Since its stereophonic resurrection a few months ago, my speakers have been plagued by persistent crackling and audio dropouts.
Today, my 20+ year old Sony receiver got a serious sound upgrade by way of new speaker plug connections. The very stereo I nearly let go of for a mere $10 at a yard sale, has surprised me with its rich, full sounding audio. I ordered new speaker plugs from Monoprice. Hands down, Monoprice has been the best place to get audio / video / computer cables and connectors for me – thanks in part to its great prices and large selection.
Attaching the speaker plugs into the wires (also 20+ years old) was easy, but the connection between the speaker plug and components was not as ‘flush’ as what I’m used to when plugging in computer components like USB / FireWire cables. Nevertheless, the connections were in place and the audio coming from the receiver is rich and smooth, with nary a crackle or dropout.
The speaker plug connectors are metal and gold plated; if they come in contact with each other, they can potentially cause a short. To that end, I used the plastic packets that came with the speaker plugs to serve as insulators. It’s messy, but it works. Maybe there’s a cleaner / neater way? I didn’t want to use tape as I’d rather not have the sticky residue on the connectors.
I’m open to suggestions on a relatively simple (yet visually pleasing) method to insulate the wires from coming into contact with one another. Please feel free to share your ideas in the comments below. Thanks!
-Krishna
Just get some heat shrink tubing. you can find it in the automotive section of walmart and at radioshack.
cool. Thanks, Raptor!
those don’t even look like you’re supposed to have plugs. You just put the wire in there and it clamps down on it.
You could have just cut a couple inches off the wire and stripped them then twisted the ends and applied some electronics solder and re-inserted into the stereo. But the gold connectors will maintain a better connection until the copper wire inside corrodes. I would still treat the copper by twisting and soldering before putting the gold connector on. Then a little shrink wrap around the connector to prevent a short like you are concerned about.
Well, aside from the fact that gold connecors are just there for the show i’m pretty sure there’s an insulation inside the plug connectors assuring that it’s impossible to cause a short when the outside of the connectors get in contact with each other.
If this is not the case you just bought some pretty crappy cables…
I’ve just stripped the ends of the wires in that situation for years. That gives you direct contact with your conductor. Also, if you expose just the right length of wire, you eliminate your shorting issue.