How do you extend Speaker cables???

[spagmasterswift]

I need your help!

I bought my girlfriend a very nice Sony Stereo for Xmas and she wants to put each speaker at each end of her lounge. Problem is the cable wont stretch.

So we went down to Comet and bought some speaker cable (foolishly paying ?19.95) in the hope that we could use it to extend the speakers reach - the guy in the place said it would be easy but didn't explain how it could be done (I blame Bank Holiday Monday shopping on it all!!).

Anyways, I took off the plugs that connect to the back of the HiFi and the wire is held in tight and didn't look like the cable I had would fit in. I stopped messing with it before I broke it beyond repair and though it best to ask you guys how you extended your speak cables as this must come up all the time right?

[marcus]

I wouldnt extend speaker cable in the first place, Id buy long enough length instead, by splitting the cable you will likely compromise the sound quality. If you can take it back Id do that and get a new one, if not then we can try help out.

[spagmasterswift]

So I should really start thinking of the cable as part of the Speaker and not something that can be connected to it? If that's the case then maybe looking for replacement speakers is the answer My girlfriend wont be a happy bunny...

Cheers anyways tho mang!

[Crisp_Rapper]

wait, is it like a mini/midi/maxi hi-fi? those come with little thin red/black speaker cable don't they? proper speaker cable is a fair bit thicker than that so you'll have a job getting it to work.

you can use the thin stuff but you really should just go out and buy longer lengths instead of patching it... most shops that deal with audio should stock it.

[John Beaulieu]

if you are sticking with the standard speakers that ship with the stereo then you won't be too arsed about a drop in quality so just get some wire connectors and connect them up ... maplins or some other electrical outlet should have them for you (you put the wires in either end and tighten a screw to keep the wires in place .... should only be a couple of pence each)

though i would go with buying some seperate speakers and high quality speaker cable (oxygen free at the very least)

[RLench]

though i would go with buying some seperate speakers and high quality speaker cable (oxygen free at the very least)

But make sure your hifi can handle the new speakers. It might only be able to handle 30w speakers @ 6Ohms. If you try and power something like 70w speakers (8Ohms) then you will damage the speakers, hifi and maybe more

[charlesr]

It sounds like your cables are hardwired into the amp? If they are then you will need some cable connectors. However, if you are looking at long distance cable extension, you will need to use thin cable, especially if the amp is a bit pants. Hardware stores do reels of very cheap speaker thin cable that you can cut to length and then buy. Use that. It won't be top quality, but at least the amp will be able to pass the current properly.

[Super Stu]

Some digicam shots would benefit us here, I suspect

[spagmasterswift]

I think you could be right Super Stu! Lets leave this till I get some pics for you guys in a couple of days.

Thanks for all the replys but I'm, feeling a bit now, poxy technology

[spagmasterswift]

Got a couple of low quality pics for you.

The first shows the wire taken out of the plug (that goes into the Hi Fi)

The second shows the size of the wire compared to the cable I bought.

Its obviously much bigger, but would this conect up OK? How do I do it?

Any help much appreciated...

[charlesr]

Never seen connectors like that.... Solder your new wires to it?
Buy a new hifi? (sorry)

[spagmasterswift]

They're from this little beast - Sony Hi-Fi CMT-SE1

[charlaph]

2ND EDIT -

Chop the old wire in half. Strip about 1-2cm of the plastic shielding off each run of wire at either side of the cut. Then get your new wire, strip 1-2cm off each end of it, and join the bare metal together.

So long as the 2 sections of bare wire (the old and new wires) are making good physical contact there should be no problems with the signal passing from the old to the new and back to the old. Once you've made the contacts, seal the joints with electrical tape to stop the bare metal making contact with anything it shouldn't

I'd advise you to take that speaker cable back and exchange it for bell wire as it looks like that's what the original wire is. Pointless using half decent wire just to extend it.

[charlaph]

OR. Looking at it again. You can take those connectors off the old wire (the original connectors, not the new ones you bought)

They're just like the connectors inside a molex plug - they have a simple mechanical clamp at the bottom end where the wire goes in. You can get a thin edged blade underneath one of the folds of metal that's holding the wire in place and prise it up. Do this for both folds and you'll be able to remove the old wire and put the new wire in. Then get a pair of pliers and tighten the folds down again, clamping the new wire in place.

Should work.

[spagmasterswift]

Thanks, thats kind of the plan I had in mind but wanted to hear it from somebody else before I started messing around with it all Then I can blame NTSC-UK if it all goes wrong

Bell wire sounds like the way to go too, that wire I got is way too fat to fit the connectors...