Elementary Question on Shortening Speaker Wire


This is probably a very rudimentary question so apologies in advance. I have an old receiver that has spring clips for connecting the speaker wire. I have an extremely long piece of wire that I’m wanting to shorten. I cut it to size and stripped the sheathing on the end.  I was thinking I could just connect the raw end of the wire into the receiver, but I don’t get any sound. Is this doable or am I supposed to solder the end first?  I did notice that the other end (the end that wasn't cut) has a silver coating, which I assume is solder.  

 

Thanks in advance and sorry if this is a dumb question.

michaeloa

What you did should work. I will usually solder the ends to prevent misc strands reach over and shorting the amp. 
 

So, what to do?

 

Verify both clips on the receiver have clipped down on their perspective wire and no  strands are touching the back panel or opposite terminal. 
 

Do you have any other wire you can use to verify the receiver to speaker connection works.

 

If another wire will not work, then you probably accidentally shorted out the amp in the receiver. Look for a fuse on the back of the receiver… usually brown cylindrical protuberance. Turn counterclockwise while pushing in to release. Is the filament broken? If so, go find a new fuse. 
 

 

Will the OP please let us know what is the make & model receiver we are talking about.

Thanks for everyone's response.  Looks like it was error on my part.  I just didn't have the wire seated in the clip properly.  Everything seems to work OK now.  Thanks!