Conference tekvax::audio

I have a bit of a problem. When I built my new house I was determined to
straighten out my speaker wire situation. I had different size wires for
different speakers because I built my system over time and used whatever speaker
wire I could scrounge up. I even had splices in a couple of places. 

Anyway, I bought a 250ft roll of 14 gauge speaker wire. I figured this way I
would pretty much have a lifetime supply of ONE SIZE speaker wire. I pre-wired
for the front mains and rear speakers before the wallboard went up. Now I'm
ready to hook it all up. I had a heck of a time getting the ends of the wire
into the speaker terminals both in the back of the speakers and the reciever. I
haven't even attempted the rest because I KNOW it will be impossible. The last
connections are doubled (two twisted together) because I have a three piece
(bass-unit/satellite) system. Looks like I'll need some kind of terminators. I'm
just wondering if they will be large enough to fit two 14 gauge wires twisted
together (making a  wire ~3mm in diameter). 

I don't really have golden ears, and with a newly completed house, I have a
limited budget for terminators. I figure the terminators will make assembly and
disassembly of the system (for upgrades, additions, etc) much easier as well.
Are there any reasonably-priced terminators that will fit?

Thanks,

Steve B.  

    Monster Cable makes some twist on (counterclockwise) connectors. They
    are gol plated and seem to work great. I have them at home and in my
    car stereo installation(s). You can get them very cheap at Cookin. They
    are either $14 or $16 a package, depending on what type you get. They
    come 8 to a pack. (I think its 8 to a pack).
    
    Dave

    
    Bought the Monster Cable connectors. They were plenty big enough. They
    worked really well. Paid about $14 for a set of eight at HQ (HD didn't
    have them). 
    
    The only problem was, I wired one pair out of phase so no bass. It took
    me a long time to figure that one out. I checked it no less than three
    times and still didn't see the problem. The final clue was when I
    pressed the "simulated stereo" button, the bass returned. This made me
    think that they were out of phase (but that CAN'T be, I checked it
    THREE times!!). Sure enough I took them off the reciever this morning
    and looked really close. With a three-piece system you have to tie two
    pairs of wires together (they share a connection on the reciever). On
    the left channel I had one pair out of phase and the other in phase.
    The out of phase pair was one going to the bass unit (it figures). I
    guess if it were the other pair out of phase (the one going to the left
    satellite), I might never have noticed it. I'll fix it when I get home
    tonight.  
    
   Thanks for the tip on the connectors...
    
    Steve B.

    Glad to see that all went well!!
    
    Dave