Stereo L/R audio over Cat5/6

Serendipity

Just came back from Home Depot and saw that Leviton has a new wall plate system that allows you to carry a stereo L/R audio signal over an Ethernet (Cat5/5e/6) network cable. It was really inexpensive (under $10) so I picked one up. :cool:

The product is called QuickPort, here is some info on it:
http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10745&minisite=10026

There are other products in this series that allow you to carry a Composite, Component, or VGA video signal over an Ethernet cable. I saw that the Composite video one was also under $10.

Has anyone used this type of jack before? It's got a pair of red/white RCA's on one end and a punch-down for the Ethernet cable on the back. So it basically carries your audio signal over the Ethernet cable. :cool:

I am going to use these for a subwoofer.

newrival

If the cat5 isn't microstrand six-9's copper flatwire, there are likely be some here that will hate it
i kid.

but that sounds interesting and look forward to your findings.

CoolJazz

The unequal twist of the four different pairs will help you get away with running unbalanced audio on Cat. But it's really not the greatest idea. Likely work ok, but watch for crosstalk.

However, for balanced, it's about perfect! You can also run AES/EBU over cat. Both balanced analog and AES can go very long distances on Cat very well (not in the same run).

But the original design company that they "borrowed" this idea from. recommends against running unbalanced analog.

CJ

bklynNupe

I i've Cat6 for my surrounds for a few years now and they sound great. However I wouldn't think of using them from my L,R and center.

Serendipity

bklynNupe wrote: »

I i've Cat6 for my surrounds for a few years now and they sound great. However I wouldn't think of using them from my L,R and center.

You mean Cat6 for speaker wire?

Or for going from the pre to the amp using a QuickPort adapter?

Joe08867

CoolJazz wrote: »

The unequal twist of the four different pairs will help you get away with running unbalanced audio on Cat. But it's really not the greatest idea. Likely work ok, but watch for crosstalk.

However, for balanced, it's about perfect! You can also run AES/EBU over cat. Both balanced analog and AES can go very long distances on Cat very well (not in the same run).

But the original design company that they "borrowed" this idea from. recommends against running unbalanced analog.

CJ

I was going to mention crosstalk as well. I would worry that info from one source would bleed into another.

Serendipity

Joe08867 wrote: »

I was going to mention crosstalk as well. I would worry that info from one source would bleed into another.

My subwoofer is connected via the LFE connection. As a result I will be only using the red (Right channel) jack, and only half the pairs of the Cat6.