Connecting classic AR Speakerss

[fromwm]

Does anyone know where I can find assembled speakers cables that attach to the AR speaker terminals?

 

[Aadams]

Show us the terminals or name the speaker model.

[AR55]

 

Blue Jeans Cable will custom make speaker cables of any length with just about any connector you can imagine.    

https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm

[fromwm]

Attached is a pic of the rear of an AR-6:

 

[JKent]

AR recommended 18AWG lampcord. Works perfectly 

[Aadams]

Kent is correct.  If you still want ready made wires it will be difficult to find for those models. If you are not willing to DIY by attaching spade or ring termination to the wires then your quickest path to ready made wires are these, below.   Spade to banana adapters.  You can also use pin terminators or your existing bare wire ends. .  

I currently use them on two pair.

[genek]

Banana plugs are great if you have to disconnect and reconnect a lot, but if you don't, then think about this.

A spade to banana jack adapter + wire to banana plug + plug to jack is THREE contact connections that can fail due to loosening or corrosion.

Compare that to tinning the ends of some wire or soldering the wire to a spade and then tightening a knurl nut down on it: one connection.

[AR55]

Blue Jeans Cable makes a good product and is it reasonably priced, but doing it yourself is obviously cheaper.

I tend to agree with genek.  Simpler is better.

In my case, I purchased Belkin 14 gauge speaker wire in bulk, cut it to the desired length & crimp on the spade connectors.  I know that soldering is a better connection, but crimped connections are easier & if done right they hold up just fine.  Below is a picture of my AR-11 speaker wire connections with the negative connection unscrewed to show the spade.

Parts Express sells 100-ft of Belkin 14 gauge speaker wire for $40:  

https://www.parts-express.com/Belden14-AWG Speaker-Cable

The also carry gold spades:

https://www.parts-express.com/Gold-Spade-22-16-AWG Pair

[fromwm]

AR55, Thank you for obviously spending the time responding to my post!  Unfortunately I'm not physically able to make my own, but you have helped me tremendously finding the correct size spades for my loudspeakers!!!!  No far, Blue Jeans Cable appears to be a good candidate for me.   The Belden 5000UE (Gray jacket, 12 AWG) for an 8' length  is only $36 ea.  Yes, reasonably priced.  Thanks again!

[frankmarsi]

Thank you AR55 for setting the record straight. Some of the information that was put forth here about using skinny wires is so far from the best ever given on this site. But, take it from whence it comes and look at their set-ups.

Speaker wire, and inter- connecting cables are very important and can have a major effect in ones audio system. I've been through that whole topic since I upgraded cables and speaker wire back in 1978 and desired more than the rift-raft wires and cabling out there. Prior to upgrading I did like most did, you just used what interconnects that came with the components and or bought 16 gauge (definitely not 18AWG) from anywhere USA store. Everyone did 40-50 years ago until alert affectionados wanted more and  learned there was better.  It was not only trendy but, a requirement for better sound to have better interconnects and speaker wire because it was proven differences did exist. Anyone who's in that old camp is not a searching for and certainly not experiencing higher fidelity. Though many here will be sticklers for wood matching finishes or potentiometer quality it appears some are not concerned with improving their listening system. AR55's suggestion of using "Blue-Jeans" is an excellent one as they do offer substantial quality at a reasonable cost. For me, nothing less than what "Straight-Wire's"  mid-level interconnects can deliver. After that, the sky is the limit the more I spend for better interconnects, the better my system will sound.

I presently use 12AWG in my four AR-LST system and that is a change from 10AWG I once used. I didn't purchase super costly wires or cables in fact I get in just 'under-the-wire' sort of speak. I use interconnects of the $100. to $150.MSRP variety for one meter length through-out my entire system because anything less sounds awful and certainly not true to the source. Like I said above, I found out by personal testing back in 1978 and learned even more as time went on and I tried different quality/cost cabling and wire.

I'm not suggesting that one must use super high-end cabling or wire and take out a second mortgage but at least something more substantial and with-in the realm of high-fidelity. Do the research and do it on high-end sites to educate one self. But, I have to say two of the previous posters suggestions given here are atrocious.

Forty five, fifty years ago, I followed the same learning curve as many folks did with phono cartridges as back in the 1970's and I had what was considered the common-man's choice of better quality. A Shure Type III, a Stanton 666EEE. Research through-out all those years led me to the good-stuff and I will never consider the lesser quality again. Later on I graduated up to a Denon 301, 304, Ortofon Rondo Blue, Benz-Micro ACE S.  Presently, I use Lyra Delos, Kleos, AudioTechnica ART 9, Ortofon Cadenza Blue,  and my latest purchase, a Benz-Micro 'Gull-Wing'.  One could ask are there any differences?  And to that I ask; does a bear shit in woods?

Once again, the keyboard-shield and the spread of gross mis-information runs wild on the internet. And to that crowd I say; I've spent most of my adult  hi-fi life striving to be informed and to at least approximate the use of better cabling and wires in my system. Doing all that I could to have the best sound  with-in reasonable cost. Anything less is just that, less!

 

See link below.

 

[ar_pro]

On the benefits of using 12 gauge wire: why not continue it into the speaker, itself? Why not replace the LST's original 18 or 16 AWG internal wire with 12 gauge? Or 10 gauge?

I guess I'm asking why the magic of heavy-gauge wire should stop at the speaker terminals?

And what happens when the signal gets to the itty-bitty wire used in resistors & capacitors? 

 

[lARrybody]

3 hours ago, ar_pro said:

On the benefits of using 12 gauge wire: why not continue it into the speaker, itself? Why not replace the LST's original 18 or 16 AWG internal wire with 12 gauge? Or 10 gauge?

I guess I'm asking why the magic of heavy-gauge wire should stop at the speaker terminals?

And what happens when the signal gets to the itty-bitty wire used in resistors & capacitors? 

 

What about the tiny wire leads from the voice coils of front wired AR3/3a tweeters and midranges. What gauge are those?

Blue Jeans Cable and SVS will make you any kind of speaker cable you want. 

I made my own from Parts Express binding post blocks.

[RoyC]

8 hours ago, ar_pro said:

On the benefits of using 12 gauge wire: why not continue it into the speaker, itself? Why not replace the LST's original 18 or 16 AWG internal wire with 12 gauge? Or 10 gauge?

I guess I'm asking why the magic of heavy-gauge wire should stop at the speaker terminals?

And what happens when the signal gets to the itty-bitty wire used in resistors & capacitors? 

 

I could not agree more with ar_pro. Coincidentally, I saw this thread just before I began working on another pair of AR speakers today, and decided to take a couple of photos of reality (below). These show the connections on the other side of an AR cabinet input terminal board. There are also 2 washers and a nut for each ordinary screw terminal on the outside. This is not to mention the mundane push-on connections of AR drivers used after the mid 70's...connected to the usual 18 and 20 gauge crossover wire.

"...Some of the information that was put forth here about using skinny wires is so far from the best ever given on this site. But, take it from whence it comes and look at their set-ups..." This statement is absolute nonsense, imo...but, then again, I'll "take it from whence it came". 😉

Roy

 

[JeffS]

One more thought on the subject (from 1:15 to 1:38 in the video):

 

 

[JKent]

23 hours ago, fromwm said:

AR55, Thank you for obviously spending the time responding to my post!  Unfortunately I'm not physically able to make my own, but you have helped me tremendously finding the correct size spades for my loudspeakers!!!!  No far, Blue Jeans Cable appears to be a good candidate for me.   The Belden 5000UE (Gray jacket, 12 AWG) for an 8' length  is only $36 ea.  Yes, reasonably priced.  Thanks again!

Blue Jeans is a good company and they provide quality products at reasonable prices. But let’s put this in perspective: You have 8’ runs from amp to speaker. That’s short. 12AWG is what is used for house wiring on a 20 amp circuit for heavy duty things like air conditioners. Most house wiring is 14 gauge, 15 amps.

Edgar Vilchur, the guy in the video, is the inventor of the acoustic suspension speaker and founder of AR. He demonstrated AR speakers in big venues like Grand Central Station using 18 gauge zip cord, i.e. lamp cord.

 The most important thing is to be sure you get the polarity right: plus to plus, minus to minus. Speaker wire is color coded. Lamp cord has a ridge on one side. If you get Blue Jeans to make 16 or 18 ga cables with ring terminals to fit #8 machine screws at one end for the speakers and whatever your amp accepts at the other end (banana jacks?) you’ll be fine. If you take a picture of the terminals on your amp or tell us the make and model we can tell you what kind of connector goes on that end.

 

[AR55]

My intent was not to stir up a hornet’s nest over speaker wire gauge.  I use the Belden wire because it is a respected name (the wire is truly 14 gauge copper); it’s relatively inexpensive ($.40/ft); it’s sheathed in white (blends into my base boards) and at 14 gauge it can easily handle the longer runs to my back surround speakers.

[JKent]

Another source is Monoprice.

I’m laid up for a couple of weeks and can’t get to my shop or I’d offer to make a set of speaker wires.

[JKent]

On 3/3/2021 at 6:10 PM, fromwm said:

Attached is a pic of the rear of an AR-6:

 

Hold on a minute. Where’s the jumper? IIRC correctly it goes from T to 2. Is it there?

[Aadams]

3 hours ago, JKent said:

Hold on a minute. Where’s the jumper? IIRC correctly it goes from T to 2. Is it there?

Yes. I saw that yesterday and elected to remain quiet because the OP did not claim ownership of the speakers pictured.  This thread now has enough off topic material to make it volatile.

[JKent]

Aadams

I hear what you’re saying and agree this could go way off topic BUT maybe the OP thinks he needs custom cables because of the 3 terminals. Or maybe the speakers sound bad because the jumper is missing.

fromwm: There should be a short wire joining T and 2. If it is missing use any short wire—even a paper clip as long as it doesn’t touch 1. Then connect whatever 2 conductor wire you choose to 1 and T, as shown in your photo.

[ar_pro]

With the Classic-style binding posts, the soldered ring connector is about as sure and accident-proof a hookup as possible; assuming there's no need for a quick connect/disconnect, of course.

Most pre-cut & terminated cables use either a spade or banana plug as a connector; the soldered rings have fallen out of common usage, which is yet another sign of general slippage in the universe.

 

 

[fromwm]

5 hours ago, JKent said:

Aadams

I hear what you’re saying and agree this could go way off topic BUT maybe the OP thinks he needs custom cables because of the 3 terminals. Or maybe the speakers sound bad because the jumper is missing.

fromwm: There should be a short wire joining T and 2. If it is missing use any short wire—even a paper clip as long as it doesn’t touch 1. Then connect whatever 2 conductor wire you choose to 1 and T, as shown in your photo.

It's there!  I took another pic after moving the gray jacket material out of the way.  Offer still stand?

[JKent]

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