Building Speaker Cables

And here all this time, I thought all speaker connections were silver soldered. 

It depends if one is a Clamp Termination School or a  Solder Termination School.

I'm a do not use Banana Connector School, wire is connected to Chassis Mount and Speaker Terminal. 

That is the most cost effective and most unadulterated method. 

My thought process is that the T-14 cable is silver coated copper and the silver would be  prone to tarnishing otherwise I would directly wire into the Amp 10.

Don't know your definition of "overkill" but soldering is not necessary with those connectors and that wire, and you will never reliably discern any sonic difference/improvement from doing so.  Coat the wire and connectors with ProGold, use the set screws to secure the wire to the connectors, add your heat shrink, and enjoy your new cables.  BTW, if you ever decide to upgrade or change your speaker cables, you may be thankful for how easy it will be to repurpose the connectors if they are not mucked up with solder.

Seems that you are not really building cables, just looking to terminate them!  I think I have the same sort of semantic issue with silver soldering which can mean many things.

I have built all my interconnects and speaker cables. I use Bluejeans cable and furutech connectors. Great results. The sound just as good as some high $$$ cables that I had. And yes I sold the high $$$ cables. 

I built all of my power cables with Furutech components. It was a great project and the results were great. I have no idea if it made a difference in sound but I had a great time. I was able to make custom lengths as needed.

No matter what, that "marine grade" shrink tube is the key. You definitely want your wiring to survive a flood. 

DH Labs reseller here, and long time user / builder of their cables. The best results come from terminating the wire directly into connectors WITHOUT soldering them. Connector metal to wire metal in a tight crimp or screw down is all you ever need. Adding solder may affect the electromagnetic properties at the connection points and degrade the sonic quality. If you are worried about oxidation, you can cut off the ends of the wire by half an inch and reterminate them after a few years. It typically takes that long to build up oxidation if they are sealed well. 

just a note:

The actual amount of silver in electronics solder varies, with common lead-free alloys like Sn96.5/Ag3.5/Cu0.5 containing about 3.5% silver, while older tin-lead alloys, like 62/36/2, contain approximately 2% silver.

Is that enought to make a differance? 

Bare wire speaker and amp ends, sounds best.

@roadcykler +1 LOL 

Mike

@blisshifi 

"If you are worried about oxidation, you can cut off the ends of the wire by half an inch and reterminate them after a few years."

True, but after building cables for many years and taking cables apart to harvest connectors and repurpose wire, I have never seen evidence of visible oxyidation and particularly beneath a crimped connection.  In this case, with silver-plated copper wire, gold plated connectors, and assuming the builder forms a snug crimp and seals the connection with heat shrink, corrosion of the crimp should never be an issue significant enough to affect SQ, IME.  However, because I do not live on a coast near saltwater, and my audio equipment and supplies are kept in a dry environment (i.e., not a damp basement), I do remain open to the possibility that corrosion may be more prevalent in some environments. 

BTW, some cable builders cover the connection with an anti-corrosion compound or goop (before applying the heat shrink) to further retard corrosion.   The following came from a 2-year study of electrical connections in a marine environment:

"The most common causes of corrosion on terminals is electrolysis and galvanic corrosion. Thus, anything that will block this stray current is going to help. The grease should be dielectric. The heavier the grease the better. Cosmolene-type products out perform sprays every time.  

If the joint is remotely tight enough the insulating greases are pushed out of the way and do NOT contribute resistance. You can shoot (dielectric) grease into a crimp and it will do no harm. However, a proper crimp will force all of the grease and air space out of the connector.

We saw no difference in the reliability or resistance of the joint either way. The most important place for grease is spade connectors and other slide-in plugs; these were the only connections where we observed failures. Bolted and crimped connections do not fail when properly made."

I will assemble my cables sans solder and seal with the marine grade shrink tube. Thanks for all the input. 

If you seriously want to BUILD cables check out the following poster under Cable forum.

Williwonka   DIY Helix Geometery Cabling.

Post has continued for years. ALOT of great info and alot of posts from DIYers using these methods.

If you stick with your original  plan, the Worlds Best speaker terminals are "None". Less is more. You need external XOs or easy access to XO circuits. Soldier speaker wire directly to XO circuit. Eliminate all that treminal stuff. Obviously not a good option if your a cable junkie and swap out cables periodically. 

I chose this method when I rebuildt and made my XOs external. Saved big $ on the "very good" treminals I consdiered using.

In Conjunction with direct to Xover Termination, bypassing Ferrous Metal Tabs on the Drive unit and connecting to the Wire that is usually braided attached to the Coil is made known in different camp's to be the most beneficial.

I have seen the Bypass done on multi thousand $ Drivers. 

In all things Audio Electronics and Signal Path, reducing obstruction to the Signal can in some systems be breath taking, where as in others be noticed for a difference having. Ben created. 

Nothing Ventured - Nothing Gained

@cgbgreg what is the cable length you are going to make? 

@westcoastaudiophile 6 foot for each tower and 4 foot for the center.

Plus one @blisshifi 

Try and find ends that are designed to be crimped.

I have made many cables with both the FP-201 spades that use set screws, and the FP-203 spades that can be crimped, as well as with spades that need to be soldered such as Cardas GRS and CGMS spades.  With the FP-203 spades I have used hand crimpers and, for the past 10 years, hydraulic crimpers to forge a virtually air-tight bond between the spade and wire.  I have not heard any sonic difference that I would attribute to the type of spade or connection.  My only observation is that the Furutech FP-201 and Cardas CGMS spades seem to fit on my binding posts a bit more securely and so I like those two better than most others.

IMO, the OP will be just fine with his plan to use the Furutech FP-201 spades and associated set screws to secure his wires.

Silver solder yes. Shrink tubing, yes.

@bikefi10 

I see no posts/discussion from Williwonka on DIY Helix cabling

There are Two Threads on this and a Link to a Web Site that originated the following of the build design.

This is a Scratch Built Cable, one chooses their bare wire and gauge, insulator, termination, there are many descriptions of what was detected as an End Sound, when a particular permutation for materials are used in a unique system.

As in all cables, systems are not ubiquitous, hence not all discoveries made and reported on will produce identical results.    

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/diy-helix-geometry-cabling

Seems counter-intuitive to resort to silver solder at any joints, when gold the gold plating is an inferior conductor to copper even.