Devices and methods for loading a cable in order to create a desired distribution of the load among the cable's constituent strands. Strand terminations are applied to many—and possibly all of—the cable's strands. The ultimate goal is to connect the strand terminations to a collector in order to create an overall cable termination. The relationship between each strand termination and the collector is allowed to “float” using the inventive process while the cable is tensioned and an appropriate spatial relationship between each strand tensioner and the collector is determined. Once the appropriate relationship is found, it is configured to be repeatable (such as by recording its position for later application to the same or similar collector).