soldering speaker wire to speaker
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=79737
Printed Date: May 18, 2024 at 5:28 AM
Topic: soldering speaker wire to speaker
Posted By: mech3
Subject: soldering speaker wire to speaker
Date Posted: June 28, 2006 at 9:36 PM
I believe i was told a long time ago that its a bad idea to solder the speaker with directly to the positive and negative leads because the heat can damage the voice coil. Is this true, i am planning on redoing all my wire runs for my mids and hi's and was thinking about soldering the connections if it wont damage the speakers.
Replies:
Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: June 28, 2006 at 9:56 PM
The heat can cause the glue to fail, the plastic to melt. The voice coil is not the issue. I use only F-disconnects of the proper size to connect speakers. I want to be able to disconnect them from the wiring at will. But I know a lot of experienced pros solder the wires onto them.
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Posted By: mech3
Date Posted: June 28, 2006 at 10:14 PM
thanks for the reply, i was thinking of soldering the connections just for the best possible connection. That makes sense about the heat causing the glue to fail etc. Im thinking if you tin the wire and dont hold the iron to the speaker terminal for a prolonged time it should be safe, well we will see. On a seperate note, do you installers out there prefer silver speaker wire over copper. I recently replaced my sub speaker wire with stinger expert series silver speaker wire and I really believe i heard a difference. I ordered up 75 feet of 14 gauge silver speaker wire to redo my mids and highs so hopefully i'll notice a difference. I just was wondering all of your proffessional opinions-
Posted By: coppellstereo
Date Posted: June 29, 2006 at 6:59 PM
some people claim they notice a difference. Usually more of am impact on mids/highs. maybe you will notice it there too!
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Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: June 29, 2006 at 7:18 PM
You won't notice a difference. ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: jmac279
Date Posted: June 29, 2006 at 7:34 PM
You shouldn't be holding it there long enough to cause it to heat up significantly, anyways ... If you do, you need to work on your soldering skills ... Of course, I wouldn't solder the wire to the terminals, anyways.
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: June 29, 2006 at 7:58 PM
mech3] wrote:
On a seperate note, do you installers out there prefer silver speaker wire over copper. I recently replaced my sub speaker wire with stinger expert series silver speaker wire and I really believe i heard a difference. I ordered up 75 feet of 14 gauge silver speaker wire to redo my mids and highs so hopefully i'll notice a difference. I just was wondering all of your proffessional opinions-
There is really no reason to use anything other than copper wire, and no real reason to use anything larger that 16 AWG. There is no meaningful measurable difference in signal integrity between silver, copper, silver-plated copper, oxygen-free copper, or solid gold wire. Most reported differences "heard" by people are completely subjective and at least partly due to the listener desiring to hear a difference (AKA the placebo effect.) All genuine double-blind tests that I have ever seen or read about support the fact that people cannot reliably hear any real difference in speaker wires - or between interconnect cables, for that matter. If it makes you feel better, if you believe you hear a difference, or if you simply like the looks of it, more power to you. But my recommendation is to spend your money on better speakers (no matter what you're currently using) before spending it on expensive or esoteric wire. ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: jmac279
Date Posted: June 29, 2006 at 8:09 PM
DYohn] wrote:
.. no real reason to use anything larger that 16 AWG.
1200 watts @ 1 ohm
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: June 29, 2006 at 8:58 PM
jmac279 wrote:
DYohn] wrote:
.. no real reason to use anything larger that 16 AWG.
1200 watts @ 1 ohm
Correct. 16AWG. Typical losses would be less than 0.3db with 1200 watts into 1 ohm. Only an issue if you are a serious competitor. ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: jmac279
Date Posted: June 29, 2006 at 9:44 PM
DYohn] wrote:
P>jmac279 wrote:
DYohn] wrote:
.. no real reason to use anything larger that 16 AWG.
1200 watts @ 1 ohm
Correct. 16AWG. Typical losses would be less than 0.3db with 1200 watts into 1 ohm. Only an issue if you are a serious competitor.
Theoretical voltage loss, and subsequent output loss, based on resistance at room temperature ... 16 gauge would heat up significantly with 34.6 amperes going through it ...
Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: June 29, 2006 at 10:43 PM
jmac279 wrote:
DYohn] wrote:
jmac279 wrote:
DYohn] wrote:
.. no real reason to use anything larger that 16 AWG.
1200 watts @ 1 ohm
Correct. 16AWG. Typical losses would be less than 0.3db with 1200 watts into 1 ohm. Only an issue if you are a serious competitor.
Theoretical voltage loss, and subsequent output loss, based on resistance at room temperature ... 16 gauge would heat up significantly with 34.6 amperes going through it ...
.3dB @ 1200 watts @ 1 ohm... for the typical length of a sobwoofer wire, absolutely INsignificant heating of the wire, otherwise it'd be a greater loss. We've been over this dead horse before, too... Without a loss of one WHOLE decibel, most human ears won't likely be able to tell the difference at all. ------------- It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."
Posted By: mech3
Date Posted: June 30, 2006 at 9:40 PM
well, I just finished up redoing all my speaker runs and it made a HUGE difference. Call it a placebo effect if you will, but I can hear a 200% improvement over the stock speaker wire. I was very lucky for once with my car as the door molex connector's actually had a hole big enough for my to feed the stinger expert series 14 gauge wire through. I opted not to solder the connections and go with the quick disconnects as i'm probably going to replace my mids and hi's this weekend or next when I decide what I want. Thanks for all the input everyone!
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