new speaker

khoomeizhi · August 02, 2012, 07:48:30 PM

a probably obviously inexperienced question:

i had a tear in one of the speakers in my 2x10 bass cab. it was old and brittle and not worth messing with more. it was connnected via little spring-loaded clamps, as opposed to soldered together (it was an old EV in a mesaboogie cab)...the new eminence one i got just has bare contacts. is some kind of soldering the way to go with this, or is there a simpler way to connect it all up that i'm missing. i have to say that the way it was, ez-on, ez-off, was pretty damn handy.

hit me.

Lumpy · August 02, 2012, 08:43:00 PM

It doesn't have to be soldered, if it's a secure connection that won't rattle off.

My speakers all seem to connect via a little metal spade, and a slotted piece of metal at the end of the speaker wire just slides onto it (tightly).

Lumpy · August 02, 2012, 08:52:31 PM

You can see the spades towards the bottom of the speaker.

I'm not sure I understand - if your speaker wire has strong clamps, you can just clip onto the spades (black is minus, colored is plus... look closely at the spades).

If it was the old speaker itself that had the clamps, then what does your speaker wire end in? If it ends with a folded piece of metal, slide it on.

Mr. Foxen · August 02, 2012, 09:14:42 PM

Have you already bought a replacement speaker then?

If it is a spade connector, sometimes the need squeezing up a bit with pliers if they've become loose. I tend to solder things anyway, know it is secure then.

khoomeizhi · August 02, 2012, 09:31:03 PM

yup, i have the new (replacement) speaker.

clarification: old speaker has the clamps on it. wire is just bare wire ends. contacts on new speaker are just flat little squares of metal with a single hole in each. so i can probably just splice the wire ends onto the little contact points and not worry too much about it?

Lumpy · August 02, 2012, 10:21:50 PM

Should be able to loop the bare wire through the hole, maybe do a twist tie or some type of wrap (noose-looking wrap). Whatever you've got enough available bare wire to do. Just so it doesn't rattle off, and maintains tight contact (tight loop).

(the metal rectangle is what I called a spade... some wires have a metal clip that slides onto them. No soldering).

You can test drive the speaker before you mount it again, to make sure everything's groovy (I would keep the volume low until it's mounted, but I'm kind of a pussy). Just to make sure you're reproducing a signal.

I don't believe this will require solder but maybe somebody else will confirm (and you'll know right away).

khoomeizhi · August 02, 2012, 10:27:55 PM

awesome, thanks. it's enough knowing i'm not likely to fuck anything up, just using what i got (fat ol' hands and a needlenose pliers).

Mr. Foxen · August 03, 2012, 07:32:10 AM

Really need to solder, bare wire through a hole in the tag isn't going to cut it. Also don't tie it on and solder, tin the end, bend it to a right angle and hole that through the hole and solder.

moose23 · August 03, 2012, 09:08:05 AM

Why wouldn't you tie and then solder? With the amount of vibrating a speaker does I'd go for a solid mechanical connection then solder.

Mr. Foxen · August 03, 2012, 09:35:23 AM

Quote from: moose23 on August 03, 2012, 09:08:05 AM
Why wouldn't you tie and then solder? With the amount of vibrating a speaker does I'd go for a solid mechanical connection then solder.

Because when the speaker breaks from being in a mismatched cab, it will make it a lot easier to remove the wire without spraying molten solder everywhere. Soldered properly without excess loose wire is plenty strong enough, there shouldn't be anything vibrating stressing the join. Tying on wires is always the wrong thing to do, it also means the solder is unlikely to flow over it all and make a good join.

moose23 · August 03, 2012, 10:12:44 AM

Of course speaker cabs never vibrate...

I don't actually tie anything myself just bend back on itself 180 degrees but curious, as ever, to your reasoning. Never had a problem with spraying molten solder everywhere either even when repairing someone else's tied wiring.

thestone · August 03, 2012, 12:06:43 PM

Sort off topic, but related.. If you connect your positive to the negative connector and negative to positive on speaker, how will it affect the sound/speaker? Or will it not work at all?

Mr. Foxen · August 03, 2012, 01:18:10 PM

Quote from: thestone on August 03, 2012, 12:06:43 PM
Sort off topic, but related.. If you connect your positive to the negative connector and negative to positive on speaker, how will it affect the sound/speaker? Or will it not work at all?

Reverse the polarity, means it will move in the opposite direction to any other speakers connected the other way and cancel out chunks of the sound output.