subwoofer cables?

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  • palmetto
    Member
    • Nov 2003
    • 36

    subwoofer cables?

    yippee! i am about to buy my very first home theatre set-up and very first subwoofer -- the paradigm PW-2100. the sub only has line level input -- no speaker level inputs -- and a line level impedance of 15K.

    my receiver is the rotel vsx-1055, which has pre-outs for sub 1 and sub 2 in RCA format.

    question 1: my installer already put 14/4 speaker wire in the wall. he intends to put an RCA jack on the receptacles on both ends of the speaker wire (which runs about 25 feet). he will then run RCA cable or "special" subwoofer cable from one receptacle to the receiver (about 3 feet) and from the other receptace to the sub (about 6 feet).

    can you use speaker wire to transmit the (unpowered) signal from the receiver's pre-out? if not, do i use a long run of rca cable instead?

    question 2: what to make of the various price points and supposed benefits of specialized subwoofer cable? monster cable 1000sw-12 lists for $150; msb850sw-12 for $100; and msb550sw-12 for $60. (they are all 12 feet long).

    many thanks in advance.

    palmetto
  • Andrew Pratt
    Moderator Emeritus
    • Aug 2000
    • 16507

    #2
    No you can't use speaker wire to transmit line level signals to the sub. There's really nothing special about subwoofer cables though so long as they have adequate shielding. For your purpose I'd just recomend you purchase a section of RG6 coax cable that has RCA's on the end...you can get that at most hardware stores for very cheap.




    Comment

    • palmetto
      Member
      • Nov 2003
      • 36

      #3
      <

      <No you can't use speaker wire to transmit line level signals to the sub.ohhhhh. this worries me as this is what my installer has planned to do. even the other very knowledgable audiophile-sounding installers i've met locally use speaker wire for a sub run or say it is OK.

      it is too late to retrofit inside the wall. the only choice is running flat RCA or the RG6 you mentioned, preferably white, along the baseboard.

      is it such an egregious error that i should fire him now before he ruins the rest of the installation?

      Comment

      • Andrew Pratt
        Moderator Emeritus
        • Aug 2000
        • 16507

        #4
        Well you can use speaker cables for a subwoofer but not for line level inputs. To use speaker cables you'd need to run your main speaker cables to the subwoofer then run another pair back to the mains so that the subwoofer could act as a crossover and filter out the low bass material..this used to be the most common method of connecting a sub back when recievers didn't have dedicated subwoofer outputs that have already been processed to remove the upper freq's etc.

        Point being on a modern receiver the vast majority should be using the line level output to the subwoofer and let the receiver do the cross over work...their are exceptions to this but they're rather rare in home theater's (music systems can be different)




        Comment

        • palmetto
          Member
          • Nov 2003
          • 36

          #5
          <

          <Point being on a modern receiver the vast majority should be using the line level output to the subwoofer and let the receiver do the cross over work.that is what he is proposing, with the exception that speake wire is used along the way.

          the installer wants to use the line out of the ROTEL and the line in on the PARADIGM subwoofer. somewhere between the two, there is 14/4 speaker wire already in the wall that will be capped off at both ends with an RCA plug.

          so, is it not possible or desirable to use speaker wire instead of rca for the part of the run that is in the wall?

          Comment

          • Andrew Pratt
            Moderator Emeritus
            • Aug 2000
            • 16507

            #6
            No that's not desirable at all. You want to use coax cable for line level runs...esp for subwoofers.




            Comment

            • Lex
              Moderator Emeritus
              • Apr 2001
              • 27461

              #7
              Andrew, while your advice may be "ok", I'm going to have to correct you on a couple of points. 75 ohm video coax is not necessarily optimized for audio. Yes, shielding can be important, but not 75 ohm impedence, and not really foil type shielding that can accompany braid shield on most video grade coax. The foil actually is a detriment for the signal. That's why wire that's optimized for audio transmission is better.

              Why recommend he use some cobbled up RG-6 cable, when he can purchase a Cool cat sub cable for around 35.00, that's the right cable for the job?

              See CAT Cables, my company, our sponsor for the Coolcat.

              Doug
              CAT
              Doug
              "I'm out there Jerry, and I'm loving every minute of it!" - Kramer

              Comment

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