I ran across a great tip for connecting unterminated wires like the Western Electric WE16GA to screw terminals like the vintage McIntosh amplifiers use.

Stripped WE16GA inserted into screw terminals.

If you look at the photo above you can see that the WE16GA inserted into the screw terminals doesn't make good contact, and I've found if you do it that way it can degrade sonic performance.

Stripped end of WE16GA.

So there's a better way to do it and it is super easy!

Starting with the stripped end of the WE16GA wire, cut around the casing about a half inch down from the stripped end, as below.

Cut around the casing about a half inch below the stripped end.

Then pull up the trimmed end of the casing so it covers the end of wire, leaving about a half inch gap.

Then bend the wire around so you can loop it around the back of the screw.

Loop it around the terminal screw, then pull it down to seat it behind the screw.

Then snug the screw down so it is securely holding the wire in place.

Then repeat for the other connections. You're done!

This approach gives really good contact to the screw terminals, with the side benefit of covering the pokey ends of the WE16GA tinned wire, which have drawn blood more than once from yours truly!

It turns out that this in an old recording studio trick, and is a much nicer way to connect the WE16GA wire to the terminal strips on vintage gear. Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!