[scottro]

I recently moved my rear surrounds and had to splice on an extra length of speaker wire onto the existing wire to connect the left rear. First off, is this a bad idea to splice in general? Should I have run entirely new wires? My setup isn't so great that I think I'd notice a sound difference.


Secondly, now during crazy surround-intensive scenes (like when a star destroyer comes rumbling overhead in the Empire Strikes back) my amp kicks out with the protection circuitry at moderate volume. It never did this until I did the splice to the surround. Could that be it?


I *may* have used a smaller gauge wire spliced in for the extra length to connect the speaker than what is running from the amp. Is that enough to engage the protector?


Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Mort]

If you didn't have the problem until you spliced the wire I would think that would be your problem. Wire's cheap. Buy a new chunk the correct length and of the same gauge as your other surround.....or just rewire them both at the same time. Depending on how you attach the wires to your receiver, you also could have pulled something loose or moved it enough to cause a short.


Mort

 

[scottro]

Thanks for the reply, Mort.


Unfortunately the wires are buried now - hence the splice job. It was so much easier when I was younger and didn't care that I had I had wires all over the place!


I'll probably tinker with the splice and double check the gauge first...then as a last resort yank the wire back through the wall and start over.


I sure hope the short is in between the sub crossover and the surround...not the long run from the amp to the sub!

 

[scottro]

Yep, it was in fact smaller gauge wires I had spliced in there. Oh well they looked like they were the same size, stupid blackout curtains. My HT is known as "the cave".

Anyway, No more overloads and the sound level from the surrounds is back to normal. I can resume the destruction of my hearing and annoyance of my almost-wife now.


Now only to decide whether to twist and tape, wire nut or solder the splices... ;-)

(in case anyone caught that thread over in general home theater)