Pigtailing speaker wire together?

[Hetfield]

Is this a big no, no. I mean I know I've never done this before. My surrounds need to be raised up another foot or so. I bought some stands that will do the trick. I thought I had given myself a ton of slack even I set everything up but not so much. [emoji3525] I really don't want to rerun wire from the front of the room to the back again, taping it to the floor and all that, going under the rug.
I need about 10 inches of speaker wire. It's it a big no, no to pigtail a short piece of the same exact wire to get that extra bit of length?

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[William Lemmerhirt]

Not a problem at all. You can use butt connectors, solder, twisted etc. no problems with that little bit.

 

[Hetfield]

Not a problem at all. You can use butt connectors, solder, twisted etc. no problems with that little bit.

Oh excellent, thank you. I was thinking of just twisting together and electrical tape around it. I'm so glad I don't have to rerun wire to the back of the room, and mess around with the carpet. Electrical tape should be fine right? I just need 10 inches, maybe a foot to be sure. Thanks again for the help.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Yep. You can definitely do that. I personally like butt connectors but a good twist works too. Just make sure you do it like this.

 

[Hetfield]

Yep. You can definitely do that. I personally like butt connectors but a good twist works too. Just make sure you do it like this.

Definitely,100% no prob. I took electrical classes in high school. [emoji1787] I would never do that too photo ever. Thanks again.

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[William Lemmerhirt]

No worries het. Hope it goes smooth.

 

[Hetfield]

No worries het. Hope it goes smooth.

Thanks and now I need speaker wire because I'm plum out and I thought I had a roll. I'm having a helluva 2 days here. First I thought I had enough slack in my speaker wire to do that I need, then when it was ok to pigtail I found out I'm out of speaker wire. Question is, Amazon or go out to best buy? I heard Home Depot sells home speaker wire?

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[William Lemmerhirt]

Yeah HD or BB would work.
Don’t feel bad. I just had the crank go out in my wife’s Acadia. WHILE towing my boat.

 

[lovinthehd]

I'd mostly be concerned about longevity in the form of some stress on it, but a good connection properly taped would work well. I like wirenuts and electrical tape to secure for quick splices like that....

 

[BMXTRIX]

Yep. You can definitely do that. I personally like butt connectors but a good twist works too. Just make sure you do it like this.

While that is a more secure mechanical connection, does this method provide any better conductivity in the splice? Is there any data on this? Most electricians just twist and wire nut electrical cables together, and I've not heard any data on actual differences, but would be interested in knowing.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

While that is a more secure mechanical connection, does this method provide any better conductivity in the splice? Is there any data on this? Most electricians just twist and wire nut electrical cables together, and I've not heard any data on actual differences, but would be interested in knowing.

I can’t say that there is any real data about conductivity, other than my imagination lol. Although there was a video that I pulled picture from since I didn’t think I could describe it via text. It might cover some of that. I just personally like doing it that way as IMO it’s just cleaner, and if it’s a solder joint it’s easier to do, and looks and holds better. As far as electricians, they’re usually dealing with solid wire and ime it can tolerate the abuse and conditions better. I’ve never done any tensile strength testing either though lol.
Anyways, no I don’t have any science. Maybe I shouldn’t have said make sure you do it like this, and instead said that’s how I like to do it.

 

[Hetfield]

Oh heck yeah, thanks for all the advice. Home Depot was a pain, not in the aisle it said the speaker wire was in. Hunted around for 30 minutes before I found it 2 aisles over.
I spliced together, and raised my surrounds up about 1 foot, 11-12 inches and what a difference! I was getting localisation and it was annoying me to all hell. Amazing what a little change can do. I have very inexpensive RSL speakers but I love them, I really do. I mean I think about upgrading and I look and look and read and read but I do love these speakers I have now. Who knows what the future brings as we are nuts in this hobby and constantly think about upgrading. [emoji1787]

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[highfigh]

Thanks and now I need speaker wire because I'm plum out and I thought I had a roll. I'm having a helluva 2 days here. First I thought I had enough slack in my speaker wire to do that I need, then when it was ok to pigtail I found out I'm out of speaker wire. Question is, Amazon or go out to best buy? I heard Home Depot sells home speaker wire?

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You wanna borrow my cable stretcher?

Look for vans owned by AV integrators- they always have short pieces. It's too bad you're not local (here).

 

[Hetfield]

You wanna borrow my cable stretcher?

Look for vans owned by AV integrators- they always have short pieces. It's too bad you're not local (here).

That was probably good advice. I was actually thinking about going to Best buy and seeing if they had a few 12 inch piece of speaker wire laying around.

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[Eppie]

While that is a more secure mechanical connection, does this method provide any better conductivity in the splice? Is there any data on this? Most electricians just twist and wire nut electrical cables together, and I've not heard any data on actual differences, but would be interested in knowing.

No difference in conductivity. Any difference due to the physical break in the wiring is insignificant so it's treated as a single strand. Main benefit is that the lower image will not easily come apart under tension. It's really only when you get into the gigahertz band that these things become a factor.