[guilty]

Hey guys.. I'm sure there's some home theatre nerd that can answer this: What, if any, are the differences between a "subwoofer" RCA cable and a regular audio RCA cable? Also, the difference between "digital audio" RCA cable vs. a pair of regular stereo RCA cables.. I mean, they all look the same from the outside, have the same connectors, etc. Somebody knows the difference..

[NefCanuck]

guilty,May 4 2006, 07:29 PM Wrote:Hey guys.. I'm sure there's some home theatre nerd that can answer this:  What, if any, are the differences between a "subwoofer" RCA cable and a regular audio RCA cable?  Also, the difference between "digital audio" RCA cable vs. a pair of regular stereo RCA cables..  I mean, they all look the same from the outside, have the same connectors, etc.  Somebody knows the difference..
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The difference mainly lies in the amount of "shielding" that the cables have from electrival interference. You might be able to get away with the cheaper cables, only way to know is to try.

NefCanuck

[NOS2Go4Me]

It's in the actual gauge of the cable, the quality, lack of imperfections in the conducting material making up the "cable" itself, as well as the shielding that Daniel mentions as well.

To a smaller degree of a delta in sizes, think of it as the difference between stock and 0-gauge power wire for your Focus, or for car audio. :)

[OAC_Sparky]

For most purposes, if you are:

-not making a run over 20'
-using a powered sub
-not listening to techno all day and night (ie for home theater use)

a normal sheilded RCA cable is good enough.

The reason you need to run a larger gauge cable with car audio is because you are running a lot of current, and you want as low resistance as possible.

With a cable between a receiver and a powered sub, it's only carrying signal, and the actual current is very low, so line loss is rather low.

I always shake my head at thes guys from Future Shop that try to sell you $400 cables for a $500 theater-in-a-box systems. :rolleyes:

[nass]

1. Goto future shop... buy the most expensive cables.
2. Go to another future shop buy cheaper wires that look the same.
3. Switch the cables with you keeping the expensive ones.
4. Return "expensive" cables.
5. .....
6. Profit

haha

[Phantom]

nass,May 5 2006, 09:11 AM Wrote:1. Goto future shop... buy the most expensive cables.
2. Go to another future shop buy cheaper wires that look the same.
3. Switch the cables with you keeping the expensive ones.
4. Return "expensive" cables.
5. .....
6. Profit

haha
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The really funny part is futureshould would not know the difference, just make sure you pay with cash and don't give em your name and s*** to track the order.

[nass]

if anyone's ballsy enough to try it do it at your own risk, I wouldn't risk it cause I think you'd get in sme trouble.

[Phantom]

nass,May 5 2006, 11:55 AM Wrote:if anyone's ballsy enough to try it do it at your own risk, I wouldn't risk it cause I think you'd get in sme trouble.
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worst case you could always say well you tried both and accidentally packaged up the wrong ones, if you get caught :D

[nass]

then you can be all ethnic and stuff.... " sowry I no speak canada "

[guilty]

OAC_Sparky,May 4 2006, 09:55 PM Wrote:I always shake my head at thes guys from Future Shop that try to sell you $400 cables for a $500 theater-in-a-box systems. :rolleyes:
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That's what I was thinking.. thanks for the info Sparky. I found a bunch of RCA brand fancy cables at XS Cargo for cheap so I've been upgrading my home theatre wiring (mainly because of where I have my stereo sitting, the cables are visible from the rear and I wanted something that looks a little nicer).

[Drivesthebeast]

A standard RCA cable cannot carry the same bandwidth of signal as a deducated subwoofer cable. The subwoofer cable not only has more wire count per foot, and has less signal loss, it also allows the LFE octaves from the output of your receiver to be sent to the amp in your sub better than the standard type can. I purchased a 20ft Monsterbass Cable from EHR for around $120 bux, and I'm glad I did...my sub can effectively play anything I throw at it.

In terms of the Digital cable, you must be reffereing to the Digital Coaxial type. This type of cable might have a similar looking jacket and whatnot as a standard cable, but you will notice that it is going to be thicker, and if you look at the tip of it, you will see that there isn't only 1 section to the outer ring....there are usually 7 or more notches, each one of these is for a different channel. This type of cable is also meant to send RAW digital data at high speed from your DVD or other digital media sources, without having to convert it from digital to analogue, and back from analogue to digital, which would degrade the signal. Simply creates a straight pathway between components. Also, just as a personal observation, my receiver never went into actual surround modes, or had the speaker map lit up on the front display until I installed a digital coax, and assigned it to the source it was being fed by. That's because I was sending my receiver an a digital signal that had been converted to analogue by my DVD player, and was staying analogue going into the the receiver. Also, my receiver's internal analogue circuits would often display a peak meter warning, because the output level of my DVD player was too high, and I had to set the Attenuator on the receiver to ON. After switching to the digital, all 7 channels were working, the map was displayed for each surround mode, and there is no issues with overtaxing the preamp circuits, because the analogue ones were now being bypassed, and I turned the ATT off.

This explanation is a little overkill, but hopefully you get the idea.

One more thing...

Yeah, spending over $100 per cable is expensive at first, or at least seem that way, but ummm...are you planning to replace them more than once over 10 years or more? The cables should last as long as the kit they connect. Look at it that way...

[Aka]

I used an RCA cable on my Sub, worked fine.

I can't see why it would need to be high bandwidth, an RCA cable is used for 20-20,000 Hz sound anyway, so how "High bandwidth" could 20-500 Hz be? Even if you increased the sample rate from 44.1 KHz to 96 KHz, I don't think you'd use up the difference. Besides, it's analogue anyway.

As for the digital one... all my digital outs (Digital Cable, and the one on the back of my computer), I just used another RCA cable I had lying around. Works fine. I don't see how 7 parts to the ring would change anything because there isn't 7 different contacts on the outerside of the female connector.

Also, some of these RCA cables ARE 10 years old, they cost $10 then probably (I didn't buy them, I was 12 then).

[OAC_Sparky]

Drivesthebeast,May 6 2006, 06:50 AM Wrote:A standard RCA cable cannot carry the same bandwidth of signal as a deducated subwoofer cable.  The subwoofer cable not only has more wire count per foot, and has less signal loss, it also allows the LFE octaves from the output of your receiver to be sent to the amp in your sub better than the standard type can.  I purchased a 20ft Monsterbass Cable from EHR for around $120 bux, and I'm glad I did...my sub can effectively play anything I throw at it. 
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Have you actually put it on an oscilloscope?

Wire count only counts for the cable's flexibility. The only things that will affect signal and cause signal loss is interference and impedance. There is no appreciable difference between a $25 cable from XSCargo and a $125 Monster cable for the average user.

A shielded cable is important. As for cable thickness (which directly affects impedance), if the run is long, resistance and impedance increase, then you need to compensate by using a thicker cable. But you need a long run for this impedance to surface.

Resistance and impedance are functions of current. The current between a receiver and a powered sub is very low. Now, an UNPOWERED sub is different, as the conductor does carry more current.

As part of my job at Ford, I route and terminate communication cables. So computers and automation controllers can communicate with each other at high speed, with EM interference from high current welding going on all around it. What do we use? Mainly CAT V shielded cable. Yes, ethernet cable. 22 ga wire, for a run of 300'.

I'm sorry, believe what you want, I know I'm sounding like a dick, but unless you are doing critical listening on a $20,000 studio setup, overspending on cables is a waste.

My friend didn't believe me when FS sold him a "Monster Surge Protector" for $200.

1 month later the exact same power bar was $40 at Factorydirect.ca

How can Factorydirect sell it that much cheaper if the materials are so much superior? You'd think it would be at least $100 everywhere. Reason -- they're not superior (at least from an electrical standpoint, although build qualtity and sturdiness may be better). Salesmen prey on the ignorance of those who don't know better.

[nass]

You're buying the name and the oppertunity to make your friend's jealous.