Speaker Wire: Tin 'Em or Pin 'Em? Or Both? Or Neither?

[Elfcat]

OK, so I'm boning up on wires, and there are some recommendations to tin them, and I'm looking at lead-free, which requires lead-free iron & lead-free chisel tip. Then while searching I see references to speaker wire compression pins.

 

Is one better than the other? Should a lead still be tinned going into a pin? Should it be neither and cut the exposed wire as short as possible?

[wuzzzer]

Just go high quality bare wire.  Trim the ends every few years as needed.

[Pete H]

18 hours ago, wuzzzer said:

Just go high quality bare wire.  Trim the ends every few years as needed.

Agree.  Clean copper wire is all you need.

[Coytee]

Yep, what they said.

[glens]

Pins might be a good idea in lieu of tinning.  A judicious dab of grease of some appropriate type applied prior to swaging, of course...

 

It all depends on how you're attaching things.  I'm a fan of banana plugs, but terminal strips generally preclude those.

 

I tin pretty much everything that calls for "bare (stranded) wire and screw (or spring-loaded)" terminations.  Luckily I have enough properly-leaded solder on hand to last my lifetime.  Lead keeps the joint from growing whiskers, and I ain't gonna be eating the stuff anyway.

 

Going under a screw head?  Either tin it and form a proper loop or crimp on a lug.  Only way(s) to go that route in my book.

 

If it's worth doing, it's worth overkill.