I've been tinning my speaker wires for years. Always strip down more than you need and clip off just enough for a secure and snug fit. Great demo and advice!

Nice video Kevin. After tinning the wires, I put a small piece of red and black shrink tubing on the individual conductors. That way I don't have to feel for the ridge on the wire.

Your content is never junk.

For tinning (braided) speaker wire you should use a 30watt iron and good solder doped with silver (and/or copper). You can purchase the "silver&copper" solder in small tubes for about $10.00 Jameco electronics is a good source for irons and solder. What a timely video..I just tinned some speaker wire last week.

I start with an uninsulated piece of solid 12 gauge copper wire (leftover from a piece of NM-B 12/2 household electrical cable) and solder it into my fancy super flexible 10 gauge stranded copper speaker wire. Finish the ends with a shrink wrap tubing to cover up the solder joints. These solid 12ga wires now fit into my vintage amp and speaker binding posts.

These bench tip segments are a great watch. Keep them coming!!

Great advice! I have a 30 year old Radio Shack soldering iron. Don’t use it often, but it has always worked well for electrical repairs and hobby stuff. That said…I always spend a little money on my tools. I find that having better (not super expensive) tools is more enjoyable and I get better results when I work on something.

In the past few years I have been trying out different brands of solder. I haven't used the Kester brand yet, but there is one brand in particular that to me is by far the best. It is Schneider, sold at harbor freight. I don't know what they put in it, but it flows beautifully, solidifies properly and doesn't require excessive heat to work with. Also, as Kevin and others have already mentioned, keep the soldering iron tip clean and tinned. Makes all the difference in the world!

Keith: this may be the first time I can remember that I have some disagreement. A) When I tin a wire for this purpose I cut a slightly long length of insulation from the wire, then with care twist the wire tightly. Then I tin only the tip of the twisted length, followed by cutting the soldered end flush. Since the tinning will probably go further down the wire than preferred - the cut will shorten the wire appropriately. Now you have a wire bundle which does not tend to unravel and get hinky. With this method the wire is suitable for pushing thru a hole or forming to go around a screw. If you tin the entire exposed length of the exposed end - the wire will tend to break and fray due to flexing. B) When heating any part or wire it is more effective to have already placed a small bead of solder on the iron tip - then when the contact is made - the solder conducts the heat more effectively. ( the bad solder has shity flux - or none ) C) Note crimped wire to spade lugs create gas tight connections which can be superior to a soldered connection,... yea I know it is had to believe. D) Metcal soldering stations are the BEST. dan

The ultimate tinning is a Hexacon personal tinning pot. About 1 inch solder reservoir. Twist the braided copper until it’s a tight twist. Dip the whole part of the conductor’s in Flux then dip it in the tinning pot up to the plastic insulation. This method lets all the conductors to soak up the solder completely! You’re not missing any wire at all! I’ve been using Tinning Pots for 40 years and Hexacon is the best!

Great tip! I have a McIntosh MA 230 from 1963 and twisting the wire around is a mess, and I’m constantly worried about the wires touching.

Back when I ran a tech shop for a concert sound and light company, we received a bulletin from a connector manufacturer that recommended using crimp connectors over solder, because when stranded wire is soldered, the strands can fracture in places where the solder ends and the strands begin. They made a strong case for crimp connectors, especially in situations where there may be strain on the wires or movement from time to time. If I am trying to get through a small hole, I will tin only the tip of the wire to get it through the hole. Then pull until the solder-free strands are in the connector jaws. This allows the connector to compress the strands, similar to crimping. Then trim the excess and voila!

Wow. Thanks Kevin. I never soldered anything in my life. I just did this to some better grade speaker wire and they fit easily and perfectly into the back of my Kenwood KR-3090, and into the speakers themselves. The old wire I had was all frayed when putting into the speakers.

I have found that various different terminals and different wires either do or don't work well with tinned ends. Sometimes it is best to tin only the very tip to keep the strands together but allow the actual contact to be made with untinned copper. Kester solder is definitely good, but Edsyn is, too. I won't tell what brand is the best I've used because if I did I'd never get another partial roll on the cheap from an estate sale.

Yep, I put red heat shrink tubing on the positive connector housings.

Great instructional video, Kevin. Thanks for all the great tips!

I always use a solder bridge when I tin wires. A small drop of solder between the iron and the wire forms the bridge greatly increasing the surface area and heat transfer. Use a Rosin (rms) core solder. The rosin will coat the wire, since it melts first preventing oxidation and helps with the solder bridge. Clean the wire first with isopropyl, clean will get you good joints and tinning. Just my two cents worth. Keep up the videos, love to watch! Thanks

LMFAO at your intro, nice job. Always good From-The-Bench tips. Thanks Kevin.

Soldering wires direct to inside of speakers crossover increase sound quality so much.

I own a vintage Heathkit soldering iron that I built in 1976. It has a variable "heat dial" and a really nice "base/stand". Showing why you would solder instead of using "mini" pins with an outside shell and that being an impediment to how close these wires often have to be on the back of a vintage Marantz, etc. makes great sense. Keep up the great work.

Ok. First .. the sponge will expand after you get it wet..next you start tinning the iron before it gets hot.. and you tin the entire tip..and then tap the iron on the corner of the bench and wipe with sponge.. finally when you start to tin the wire you should flux the wire first.. and you add solder to the iron before you touch the wire..when heat is transfered to wire..you add solder to the iron where it contacts the wire and when it flows you add solder to the wire and slowly move the tip and add solder till you see the wire holding the solder mass. Remove iron before the wire covering melts. Next flux the terminal and tin the terminal..quickly join the tinned wire and while holding the iron to the wire / terminal.. add solder to the stop between the 2.. count 1. 2 3.. remove..the iron and watch the solder harden.. before you release the wire before your fingers are purple

Brilliant! I wish I knew this years ago. The times I've tried to push bare wire into speaker terminals... The amount of Banana plugs etc I have had to buy... Yet sitting in my electrics box is a good quality soldering iron with a very good secure stand, a proper wiping sponge and decent solder. I can see myself being a bit busy in a few days changing out those connectors on my 7.4.1 Q-acoustics home theatre set up. So, to reciprocate on good tips, I use heat shrink over connector plugs as insulation, not tape. Maybe that might help someone!!! Oh and here in the UK we pronounce the L in solder.

Thanks Kevin. I have a Hakko FX-888D, which I haven't used. I use my old Radio Shack soldering iron, because I mostly do small projects, which haven't required a ton of soldering so far.

I know im doing something right when I click the Hakko link and it says " You last purchased this xxx " Great iron and great solder!!! I thought i just sucked at soldering until I got a real iron!

I have run that Hakko for a long time and it’s great. The only thing I wish it had is auto shutdown.

Clothes irons set to highest temp when used for hot-glueing veneer to speaker enclosures can leave a mark too. It should be noted that some electronic engineers recommend against tinning wires that are connected via a screw or spring pressure terminal - particularly in any device that might be susceptible to sustained vibration. Rather, they suggest simply tightly twisting the braided wire and tightening the screws firmly. That said, I definitely prefer a decent banana plug/jack for speaker level connection - many of which also use screws rather than solder, and I’ve never had problems with them - and whenever possible would go out of my way to replace spring terminals on “vintage” speaker enclosures.

Thank you Kevin for the video. I went through three of the cheaper soldering irons available. They usually work ok out of the box. The issue is longevity. They don't last and for the most part, they are not reparable. I had one where the ceramic sleeve inside cracked the very first time I unscrewed it to change tips. I finally got a Weller WE1010 and it's great. I totally agree with you about the Hakko product line. I bought a FR-301 vacuum gun and it's fantastic. There's nothing better to use when you attack circuit boards!

VERY helpful (especially for me right now!) I just bought the solder and the Hakko Soldering iron. I was just planning on getting one like that. AND the tinning for speaker wire on a vintage system was also well timed. Mostly, I need the solder because I didn't listen to you, Kevin, and ordered a vintage turntable on e-bay. It travelled across the country and looked like it had been stomped on when it arrived! All those tone arm and cartridge head wires, yanked out! Wish me luck!

Great shirt and excellent advice. I wouldn't say that when I burnt my finger with one it smelled exactly like chicken, but it was memorable. :D

Thanks , I ordered that same solder ... Was having trouble with the " thrown in " solder ❤

Thank you for the tips very useful

I still use my Radio Shack entry-level iron from about 1970 and it prefers solder that is compatible with its static temperature. Fortunately I somehow knew to keep a clean tip, so it keeps on working. I think a beginner has two important things to remember. Keep away from the insulation protecting the wire with your iron and ventilation is a good idea overall. Thanks for the overview and keeping the channel interesting (for me anyway) and the humor is appreciated.

I have no mechanical skills, but this doesn’t look too bad. Thanks for a great video!

Impressive production values.

There is a temp control on thar iron.

I just did this 2 weeks ago. Have 3 systems that I change speakers a lot on. I put red and black heat shrink on ends. Makes for fast connections.

I have a cheap iron that looks somewhat similar to yours, and you know what it works just fine. It may not last long but for my usage that's fine. I tinned only the very tip of my wires, like the last 1/8 in. The speaker terminal contacts on the bare copper and the solder still keeps the strands together. If I was to connect/disconnect the wires often I would tin the whole end, in case some strands break off and hang away from the solder. In the end I don't think any method has an effect on sound quality, at least for my old ears.

Hi Kevin I really enjoy your videos. Can you recommend some books to read if I want to get into diagnosing and repairing speakers myself.

I used to do this and stopped because I wanted the convenience of easily plugging in and removing speaker wire when changing receivers or amps. I actually just had the outside of my + and - wires touching each other on the outside of the banana plugs last week, causing one speaker not to work and a degradation in sound. I didnt realize my left rear speaker was out because 3 were working giving enough sound not to notice one was out. I initially blamed it on running a usb cable from my computer to my DAC because i now have ROON and the computer is my ROON Core. Once I figured it out, i had to put electrical tape around the outside of the banana plugs to prevent them from touching again. I think it's time to revisit tinning wires.

Thanks for the tip, Kevin. I'll be up to check out your speakers selection tomorrow!

Great idea. Now I have a project.

I'm going to do this. Thanks

Imagine a pipe in a vice. The contact area of the circular pipe on the vice jaws is far less than if you squashed the pipe flat. I think you would get far greater contact area to your speaker cables if you left the solder off and just let the spring connectors squash the bare speaker cable conductors.

This won't pertain to this video, but broseph......have you heard a JBL Paragon. I recently heard one for the first time and the gentleman happened to be playing an all female vocal choir and when I say i thought I had died and the angels were singing....started looking for THE LIGHT! We heard other music and it was equally Transcendence. The price of this this unit was an asking $45,000 being sold at an estate sale I went to in Brentwood, California! I read though they can range anywhere from 15 to 40k. The unit @ the estate sale was finished in Cherrywood with very smooth clear coating....was very well pampered. Nice to listen to but way too rich for my blood!

Thank you for your great videos!

As someone who once experienced the pain of holding a soldering iron wrong, that stock photo made me cringe, SMH.

Thanks for this information👍

That was very helpful thanks

Another great video! Funny timing as my Soldering Iron was sitting in front of me as I watched... Crossover repair time ✅🍿

What Flux? $8.00 gets Extra tips. For a screw terminals i curve the wire around the shank of a small screwdriver for nice small radius that is close the size of the screw. Good advise, If she's hot do NOT walk away from her.

Great tutorial!thank you.

Dip the wire in some flux before tinning. The flux helps the solder, once molten, slurp into the strands and stick to the wire rather than just balling up and falling off.

Actually the $10 soldering iron kit that they sell at Walmart is actually not half bad. I remember the first amplifier or two that I had to resolder input jacks or reflow loose connections, that's what I used. It works the only thing with it is you just got to give it time to heat up, it just doesn't heat up as quickly as my more expensive soldering iron

Pin connectors solve it all with spring loaded speaker terminals.

If you are getting into the hobby, get a Hakko vacuu-pump. Best tool you can buy. Solder...not sodder. Just the tip.

Thank you

Hi Kevin! Great video! On your reference soldering station, what temperature would you recommend using for tinning wire? Thank you!

8:21 ... You need to apply liquid flux to prepare the wire. Note that solder is a very poor contact conductor. It will probably work ok but I would use some type of terminal that can be soldered to the wire. When solder is bonded to the two metals it is an excellent conductor.

Don’t solder sitting with shorts on, don’t ask…..

I have always simply twisted the wires with zero issues since the 70's.

Definitely gonna be a fun one!😂

LOL @ the shirt - fuking hilarious. My next tip would be if someone throws you cap unexpectedly, do not catch it. Just don't. And ya, I try to never use extra connectors inline (spades, bananas, pins) so I've been tinning for years - but I just tin the tip of the wire is all and clamp on bare copper. Obviously the old vintage gear (is that redudant?) has such small flimsy connectors that tinning is almost a requirement.

Very helpful! Some solders contain lead. Ingestion of lead lowers human IQ (makes you less smart). Use lead-free solder. Have good ventilation so you don’t breath fumes. Wash your hands immediately after soldering. Wear nitrile gloves.

could you increase the volume on your audio output? i have my laptop playing you a full strength and your channel is quite a bit lower than all the other channels i watch

Using a flux can help even out your solder flow. Not much is needed.

Do you prefer 60/40 lead/tin solder to 63/37?

The secret to soldering is making sure that the wire or component leads are clean. This is why solder with a rosin core is used. It actually cleans as the solder is applied. There are other types of flux but they all pretty much do the same thing, they remove impurities so the solder will adhere properly. Use isopropyl alcohol to clean flux residue after you have tinned the wire.

Solder is made of Tin and Lead. Copper has a IACS conductivity of 100, Meaning it's conductivity comparative to other metals is 100%. Tin is 15% and Lead is 7%. Banana Plugs should be gold plated, which has a rating of 70%. I think you can do the math on why you don't see many people considering this alternative.

Have you thought about using soldering flux?? It would make a world of difference tinning/soldering your speaker wires!!

sometimes when iam soldering wire I wipe a tiny bite of soldering Flux on the wire ....It seem to help the flow of the solder... Do you think its OK ...

I have done a lot of soldering in my formal days. I was in the alarm business for 25 years. My speakers are soldered

If you REALLY want to use one of those banana or pin connectors, just remove the outer conductive tube and replace it with heat shrink. It minimizes the size and gives it a non-conductive casing.

The one thing I HATE HATE HATE about my JBL C50s are the miserable connectors on the back.

That's hilarious, yep Ask McDonald's about Hot!!!!

im pretty sure theres electrics agencies around the world that say you shouldn't solder compression fitments like that, as over time it gets loose. seems pretty fail to me

I'm politely disagreeing with wire tinning for connectors. Found this to back up my understanding IPC-J-STD-001 Rev E, page 13, section 5.1.3, “Stranded wire shall not [D1, D2, D3] be tinned when:” Wires will be used in crimp terminations Wires will be used in threaded fasteners Wires will be used in forming mesh splices Therefore to answer your question “Should the wire be tinned?” the answer is NO. The reasoning behind not tinning the wire is, if the wire is tinned, when the screw closes down on the wire, it would break the solder joint and leave an opening within the strands, which can be susceptible to vibration, loosening and corrosion. By not tinning the wire, you can get a better gas tight joint. Kevin, you'll probably be using that cheap soldering for the rest of your life. I still have my soldering iron from the 70s and use it all the time.

The included soldier from China is lead free. They're not allowed to sell new stuff with leaded soldier in the EU any more. 60/40 is a bit harder to get these days for that reason. For electronics lead free soldier is just crap. First it doesn't like to flow and when it's finally on, it is very brittle. No lead in the solder also is the reason, todays ball soldered processors fail after a while.

yeah ,,solder and Hakko FX888D,,400 dolars rly bro

The "included" solder was likely not rosin core, or containing flux... just cheap, unusable junk.

This is an extremely bad idea. All you are doing is decreasing the contact area of the connection.

1:27 HAHAHAHA!!!!!! I've got to meet her! She's so badass!