then nobody should be tugging on my speaker wires anyway! LOL! But seriously, thanks for your answer! Now I can order some correct size ring terminals. I never imagined they would be so hard to find these days. I had no problem finding the correct size 2 years ago, but not such luck now.

These are those really cool 12g gold-plated fork terminals I found on eBay and ordered. Never seen anything like them! Too bad they aren't rings! I think they might look pretty nice connected to my amp! STILL going to order new gold-plated ring terminals in case I don't like these.

(Apparently the photo uploader isn't working)

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Here's a different kind, same Nakamichi...


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kenwood_nut wrote:

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...(Apparently the photo uploader isn't working)

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It doesn't like file names containing special characters like parenthesis ( ), etc. When you select an image to upload, you'll see the following text. "Images with special characters in the file name such as ()#*$%^#@!=~ may not upload and display correctly. Please rename the file before uploading."

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the12volt • Support the12volt.com

OH! Thanks for the tip! I'll rename them in my computer.

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