Speaker Cables

Belden 5000 series Cable:

Our favorite speaker cable is the Belden 5000 series; we carry two offerings, the 10-gauge 5T00UP and the 12-gauge 5000UE (note: with wire gauges, the smaller the number, the larger the wire is). Belden's standard version of these cables is available only in a gray jacket, with white and black inner conductors; however, we've had Belden build us a slightly modified version of each, with a white outer jacket (less conspicuous in many installations) and red and black inner conductors, which we call "Ten White" and "Twelve White". Both the 10-gauge and 12-gauge versions consist of two separately insulated conductors, twisted together and wrapped in an outer PVC sleeve; the gray version of the 10-gauge 5T00UP is shown at right. Whether in white or gray, or 10 or 12 AWG, all of these cables are UL-listed and NEC-rated for in-wall use (the NEC rating for 5000UE and Twelve White is CL3R; for 5T00UP it's CL3, and for Ten White, it's CL2).

Welded Termination Options

Our ultrasonically-welded terminations include locking banana plugs, BFA plugs (these fit binding posts that have a central pin that prevents a conventional banana from being used), pin terminals, and spade lugs in 6.3mm, 7.0mm and 9.2mm internal sizes (only the 6.3 and 9.2 are shown at right). The pin connector, designed for use with wire-clip type terminals, presents some special issues and cannot be ordered on this page but can be ordered here: Speaker Cables with Pin Connectors. The spades will fit most types of binding posts, and the terminal end is angled at about 25 degrees from the shaft -- however, these spades are made of gold-plated copper and so can be bent, using a bit of care and a couple of pairs of pliers, to any angle you like.

Don't know what size spade is best? We have a measuring card with cutouts that can fit your posts, which we'll mail to you free of charge -- just drop us a note or give us a call. The 6.3mm fits many posts, but we offer the 7.0 as well because we've found that some posts are just a shade over the 6.3 size. The 9.2 will fit almost any post, but ideally one should use the smallest size that the post can accept.

DIY Termination Hardware: Bananas and Spades

The important attributes of a banana plug or spade lug are its ability to be reasonably well tightened onto the cable and its noncorrosive coating--the job of a banana or spade is very simple otherwise, as all it needs to do is provide a mechanically stable connection to the binding post and to the speaker wire. We carry banana and spade lugs which we import directly from a supplier in Taiwan; these are gold-plated and are of a compression screw termination type--that is, one inserts the wire through the rear portion of the connector, flares the wire to make it overlap the end of that rear portion, and then screws the front portion of the banana or spade onto the threads (see our speaker cable termination instruction page). Properly done, these terminations are extremely solid and can't be removed even with very strong pulling. Because these plugs have a conductive metal surface on their entire exterior, we recommend using a bit of heatshrink tubing (included with the connectors) to provide an insulating layer which will help protect against the possibility of shorting one connector to the other. Bear in mind, when choosing between spades or bananas, that because spade lugs have to go onto binding posts sideways, they really aren't practical for many of the surround amps on the market today, as there just isn't room for them. If in doubt, you're better off with banana plugs, which plug right into the ends of most binding posts.