SamS Posted August 12, 2006 Share Posted August 12, 2006 Hi, I pulled apart my '74 Cornwalls the other day to rotate the K-33-Ps. Sure enough they had the infamous "doping drip" near the bottom of the surround. So when I rotated one of the big 15"s, I realized I there wasn't a lot of slack in the speaker wire going from the woofer to the crossover. I made it work, but it got me thinking about upgrading the 30+ year old internal wiring network. I plan on replacing the crossover network soon. Anybody done this before? I'm all for a DIY adventure if someone wants to recommend decent (but cheap!) wire and spade connectors that I could solder. -Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 radio shack part number 64-3125 spades will work. These are the crimp type so you don't need to solder. there is all kind's of wire on clearance at radio shack at 75% off. Check for these. 2782751, 10' pair, 8.97, reg 29.9 2782752, 20' pair, 9.97, reg 39.99 if you can't find any of the above, 14 guage lamp cord at home depot will be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamS Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 That's a great tip on the wire. I didn't realize it was on clearance at all locations. Any ideas for a more sturdy spade? I think I've used those before but the metal is thin and may not accomodate that Monster wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 It's mini-monster wire. about 14 guage it works if you pull out the center plastic core from the wire end as part of the prep process (stripping 1/4 inch from the end). The plastic core looks like fishing line. It is used to keep the wire bundles at a fixed gap. the gap is not needed at the termination point. the part number i gave you is for a red spade. there is a blue spade that is slight larger. there is a yellow spade that is even bigger, but you have to use some trickery to get it to fit on the xover terminal strip. The trickery is to connect the spade to the screw on a 22 degree angle, then tighen the screw, the screw will then compress the yellow spade slightly to fit into place. The yellow spades are very difficult to wire crimp . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamS Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 Oh I didn't realize it was the mini monster version. I've used it before and am familiar with the fishing line core. I actually have a packet of blue spades in my box of 'parts junk'. I still think they're kinda flimsy, but I guess they get the job done. I'm leaning towards solder. Would I use a different type of spade? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEC Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Be very careful re-wiring the speaker if any soldering is done on the driver connections. The larger the wire, the hotter the terminal gets during soldering and the greater the possibility of damaging the driver from excess heat. I often repair drivers that were fine before someone decided that putting larger wire in the speaker is a good thing. It is easy to spend lots more than the wire cost in diaphagms. Now before you guys that are good at soldering tell me that you can do this without causing any damage, I already know that. This was not written to you. Of course if you are good at soldering, you should already know that no audible improvement is possible by going from good wire to bigger wire. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Other option is to use the min-female spades as Klipsch now does in stead of soldering to the terminals. Once you remove the old wire, and any excess solder, the mini female terminal spades slips right on, tight fitting at that. Here is an AL-4 xover, showing both the tweeter and the mid driver female type spade connectors. The male connector runs to bannana connectors on tope of the dog house bin for the bass driver. Klipsch has beefed up both thir wiring and their connections. More so for market appeal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamS Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 Good tip Bob. I'd rather not solder directly to the drivers. I'm no soldering pro, but I can get by. I was able to find a couple of monster 20ft pairs @ $9.97 today. Ya, I realize that thicker wire will not exactly improve the sound. I just saw that 30+ year old wiring in there and thought abouut replacing so I can give 'em another 30 years of happy sounds after I update the xovers. [] I know the K33 has wires soldered directly to the driver, and the squaker has pinch on terminals.. Can't remember what the tweeter uses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 if you are also thinking of converting your external speaker wire connections from screw terminals to 3 way binding post, radio shack also has the monster gold plated spades on clearance at 75% off. 4.99 regular price 19.99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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