A:AnswerThey are factory cut to 30'. You will have to cut them from there to the length you need. Also, you will need to cut the jacket back to leave the speaker wire exposed. (the jacket and the wire are flush, even if you don't cut them down from 30'. The picture is a bit misleading in that regard.) The length of that cut will generally range from 1/8" to perhaps 1/2". It will depend on what connectors you use (the instructions on the connectors will tell you). Or, with most speaker binder posts (and the output posts on the back of your receiver or amplifier), you can wind the bare wire directly around the post, and then don't need connectors at all. If that's the way you want to go I would leave about 1" of bare wire on the speaker cable.
A:Answerunless you have to,
dont.
the speaker wire is made of higher grade materials. the connectivity and therefor quality will degrade with the banana plugs. direct connect speaker wires to the terminals if possible
