robotech_master | When speakers fall silent

I noticed today that some of my music listening didn't sound quite right, and when I went to my speaker application to test the speakers, I noticed that only my front right speaker was playing sound. I checked the connections, checked the balance control on my computer, and finally got down underneath my desk to take a look. I messed around with swapping the cable plugs to see if the problem was in my speaker, then unplugged the extension cables and plugged a speaker in directly to see if it still worked, and so on.

Then I finally turned to look more closely at the extension cables, where they plugged into the subwoofer. I knew that my cats had liked to sit on top of the subwoofer, and sometimes they had batted at the cables. (I've had a dishwasher detergent bottle full of water handy that I can spray at them when they do that, but had gotten lax about it since they invariably jumped off of the speaker when they heard me grab it.) Now I followed the cables out of the subwoofer and checked for signs of damage.

I found signs of damage. To wit, the cables had been chewed on and bitten through, in several places. The cables had been way longer than I needed, so I had left the excess length bundled up and tied with twist-ties. They had been dangling down at just the right height to make attractive kitty toys, I guess.

I love my cats. I really do. I'm just trying to remember that fact right now, so I don't shortly end up with new pairs of orange and seal point tabby earmuffs.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If you have wire strippers, diagonal cutters ("dikes"), or even a decent knife, and some tape (duct tape works, though electrical tape is better), that's a pretty easy fix. My speaker wires have been so repaired in about a dozen places because I'm too lazy to pull out the multiply-patched segments and replace them each with a single piece of appropriate length.

It's not pretty, but it's worked fine for years here.

Hey if you need help with splicing... speakerwire is a snap. You can either use wirenuts (from any hardware store) or solder. Soldering them is better, either way you want to wrap them with Electricians tape afterwards. Its also cheap, so you can replace it entirely if needed. if this doesn't help enough let me know.

Hiya Chris,

I can't remember what my Live Journal account is, but . . . Fixing speaker wires ought to be child's play. If I were doing it, I would use those little tubes you insert stripped wire ends into and CRIMP. When you but a kit at Harbor Freight or such like places,it comes with a crimper and a zillion crimpable tubes in various sizes. However, the smallest, though it would work, is really too large. I would go to Radio Shack and buy their smallest crimpable tubes, and use those. I could fix those wires the next time I am at your place--especially if I can get to Radio Shack first. Ol' Man

When speakers fall silent

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Two National Lampoon Christmas Vacation references in 1 day!

Repairing Speaker Wires