Using Ferrules for the end of speaker wires?

[Hickman]

Good day my friends, I have a question has anyone used ferrules crimping ends on speaker wires?These are popular in Europe and stumbled across the on YouTube.I bought a kit from Amazon and I think its something any handyman could use or need.Please let me know if anyone’s had success? TY...

 

[Eppie]

Not so common here if you are referring to crimped pin connectors like the one below. Most common are banana plugs, crimped/screwed spade connectors or plain stranded wire. I have nothing against them if done properly. You have to match the size of connector to the gauge of wire and try not to over-crimp the connection. The connectors are colour coded and so is the tool.

Only potential issue besides loose crimps would be dissimilar metals which can lead to galvanic corrosion, but most connectors are designed for copper any way.

 

[lovinthehd]

I do that for brake and derailleur cables on my bikes (and think those aren't particularly conductive), but never heard about such for an audio application....

 

[Pogre]

I think they make copper ones for electrical. I got curious and dug in a little. There are a few different types.

 

[Pogre]

There are a whole slew of them! I can totally see folks tweaking out on these things. "Turns stranded into a single core"...

 

[Mark E. Long]

I used them on my cables I put together for my front stage Iam pretty sure I bought them from Ram electronics. They worked great on canare 4s11 twisted pairs they went right in mono price banana plugs and tighten down with no problem .

 

[Pogre]

I used them on my cables I put together for my front stage Iam pretty sure I bought them from Ram electronics. They worked great on canare 4s11 twisted pairs they went right in mono price banana plugs and tighten down with no problem .

Do they look like any of the images I posted?

 

[Mark E. Long]

Do they look like any of the images I posted?

Yep indeed the ones I bought have black and red ends and are cooper they crimp really easy but there ain’t much room for a bigger twist to fit in there with a twisted pair going in . They do make different diameters too and are Farley cheap in a pack of 10 .I used the square crimp that’s showed in the top picture I had a crimping tool for these and never used it till this project .

 

[lovinthehd]

I used them on my cables I put together for my front stage Iam pretty sure I bought them from Ram electronics. They worked great on canare 4s11 twisted pairs they went right in mono price banana plugs and tighten down with no problem .

Why both the ferrule and the banana plug?

 

[Mark E. Long]

Why both the ferrule and the banana plug?

I put the banana plugs on the back of the amps where I sometimes switch gear out , on all the speakers them selves I just used the ferrules because on my big towers the binding posts are on the bottom and I could tighten them down real good and they never come loose . The bananas are just for ease of use on the amps but these do tighten down nicely in the bananas too .

 

[Eppie]

Yep indeed the ones I bought have black and red ends and are cooper they crimp really easy but there ain’t much room for a bigger twist to fit in there with a twisted pair going in . They do make different diameters too and are Farley cheap in a pack of 10 .I used the square crimp that’s showed in the top picture I had a crimping tool for these and never used it till this project .

Those red and black ones look like they use a different crimping tool than the standard one for lugs and spade connectors.

 

[Mark E. Long]

Those red and black ones look like they use a different crimping tool than the standard one for lugs and spade connectors.

They do the kind I have you slide the ferrules in from the end full length for lack of a better word in encloses it and you squeeze the handles together and mash’s the wire and ferrules together. It does a good job they do not come loose you can’t pull them off . The crimper I got from a buddy that used to build pro type cables no idea where he got it .
He also gave me about 50 feet of bulk canare 4s11 cable to try out . It was enough to do my front mains and center with some left over . I’d say the tool is not cheap . No idea where to get one either . But for bigger twisted pairs this is a great way to not worry about frayed wire ends and I believe it’s adjustable for different size ferrules too .
Best regards !

 

[Speedskater]

Ferrules are very common in industrial and military applications that use fine strand wire. They never solder tin the ends of fine strand wires because of the problems that it causes.
They often us Non-insulated Wire Ferrules

Insulated & Non-Insulated Wire Ferrules | Ferrules Direct

Our insulated & non-insulated wire ferrules are for use in factory wiring only & power or control circuits. Please contact us with any further information.

www.ferrulesdirect.com

 

[Eppie]

Ferrules are very common in industrial and military applications that use fine strand wire. They never solder tin the ends of fine strand wires because of the problems that it causes.
They often us Non-insulated Wire Ferrules

Insulated & Non-Insulated Wire Ferrules | Ferrules Direct

Our insulated & non-insulated wire ferrules are for use in factory wiring only & power or control circuits. Please contact us with any further information.

www.ferrulesdirect.com

Well they obviously have never seen the quality of my soldering but a novice could cause problems.

 

[Speedskater]

No, there are two problems with solder tinning wire ends:
1] With screw terminals. With time, temperature variations and vibration, the solder may cold-flow and allow the terminal to loosen.
2] Where the solder stops there will be a hard spot and vibration may cause strands to brake at that point.
* * * * * *
see:

https://cdn.thomasnet.com/ccp/00142951/263810.pdf

 

[Eppie]

No, there are two problems with solder tinning wire ends:
1] With screw terminals. With time, temperature variations and vibration, the solder may cold-flow and allow the terminal to loosen.
2] Where the solder stops there will be a hard spot and vibration may cause strands to brake at that point.
* * * * * *
see:

https://cdn.thomasnet.com/ccp/00142951/263810.pdf

Yes, cold-flow of solder is a real thing and thermal expansion and contraction can cause a joint to work loose. In a temperature controlled house thermal expansion is not usually an issue on the speaker side, and if your speaker terminals are vibrating so much that the copper wire strands start to break, well, I think you have some bigger issues or just crappy speaker cabinets. Thermal expansion and solder flow on the amplifier side OTOH could be an issue especially if running class A amps that can get quite hot. Tinning ends is a bad idea if you move components around a lot and stress the end. FWIW I don't solder speaker wires unless it's an in-wall application and I removed tinning from my initial post.

 

[Speedskater]

After all that, I sometimes do solder-tin wire ends!
First I strip a very short length of insulation.
Then I solder-tin just that short length of exposed wire.
Then I strip more insulation, so that I can connect to the bare wire.

 

[Eppie]

After all that, I sometimes do solder-tin wire ends!
First I strip a very short length of insulation.
Then I solder-tin just that short length of exposed wire.
Then I strip more insulation, so that I can connect to the bare wire.

Tinning just the tip does prevent the wires from fraying and shorting out. How many posts have there been here with people who had amp issues related to frayed wire?

 

[Pogre]

Tinning just the tip does prevent the wires from fraying and shorting out. How many posts have there been here with people who had amp issues related to frayed wire?

I've fielded a few. It's definitely a thing.

I can see soldering just the tips to prevent fraying. That'd do the trick and you wouldn't have to worry about cold flow or cracking just doing the tips.

PS, I can see using ferrules too. It's a little tweaky and not on my radar, but it's harmless, cheap and does prevent fraying as well.

 

[Mark E. Long]

I've fielded a few. It's definitely a thing.

I can see soldering just the tips to prevent fraying. That'd do the trick and you wouldn't have to worry about cold flow or cracking just doing the tips.

PS, I can see using ferrules too. It's a little tweaky and not on my radar, but it's harmless, cheap and does prevent fraying as well.

They do make a nice finished look and on what I used some red and black heat shrink to hold the twisted pairs together helps too . It did take some trial and error getting the twists nice and tight is a must .