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How to Build Speaker Cables for Amplifiers

Creating your own amplifier cables is easy and economical. If supplies are bought from the proper source you can produce a $35-40 dollar amplifier cable for less than $5. Another benefit of this do-it-yourself is the ability to decide how your cable will connect. This article will instruct you on how to create a cable with one 1/4 inch mono cable on each end, but you may customize your cable and use gold-plated contacts if you wish.

Things You'll Need

  • 12 or 16 gauge speaker wire
  • Soldering iron
  • Solder
  • (2) 1/4 inch male mono jacks
  • Wire stripper
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Instructions

    • 1

      Cut the desired length of speaker wire from its spool. Standard lengths are 3, 6 and 10 feet.

    • 2

      Strip 1/2 inch of the rubber protective coating that is around the copper wire from each end of the wire.

    • 3

      Unscrew the bodies from the 1/4 inch male plugs. This will expose two metal contacts.

    • 4

      Melt some solder on the longest contact of the plug; make a small puddle. Keep the soldering iron tip in the puddle until Step 5.

    • 5

      Stick one of the speaker wires into the hot solder. This should be the wire with a white stripe running along it. Bend the support prongs around your the wire for added security.

    • 6

      Solder the other terminal in the same way. This terminal will not have support prongs.

    • 7

      Repeat steps 4-6 at the other end of the cable.

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