Results 1 to 14 of 14
  1. #1
    Forum Regular Walker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    74

    Question Subwoofer cable?

    My subwoofer has 2 RCA's outs, and my receiver has 1 RCA in. I use 2 regular RCA cables that go to a double female/single male cable. These are the generic cheap cables.
    Q: How important is the quality of cables for a subwoofer?
    I have been told that the quality of subwoofer cable is not very important.
    Thanks,
    Walker

  2. #2
    Forum Regular N. Abstentia's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    2,671
    You need a good quality cable, not the $.25 pile of crud that came with your VCR. Using a Y is the correct way to hook it up though.

    I see no sense in spending $300 just for a subwoofer cable (unless you spent $10,000 on your subwoofer, then the money wouldn't matter) but any good heavily sheilded RCA should be fine.

  3. #3
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    1,720
    Quote Originally Posted by Walker
    My subwoofer has 2 RCA's outs, and my receiver has 1 RCA in. I use 2 regular RCA cables that go to a double female/single male cable. These are the generic cheap cables.
    Q: How important is the quality of cables for a subwoofer?
    I have been told that the quality of subwoofer cable is not very important.
    Thanks,
    Walker

    Not to worry. The low frequencies are the most forgiving and you ears are the least sensitive to. One reason why subs are tested to 10% distrotion.
    mtrycrafts

  4. #4
    Forum Regular Izlsnizzt's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Posts
    15
    I just upgraded my sub cable from an old MIT to a Monster THX 1000. I must say it made a big difference. Bass is tighter and more defined with less decay.

  5. #5
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    1,720
    Quote Originally Posted by Izlsnizzt
    I just upgraded my sub cable from an old MIT to a Monster THX 1000. I must say it made a big difference. Bass is tighter and more defined with less decay.

    Yes, perception may be this but realit may be different.
    mtrycrafts

  6. #6
    Forum Regular Izlsnizzt's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Posts
    15
    How so?
    Fear my spookiness!

  7. #7
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Posts
    15
    Izz, a little word of advice...dont start a cable war discussion with marty

  8. #8
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    1,720
    Quote Originally Posted by Izlsnizzt
    How so?

    Rather simple. Perception is affected by human bias at work that you have no control over.
    There is no evidence to support your claim.
    mtrycrafts

  9. #9
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    29

    cable buzz

    Quote Originally Posted by Walker
    My subwoofer has 2 RCA's outs, and my receiver has 1 RCA in. I use 2 regular RCA cables that go to a double female/single male cable. These are the generic cheap cables.
    Q: How important is the quality of cables for a subwoofer?
    I have been told that the quality of subwoofer cable is not very important.
    Thanks,
    Walker
    I ended up replacing the cable that came with my sub. Although it sounded fine with the cheap cable, the cable itself had to sit next to two extension cords and the sattelite cable and the sub would pick up this low level buzz and amplify it. I got a cable that was shielded and the buzz stopped. Didn't notice any difference in the sound though.

    Not sure about the Y cable to connect. In my manual, it says if there is one line out from the receiver for the sub, then connect it to the right channel on the sub, which I did and it sounds fine. I am not certain what hooking up a "Y" cable and hooking it to both inputs would do, perhaps someone could explain that......

    Take care

  10. #10
    Loving This kexodusc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Department of Heuristics and Research on Material Applications
    Posts
    9,025
    Got to agree with mtrycraft on this...a few months back my friends and I spent a few hours in an HT setup room at the local hi-fi shop. We tried out some cheapo 5 dollar cables, some DIY cables, all the way up to some $400 dollar Monster sub cables.
    In the end we all agreed we couldn't tell much difference if any between 50 dollar cables, and 400 dollar cables....although we are all confident that cables do affect sound a bit...but, we attributed the differences we did hear mostly to the connector ends. The ones that fit tighter seem to sound better, the ones that didn't weren't. Generally we found cheaper cables to have loose connections relative to the more expensive ones...but once you got up to the 30-40 dollar range or so the connections were all pretty solid. After that, wasn't much difference at all, except cables started too look better...who cares, what a cable looks like?
    One neat test we did was to try to pick out which cable sounded better between a $40 dollar cable and $400 dollar cable. We couldn't do it any better than call a coin toss unless we were watching the salesguy's hands to see what cable he was holding. When we weren't cheating, it was pure chance. We thought they sounded different, but couldn't consistently pick.
    The store sells a ton of their DIY cables that are way cheaper than the few Monster cables they keep in stock this way...good business strategy.

  11. #11
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    St.John's
    Posts
    247

    My cable

    I use a cheapo 10 dollar shielded cable and a Y connector. This sounds good enough for me, I have a Quest subwoofer so there's not really any need to buy an expensive cable. It does hum but oh well I just turn it off. It's good enough for now, when I get a good subwoofer i'll think about a little better cable.

  12. #12
    What, me worry? piece-it pete's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Cleveland Ohio
    Posts
    717
    Quote Originally Posted by Walker
    My subwoofer has 2 RCA's outs, and my receiver has 1 RCA in. I use 2 regular RCA cables that go to a double female/single male cable. These are the generic cheap cables.
    Q: How important is the quality of cables for a subwoofer?
    I have been told that the quality of subwoofer cable is not very important.
    Thanks,
    Walker
    This seems like a decent deal, 2x shielded:

    http://accessories4less.com/Amazing/...AC12S&cc=&tpc=

    Pete
    I fear explanations explanatory of things explained.
    Abraham Lincoln

  13. #13
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
    Posts
    36
    25 ft. RG6 (wall to TV cable it is) and RCA ends makes a good cable if you have to run some distance.

  14. #14
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Posts
    553
    Quote Originally Posted by Izlsnizzt
    I just upgraded my sub cable from an old MIT to a Monster THX 1000. I must say it made a big difference. Bass is tighter and more defined with less decay.
    Sorry fella, but there is simply NO way that a wire can produce the results that you claim for it. Your "big difference" is imaginary!
    woodman

    I plan to live forever ..... so far, so good!
    Steven Wright

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. bi-wiring
    By sleeper_red in forum Cables
    Replies: 35
    Last Post: 12-19-2004, 02:47 PM
  2. Replies: 1
    Last Post: 05-10-2004, 12:38 AM
  3. Audio cable, video cable...
    By Demetrio in forum Cables
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 04-18-2004, 10:53 AM
  4. Subwoofer Cable Run, Lenght
    By jackz4000 in forum Home Theater/Video
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 12-07-2003, 04:12 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •