So rather than poking our nose between these two opposing camps and risk getting dragged into the ongoing battle, lets elude the heated quarrel and instead offer up an overview of speaker cable jargon and give you some useful tips on how to buy your own. Read on to learn more about these plus other options you have. How to splice wire with crimp connectors

While my diagram may be helpful, I’d like to help you understand the pros and cons of each so I can help save you time, hassle, and maybe even a bit of money, too.

While you can get by with utility scissors (don’t use standard scissors used for paper or fabrics!) you’ll have to insert the wire right at the inside of the blades and cut very carefully. Of the 5 listed here, I recommend and use wire cutting pliers as they’re capable of cutting a wide range of wire sizes. For typical speaker wire like 18 gauge, the wire cutting feature on many other tools works fine. After the soldering iron is hot, apply heat to the wire with the tip. Once heated (after a few seconds usually), apply solder enough it has flowed fully through the wire. Wire nuts, also called wire twist connectors, are typically used for wiring installation in homes & buildings. They’re another option although I don’t recommend them as they’re a bit less reliable than crimp connectors or solder. Crimp connectors, also sometimes called butt connectors, are sold in standard colors for the range of wire gauge sizes they can be used with. Although red is listed as fitting 18 AWG wire, I’ve been using blue butt connectors with 18 AWG wire for years without problems.

First things first: here’s a simple diagram covering the basics for stripping & connecting speaker wire using one of the 2 most reliable ways.Using crimp connectors is one of my favorite ways to splice & extend speaker or power wire as a professional installer. It’s fairly fast and gives professional results with very little hassle or work. This is my top recommended way to extend speaker wire for nearly anyone. To begin, follow the wire cutting & stripping steps from the first section (using crimp connectors). Hold both ends and tightly twist each end around the other until they’re completely wrapped over each other. This is hands-down the most reliable way to extend & splice speaker wire. When done properly soldered wire is extremely strong. How to solder speaker wire