Another speaker wire question!!?

[tucsoncarol]

Alright everyone, I haven't seen this addressed. I finally got the time, energy, interest up to install my radio/cd/mp3/anything else you can think of, and I encountered a problem I never expected. All the wires are clearly labeled and made complete sense except the speakers. The TM has "monster cable" style wiring, and my radio has a set of red and black wires for each speaker. They are labeled + and - left speaker and the same for the right speaker. It's been years since I set up a stereo, and I don't know how the silver and gold sides of the monster cable relate to the red and black of traditional wires.

Also, should I solder my wire connections or just wire nut them? I lean toward solder just 'cause of the bouncing around factor, but I would appreciate any feedback from you.

Originally Posted by tucsoncarol

I don't know how the silver and gold sides of the monster cable relate to the red and black of traditional wires.

I recently installed a radio so here are my thoughts. In my 3023 (and others I believe), the two front speakers were wired together and the wires looped above the refrigerator. I cut these wires and using a AA 1.5V battery I determined which was the Left and Right speakers. I briefly touched the battery to the speaker wires to create a "thunk" sound. As for the wire colors, all you need to do is be consistent. eg connect TM silver to speaker Red and TM Gold to speaker Black. Wire the second speaker similarly. This should preserve correct phasing. I used tubular compression splices to splice the wires.

Keep working at it I felt like given up when I put in our radio. It is great listen to the radio while cooking dinner.

Originally Posted by hingarfi

As for the wire colors, all you need to do is be consistent. eg connect TM silver to speaker Red and TM Gold to speaker Black. Wire the second speaker similarly. This should preserve correct phasing. I used tubular compression splices to splice the wires.

I agree. I don't think it matters which way you connect positive versus negative, as long as you are consistent.

An out of phase condition can sometimes cause dead spots for sound.

[tucsoncarol]

Once again the members of this forum come through. Actually, what you say kind of tingles in some genetic memory from my youth. I THINK I remember doing just that in college dorm rooms for years, but as an old fogy I find that those sorts of memories usually end up in breaking something expensive. Thanks for the input.