Rjxox Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 Hi,We are in process of building a new house and we are considering using a Control 4 system with EA3 and a Triad 8 zone amp. I'm a little confused with the amp. It has 8 stereo, phoenix connectors for the output. They look like RCA jacks. How do these connect up to my speakers which have regular speaker wire posts? I have spent all morning searching the web and some sites show splicing a regular RCA jack to speaker wire however they are using a something like an 18 or 24 gauge wire where as I prefer 12 gauge. it just doesn't seem right to hook up to such a flimsy connector. I have an Axiom audio system with M80's for fronts and the other zones have ceiling mounted Yamaha speakers. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdougray Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 The phoenix connectors are the output to the speakers(speaker cable) and the RCA are used for the audio inputs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreatheed Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 1 hour ago, Rjxox said: Hi,We are in process of building a new house and we are considering using a Control 4 system with EA3 and a Triad 8 zone amp. I'm a little confused with the amp. It has 8 stereo, phoenix connectors for the output. They look like RCA jacks. How do these connect up to my speakers which have regular speaker wire posts? I have spent all morning searching the web and some sites show splicing a regular RCA jack to speaker wire however they are using a something like an 18 or 24 gauge wire where as I prefer 12 gauge. it just doesn't seem right to hook up to such a flimsy connector. I have an Axiom audio system with M80's for fronts and the other zones have ceiling mounted Yamaha speakers. Thank you. Is it a Triad Audio Matrix Switch or an Amplifier? Those are different components and if you have 8 stereo RCA outputs, that's the Audio Matrix, not the amp. Phoenix connectors DON'T look like RCA jacks. They literally designed to straight up accept speaker wire. Phoenix connector = RCA jack = Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rjxox Posted February 26, 2020 Author Share Posted February 26, 2020 That clears it up, thank you. I was just noticing the rca inputs. Can you fit 12 gauge in the Phoenix connector? Its the AMP I was referring to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMHarman Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 That clears it up, thank you. I was just noticing the rca inputs. Can you fit 12 gauge in the Phoenix connector? Its the AMP I was referring to. It will be snug but you should be able to. They use these connectors to get more devices per rack. 8 amps in a single rack unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rjxox Posted February 26, 2020 Author Share Posted February 26, 2020 Thank you, much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lippavisual Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Good luck with the 12 gauge. I recall it being extremely difficult to fit that size. Had to install a separate speaker binding post panel and made jumpers from the amp to the panel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 1 hour ago, lippavisual said: Good luck with the 12 gauge. I recall it being extremely difficult to fit that size. Had to install a separate speaker binding post panel and made jumpers from the amp to the panel. I've used angled 2mm banana plugs to deal with this (opposite direction for each input). Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Conwork-4-Pair-Banana-Speaker-Connector/dp/B06ZZL14DD?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_1 Done solder and shave the ends as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 I just bought some of those as well to try to connect to the phoenix terminals - do they fit ok? Why do they call these banana plugs? I would call those pin connectors. I thought that banana plugs look like this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crustyloafer Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 Crimp on ferrules are how we Pros do it. tdougray 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 12ga speaker wire feels like big time over kill for a distributed audio system. I ran all 16ga, except to subwoofers and the theater speakers - those got 14ga. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lippavisual Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 I don't like the "less than stellar" connection the gate on the phoenix terminal makes with a metal pin. Sure, it works, but not really a lot of real estate there to grab on to for when they come loose. AND they will come loose at some point, just a matter of when. That's why we did a separate speaker panel. It's basically the same when Pro Audio manufacturers tell you not to "tin" your wires when using terminals. Not a lot of surface connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 On 2/29/2020 at 7:59 AM, Crustyloafer said: Crimp on ferrules are how we Pros do it. Why crimp rather than solder? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crustyloafer Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 11 minutes ago, zaphod said: Why crimp rather than solder? A lot less hassle and introduces fewer additional material for signal to travel through. My soldering iron only ever comes out in emergencies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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