Here is a description of my Speakon cable assembly method:

1)  Cut the cable to length.  I cut the cable stock 4 to 6” longer than the desired finished length, so to produce a 10ft. cable, I cut the cable stock 10’ 4” long since there will be 2” of cable within each NL4FC end; therefore, the finished cable will have 10ft. of cable between the connectors.  I aspire to cut the cable 1/2 way between the label on the cable for aesthetic reasons:

2)  Strip jacket.  I strip approx. 3cm of jacket off NNT-1410B cable for assembling NL4FC ends.  Particular care is taken to not nick the conductor insulations:

3)  Assemble NL4FC compression nut, compression sleeve, and shrinktube on cable.  Our shrinktube is 11.5cm long.  I use the 13mm dia. shrink tube for the NNT-1410B 4 conductor cable and NNS-1492 2 conductor cable.  Note, install the NL4FC compression nut, compression sleeve, and shrinktube on cable before stripping the insulation off the conductors.

4)  Square off the conductors.  After stripping the jacket back 3cm, we then cut approx. 3mm of the black and red conductor ends and approx. 2mm off the white and green conductor ends with the flush side of a Xuron 2175 shear.  I cut the white and green conductors approx. 1mm longer than the black and red conductors to facilitate proper fit in the respective termination sockets.  I cut each conductor separately.  I do this so we get a really clean square cut on the end of the conductors.  The Xuron 2175 shear is specifically manufactured with slightly off-set cutters so it cuts really clean.

5)  Strip conductor insulation and twist conductor filaments:  I strip and expose approx. 8mm of conductors for assembling in NL4FC cord ends.  Special care is taken to twist conductor filaments tight to facilitate insertion of the conductors into the termination sockets without creating fugitive (loose) filaments.

6)  Back (rotate CCW) the termination socket set-screws out of the NL4FC connector body approx. 1 1/2 full turn.  This facilitates insertion of the stranded conductors into the termination sockets without creating fugitive (loose) filaments.  It is important to use a “Posi-drive” Phillips type screwdriver on the NL4FC termination socket set-screws.

7)  Insert the red and black conductors into the two positive termination posts at the same time.  The red conductor is inserted into 1+, the black is inserted into 2+.  If the assembler take care to arrange the red and black conductors with the correct bend and alignment, it is easy to insert both of these conductors at the same time without creating fugitive conductor filaments.  I use just a little rocking motion when inserting these conductors to facilitate sliding the conductors into the termination sockets:

8)  Tighten red (1+) and black (2+) set-screws to 6 inch-pounds of torque.  I use a Makita model 6226D electric screw driver to tighten the set-screws.  The Makita 6226D has an adjustable slip clutch which can be set to 6 inch-pounds of torque.

9)  Terminate the third conductor.  If assembling the NL4FC end on the end of the cable where the cable lettering STARTS (Gold colored “EWI Professional Speaker Cable 2.5mm x 4C NNT-1410B”) then insert the WHITE conductor into the 1- termination socket.  If assembling the NL4FC end on the end of the cable where the cable lettering ENDS then insert the GREEN conductor into the 2- termination socket.  I use the fingernail on my left thumb to help direct the conductor into the termination socket.  Note the arrangement of the terminated first 3 conductors.  You will notice that all 3 of the first 3 conductors come “straight” out of the cable and straight into the termination sockets.  This is an important detail. 

10)  Terminate the 4th conductor.  If assembling the NL4FC end on the end of the cable where the cable lettering STARTS (Gold colored “EWI Professional Speaker Cable 2.5mm x 4C NNT-1410B”) then insert the GREEN conductor into the 2- termination socket.  If assembling the NL4FC end on the end of the cable where the cable lettering ENDS then insert the WHITE conductor into the 1- termination socket.  Again, I use the fingernail on my left thumb to help direct the conductor into the termination socket.  The green 4th. conductor must be “wrapped” over the red wire on the cable lettering (label) start end of the cable.  The white 4th conductor must be “wrapped” over the black wire on the cable lettering (label) end of the cable.  This is an important detail as this is the arrangement that the cable must be wired (a starquad wiring sequence) for the cable to work properly on speaker systems with sense lines integrated with the speaker power lines.

11)  Shrink down shrink tube.  Note how the label on the shrink tube is positioned slightly between the 1+ and 1- termination posts so the shrink tube label will be aligned with the release button on NL4FC cord ends.  I align the shrink tube printing in this manner to further facilitate field identification of the cable and aid in easy recognition of the cord end alignment when plugging the cord into a panel jack.  Note how the label portion of the shrink tube is shrunk first so to get the most shrinkage of the label portion so the label writing is shrunk the most which makes the printing have sharper detail:

12)  Assemble compression sleeve, compression nut, and shell on connector body.  Care is given when sliding the compression sleeve over the shrink tube to not disrupt the end of the shrink tube or scar up the shrink tube or shrink tube printing.  Tighten the compression nut.  I use an old style NL8MM barrel connector with one NL8MPR paneljack replace with a NL4MPR panel jack as a tool to hold the cord end when tightening the compression nut.  I use a 3/4” end wrench to tighten the compression nut.  Care is taken to align the compression nut so the wrench fittings on the compression nut are at 90 degrees to the release button.  I align the compression nut in this manner to facilitate field identification that the cables are properly inserted into the panel jacks.  Care is taken to tighten the compression nut firmly, but not over tightened.  You will see a slight gap between the compression nut and shoulder of the shell when the compression nut is properly tightened on NNT-1410B 4 conductor cable when using the black compression sleeve.  I have found that proper torque of the compression nut is “a little tighter” (about 1 full turn tighter) than what I can comfortably tighten the nut by hand.

13)  Test cable with cable tester: