How to Guide

9
F
HOOKING UP
YOUR SPEAKERS
The main thing to remember when hooking
up speakers is that the two conductors in the
speaker wire are not interchangeable. One
will be used as a POSITIVE (+) conductor
and the other as a NEGATIVE (-) conductor.
These correspond to the RED (+) and BLACK
(-) connectors on your B
.
I
.
C In-Wall
Speakers and also to the speaker terminals
on your amplifier or receiver.
IDENTIFYING “+” and “-”
You need to be able to discriminate between
the two conductors in the zip cord.
If your wire has transparent insulation, this
is easy: One conductor will be copper-colored
and the other silver-colored. Generally, pro-
fessionals denote the copper one as POSITIVE
(+) and the silver one as NEGATIVE (-).
If you’ve used wire which has an opaque
insulation, there are still differentiating mark-
ings. Examine the wire closely and look for:
• A series of ribs or grooves on one conductor
• A painted stripe
• A single strand of yarn intertwined with the
multi-stranded wire in one conductor.
Denote any of these as the POSITIVE (+) con-
ductor for similar connections on both ends.
DRAWING 10
hole in
wallboard
Zip-cord
wire “run”
to speaker
AT THE SPEAKER END
m1. Cut off excess wire, leaving about two
feet extending through the speaker
cut-out hole.
m2
. Pull the conductors apart so they’re
s
eparated for the first two inches from
their ends.
m3. Using wire strippers, diagonal pliers
or a knife, remove 1/2 inch of
insulation from each conductor.
m4. Twist the tiny strands in each
conductor into tight spirals, as
shown in Drawing 9.
m5. Attach the speaker wires to the red
and black speaker terminals. Press
down on the protruding levers while
inserting the wire into the hole.
• Connect the POSITIVE (+)
conductor to the RED terminal and
the NEGATIVE (-) conductor to the
BLACK speaker terminal.
• Make sure that no stray strands
of wire have gotten detached and
are touching the other main wire.
m6. Proceed to “Final Assembly,”
Section G.
AT THE AMPLIFIER END
m1. Cut off excess wire, leaving enough
to comfortably reach from the hole
in the wall to your stereo system.
If there’s a possibility that you’re
going to move the amplifier to
another part of the room, consider
leaving some excess wire coiled
up. If you’ve used sufficiently thick
wire, this extra length will not
affect speaker performance and
could make things easier if the
room is rearranged later.
m2. Pull the conductors on both speaker
wires apart so they’re separated for
the first two inches.
m3. Using wire strippers, diagonal pliers
or a knife, remove 1/2 inch of
insulation from each conductor.
m4. Twist the tiny strands in each
conductor into tight spirals.
m5. Attach the speaker wires to the red
and black speaker terminals on the
amplifier or receiver.
• Connect the POSITIVE (+)
conductor to the RED terminal and
the NEGATIVE (-) conductor to the
BLACK speaker terminal.
• Make sure that no stray strands
of wire have gotten detached and
are touching the other main wire.