Looking for a Wire and Connector Source...

[Rickisan]

from which to buy the components for pro sound spkr cables using Speakons and 1/4 inch males. Probably going to do 4 in the 15 to 40 foot range.

The current Radio Shack plugs are a little lightweight to my eyes.

Is there a preferred source? It's been awhile since I've done this stuff.

[SeisTres]

from which to buy the components for pro sound spkr cables using Speakons and 1/4 inch males. Probably going to do 4 in the 15 to 40 foot range.

The current Radio Shack plugs are a little lightweight to my eyes.

Is there a preferred source? It's been awhile since I've done this stuff.

If you're making your own, parts express is my favorite source for parts simply for the section they offer. and they have some readymade cables if you just want to buy them, but they're pretty much the same price as all the other internet stores. musciansfriend or americanmusicalsupply. Also i've order a few (actually most) of my cables from monoprice. For the price you pay, you would expect pretty much trash, but they're actually really good(however, I still prefer the livewire stuff), and if you only order one(which I did since I was skeptical) the shipping is like two dollars. And word of advise: spend the extra dollar and get nothing but neutrik, it's worth it, trust me on this, i've been down the non-neutrick path too many times

SECOND EDIT: audiopile, that's the one i couldn't remember before.

Oh and another thing, stay away from radio shack. ugh. (where's that green puking smiley??)

EDIT: I now see that said speaker cables, I had though it was just cables in general. But still everything applies, save the monoprice thing. I've have not tried their speaker cables, but if their other cables are anything to go by, then they should be fine too.

[Fish]

I buy all my connectors mail order; most of my purchases lately are from Full Compass, but SpeakerHardware, Markertek or any of a large number of other places will work just as well. Audio cable like shielded twisted pair (mic/line use) and snakes I'll also tend to buy online, but for speaker cable it's usually far cheaper to get what you want from a local electrical supply house. You'll probably be buying a 250' spool, but the price per foot is far less, you won't be paying for shipping heavy copper, and you can sell smaller cuts to others to recoup the initial costs. 14/2 SJOW works just fine for shorter runs, but anything over 50' is better with 12/2; of course, use four-conductor (14/4 or 12/4) for biamped boxes.

Speakons are the best speaker connectors right now and really should be your first choice long before 1/4" connectors. 1/4" have higher contact resistance, lower current capacity, and can pop out much easier either from someone tripping over a cable or perhaps by the right hit through a sub with a loose jack. If you need to use 1/4", I recommend either G&H for their copper center tip (if it bends it will bend back without breaking) or Neutrik for their chuck's superior strain relief. Pick which feature is more important to you for the application and buy a bunch for a quantity discount.

Hope this helps.