Welcome! Here I’ll show you, with detailed diagrams and more:
- 3 great ways to connect speaker wire to RCA jacks, plugs, or RCA cables
- How to convert speaker wire outputs to RCA input jacks on amplifiers, AV receivers, and more.
- A 4th “quick and dirty” way to make your own speaker wire cables if necessary.
Contents
Basics first: speaker level vs line level RCA signals
Before you connect speaker wire to RCA connectors, cables, or any audio device with RCA jacks, it’s important to understand that speaker level connections cannot be directly used with RCA line level inputs.
There are two types of audio signals carried by RCA connectors and cables:
- Line level (preamplified) signals used by AV receivers, amplifiers, and home and car audio stereo components that use RCA audio input jacks.
- Speaker level (amplified) signals used to power loudspeakers. These connect to speaker terminal pairs on an amplifier or AV receiver or external speaker output jacks on an audio distribution amplifier.
Line level signals versus speaker output signals
RCA cable connections are most commonly used for carrying line-level audio signals from a stereo to an amplifier or auxiliary input jacks, for example. These cables carry a very weak signal – somewhere around 0.5 to 4V RMS (root mean square voltage).
These signals are preamp (preamplified) and require amplification to deliver power to speakers.
By contrast, the speaker connections that supply power to home stereo or car speakers supply around 28V to above 40V at full power. Connecting an amplified speaker output directly to a line level RCA input jack can permanently damage the low voltage input electronics.
Line level audio input jacks like those found on some bookshelf speakers or full-size stereo speakers can be used directly with speaker wire as I’ll show you. These are non-amplified (passive) speakers, and were also somewhat more common for stereo systems from the 1970s and 1980s, although they’re still used today.
If you need to convert speaker wire to RCA signals you can do that using a line output converter as I’ll explain further below.
DIAGRAM – How to connect speaker wire to RCA plugs, jacks, or cables
There are 3 main ways to connect speaker wire to RCA connector plugs and jacks:
- RCA to wire adapters – These are affordable and easy to work with, especially the spring terminal types that don’t require a screwdriver.
- Speaker wire to RCA adapter cables – These provide pre-connected speaker wire permanently attached to RCA plugs & are ready to use. They’re a bit harder to find however and cost 2-3x times that of the other two options. Many provide a speaker wire gauge of 18AWG, often with the bare wire ends tinned with solder for convenience.
- Solder tab RCA connectors – These are very affordable and great for making your own custom RCA speaker cables although they’re not the easiest to work with.
I recommend the following for most people and do-it-yourself (DIY) types:
- If you want something simple to use, reusable, or just affordable, choose RCA to wire adapters. You’ll only need 1-2 tools depending on which type you choose (spring or screw terminals): A small-tipped screwdriver and/or wire strippers or pliers.
- For the absolute easiest method or for the best connection, choose premade speaker wire RCA cables – assuming spending a bit more isn’t a problem.
- If you’re the DIY type and like making custom cables (or if you need to use a certain type of speaker wire), solder type plugs or jacks are good.
Note that solder type RCA plugs and jacks, in some cases, can have a problem with the metal solder tabs touching each other to create a short-circuit with the cover installed. This is because of the tight space inside and how the tabs can bend towards each other.
An easy way to prevent this is by wrapping the bottom tab/wire with electrical tape.
I personally recommend using a combination wire stripper + crimp tool when working with insulated wires like this. They’re affordable and can do a good job. They can also save you a LOT of hassle versus using more basic tools like pliers.
We earn a commission if you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.
How to convert speaker wire outputs to line level RCA audio signals
What is a line output converter?
A line output converter is a device that converts speaker output voltages to RCA line level preamplified signals. The speaker level converter scales down higher output voltage from a receiver or amplifier to a very low audio signal that can be safely connected to line level input jacks.
Unfortunately, while it’s more common in car audio amplifiers, not many home stereo amplifiers offer a speaker level input feature so a converter is necessary.
Also called a LOC, hi-low converter, or speaker level converter, they’re a type of impedance matching device that provides a “bridge” between a low impedance output (speaker outputs) and higher impedance inputs (line level RCA inputs).
Most (but not all) also provide galvanic isolation, meaning they completely separate the physical connections between the inputs and outputs. This provides two very helpful benefits:
- It breaks the ground path RCA connection that can allow hum or ground loop noise to pass to your speakers through an amplifier.
- Prevents direct current (DC) voltage from some amps or stereos from reaching an amplifier. DC voltage can damage speakers when applied to their voice coils, causing them to overheat and even burn out!
How to use a speaker wire to line level converter
Using a line output converter is very simple! They offer a bit of flexibility as you can connect them to your stereo, amp, or AV receiver near the speaker or directly at speaker terminals. Either way works fine.
- Follow the wiring colors provided and connect the positive and negative speaker terminals/speaker wiring to the input wires of the line-level converter.
- When connecting to existing speaker wiring, there are several good ways to connect them including cutting the wire and using crimp connectors or stripping the copper wire insulation and then soldering the converter’s input wiring to it.
- A line level converter can be connected to unused speaker wires or terminals or optionally can be connected alongside existing speakers already in use.
A LOC (in most cases) has a somewhat high input resistance, meaning it won’t present a low Ohms load to the amp or stereo when used alone or alongside 8 Ohm or 4 Ohm speakers.
Which wire on a RCA cable is positive and negative?
RCA cables, RCA plugs, and RCA jacks have a simple pinout:
- The RCA plug tip (center conductor) is positive and carries the musical signal.
- The outside conductor, also called the “ring”, is the negative signal reference.
- RCA cable internal wiring traditionally uses a white wire for the left channel (+) signal conductor, a red wire for the right channel (+) conductor, and a black wire for the left and right signal common negative wire.
There are a few things to note, however:
- Wire colors can sometimes vary depending on the manufacturer, so it won’t always be white, red, and black in every case.
- Speaker wire RCA adapter cables usually have one side of the speaker cable insulation marked as the positive wire. This isn’t mandatory, as speaker wiring can be reversed (unlike RCA auxiliary input jacks, for example) without causing harm.
When using RCA speaker wire adapter cables, the sound quality won’t be affected as long as the wiring is consistent between the left and right stereo channels.
The “quick and dirty” method using standard RCA cables
If you’re unable to use one of the first 3 solutions shown earlier, here’s a simple but effective way to connect your speaker wire using standard RCA cables. It’s also a good way to temporarily hook up indoor or external speakers, a TV speaker, or a surround speaker set until you can get better parts to do the job right.
Here’s how to connect your wiring:
- Cut and strip the RCA cables (one channel each for stereo speakers). Twist the bare wire strands together.
- Cut and strip your speaker wire likewise.
- Using crimp connectors:
- fold the RCA conductor wiring over the insulation; this helps because the small wire size has a large gap with the wiring inserted. Folding the wire over the insulation helps take up space for better fit & connection.
- Insert both the audio cable wire and speaker wire into the crimp connector. Using a decent crimping tool, crimp close to each end firmly until the wire can no longer move freely.
- Using soldered connections:
- Lay the bare wire ends parallel to each other (wire ends facing each other), then twist the ends around each other to help hold them in place.
- With a soldering iron, apply heat to the wire and add solder until it flow freely in a “wet” fashion until the wiring is saturated & mostly all covered.
- Allow it to cool for a moment then insulate the wire using electrical tape or heat shrink tubing.
