Speaker + sub woofer cables

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donthaveacow

54 posts

Master Geek

#100573 13-Apr-2012 17:58

Hey guys,

I don't know much at all about speaker wire, but the prices seem to differ pretty significantly depending on where you look. I'm looking for about 30m of speaker wire and only 1m for the sub. Are these ones listed below going to be okay? Do cheap cables like these affect sound?

http://www.tradetech.co.nz/shop/Audio+Parts/Speaker+Cables/CAB50030.html
http://www.tradetech.co.nz/shop/PhilipsSonyThe+Warehouse+Ltd/Sony/1-790-503-51.html

Thanks

Dunnersfella

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#609054 13-Apr-2012 22:33

20 gauge cable is pretty skinny... more what you'd find in a home theatre in a box pack.
I flogged this from the web - quite handy.

Tabulated below are the recommended cable distances (+20%) one should use for various speaker cable gauges and speaker loads.

Speaker Impedance 8 Ohm Load 4 Ohm Load
Wire Gauge Distance (ft)
18 AWG 10 5
16 AWG 20 10
14 AWG 35 18
12 AWG 60 30
10 AWG 100 50

Of course, the amount you want to spend / need to spend will be proportionate to the expense of your system.

Sub cable wise... look for decent shielding first and foremost.

donthaveacow

54 posts

Master Geek

#609975 16-Apr-2012 12:52

I ended up getting 12 gauge but it didn't really fit into the terminals on my Onkyo TX-SR309, should have gone for 16 I think. But oh well, managed to jam most of the strands in

bazzer

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#609978 16-Apr-2012 12:54

Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen...

richms

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#610013 16-Apr-2012 13:48

In general poking wires in terminals is a disaster without bits not going in.

Richard rich.ms

Jaxson

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#610062 16-Apr-2012 14:58

Re DIY,

Sub wise, if you're making your own cable, opt for RG59. The shielding is ideal for the frequency of signal you want to be passing down it. RG6 is shielded for frequencies above the subwoofer range, so offers little protection for your sub bass signal.

Any cable will work for sub signals, it's just how susceptible the signal will be to interference, and how much it will look like the signal you sent when it's received at the subwoofer amplifier.

richms

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#610068 16-Apr-2012 15:11

Get the CCTV RG59 not the antenna stuff if you are doing it, CCTV operates down to DC whereas the RF stuff is usually a steel cored copper plated wire to deal with VHF and up.

Richard rich.ms

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perplu

24 posts

Geek

#613142 22-Apr-2012 13:29

Check out this site.don't have to read all. Ucan skip to the instructions on how to build yr own cables. Logic is sound.
www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/spkcbl_e.html