Hook up wire for 511Bs on K-horns

[George Roland]

My Altec 511B (green) horns arrived awhile ago, so now I have the horns, the adapter and I'm hoping soon to get to try them out. I still need to take care of mounting the horns upright and securely--planning a temp try out just setting them atop the K-horns for now.

I need longer hook up wire than I have and was thinking of using stranded copper "lamp" cord14-16 gauge with a spade lug for the network end and tinned bare wire for the K55 end (I have the push-button wire connectors). My original Klipsch wire is solid copper but I don't know what gauge it is or where to find similar or whether any of this matters, really.

Any thoughts on hook up wire in this situation would be appreciated.

George

[Guest " "]

lamp cord for the mid driver is fine.

Note the polarity indicators, some wires use ribs to denote polarity, some have a stripe, some have a square insulator on one lead and a round one on the other.

Radio shack sells the spades terminals, blue, red or yellow. I use yellow which takes a little effort to get installed and connected. I think red is the next size down, and blue the smaller. Check with the folks at radio shack or your local auto parts store on sizing to fit the corssover barrier strip connector.

[George Roland]

Thanks for your reply. I have some spade lugs and understand what you're saying about polarity.

I have never purchased any of the expensive "exotic" speaker cables or interconnects.

I have always used stranded copper lamp cord or R.S. "monster cable hookup wire in heavy gauges for all my speaker connections. What's your take on all this? Do people here on the Klipsch Forum generally go for these expensive cables? I'm skeptical, I must say, that cables make much difference, but I have no real experience on which to base my doubts.

Best,

George

[PrestonTom]

Thanks for your reply. I have some spade lugs and understand what you're saying about polarity. I have never purchased any of the expensive "exotic" speaker cables or interconnects. I have always used stranded copper lamp cord or R.S. "monster cable hookup wire in heavy gauges for all my speaker connections. What's your take on all this? Do people here on the Klipsch Forum generally go for these expensive cables? I'm skeptical, I must say, that cables make much difference, but I have no real experience on which to base my doubts. Best, George

George,

Some people do spend quite a bit of money on cables. I am not sure why....

You are right to be skeptical, the time and money is better spent on tackling other culprits,

Good Luck,

-Tom

[jcmusic]

Factory stock wire is 16 gauge.

Jay

[George Roland]

This is a good point, Tom. The "bang for the buck" factor in audio gear can be overlooked sometimes. I am amazed that people spend thousands of dollars on speaker cables.

Makes me wonder how many audio stores might actually A/B cables to allow a buyer to hear any differences or lend several sets to try at home before buying. Maybe some do this.

I recently bought a few different brands of tubes for the line stage in my PAS-2 Dynaco preamp and, through the k-horns, every one of those tubes sound different. Of five tubes, there was one that made a big difference in the overall soud of my system--far less noise and no glare. The tube only cost $8.00 and the difference was not subtle!

George