Speaker Wire too big

[BarneyFifeFan]

I recently bought some 12 AWG speaker wire from Monoprice. It fits perfectly into the spring terminals on the backs of the speakers, but it ended up being too large for the terminals on the receiver. Is it OK, sonically speaking, to splice in some 16/18 AWG (not sure which) wire which I had sitting around as a sort of lead to connect to the receiver with?

 

[Steve81]

What kind of terminals are on your receiver? If it's the usual binding posts, you could pick up a set of cheap banana plugs to terminate the cable.

 

[BarneyFifeFan]

@Steve81 It was a fairly cheap ht in a box system from Onkyo, and only two pairs of terminals are binding posts. I already have bananas for those. It's the other four pairs that are giving me grief atm.

 

[Steve81]

Gotcha. They also make pin connectors like these and "flexible pin" connectors like these which work with a spring loaded terminal. Either way, much cleaner and less prone to problems than trying to splice cable.

 

[BarneyFifeFan]

@Steve81 I've looked at those, but the spring terminals on my receiver are so close together (think checkerboard, if that makes any sense) that I'm pretty sure those connectors would end up shorting out.

 

[j_garcia]

No I would not splice in a smaller piece of wire. Use pin connectors.

http://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-109438-High-Quality-Copper-Speaker/dp/B0097JLRZM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459440903&sr=8-1&keywords=speaker+wire+pin+connectors

http://www.amazon.com/Hi-end-Copper-Speaker-Shrink-Wv-spcpps2/dp/B00X98OSKS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1459440903&sr=8-2&keywords=speaker+wire+pin+connectors

12 AWG wire is really overkill for nearly all home systems.

 

[highfigh]

Just remove a few strands at a time until it fits. Make sure no strays can reach from one terminal to another and cause a short circuit. The difference is sound between removing a few strands and having a full count will be unnoticeable.

 

[markw]

Not to be a killjoy, but 12 gauge is most likely overkill for your installation. 16 gauge would more than suffice.

 

[lovinthehd]

All good suggestions, personally I like the removing a few strands til it fits as the easiest/cheapest solution.

 

[mtrycrafts]

That 2nd link posted by j garcia comes with heat shrink insulation, color coded, in case you end up removing too many strands.. That connector is certainly easy to put in that spring clip versus twister strands that may splay out as you try to put it in.