Recommendation for Subwoofer cable?

frdranger

Hey gang,

I was wondering what could some of you recommend for a good subwoofer cable. I wanna replace the cheesey, small, cheap subwoofer cable that I'm currently using, that came with the Yamaha HTIB. I did have the Acoustic Research PR152 series in mind - its a reasonable price, and I'm using AR 16 guage wiring for the rest of my system. Does anyone else have any other recommendations that could help me notice a little more difference in the sub compared to what I'm using now? Thanks!!

kingtut

AR sub cable is fine. Parts Express also has a good priced sub cable. If you have extra F-Coaxial cable laying around, you can get the RCA adapter and Radshack and make your own for a real cheaply but very decent quality cable. My sub location for my family room required over 25 ft of sub cable. I made my own using the F-coaxial cable.

frdranger

kingtut wrote:

AR sub cable is fine. Parts Express also has a good priced sub cable. If you have extra F-Coaxial cable laying around, you can get the RCA adapter and Radshack and make your own for a real cheaply but very decent quality cable. My sub location for my family room required over 25 ft of sub cable. I made my own using the F-coaxial cable.

Hmm, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. I'll look into that! Thanks for the tip!

John K.

FR, if the "difference" in the sub that you're looking for is stronger, cleaner, lower, etc. bass, there's no way that connecting a different cable to the sub can supply that, and the "cheesey, small, cheap" one that you're using now is likely doing its very simple job as well as can be. The basic design of the sub is of course relevant, but you can't change that without a new sub. What you can do is experiment with placement of the sub in your room (right in a corner is generally best unless the room is nearly square)and be sure that you've calibrated the sub level correctly and are using a suitable crossover frequency(80Hz is commonly suggested for good results).

mantis

John K. wrote:

FR, if the "difference" in the sub that you're looking for is stronger, cleaner, lower, etc. bass, there's no way that connecting a different cable to the sub can supply that, and the "cheesey, small, cheap" one that you're using now is likely doing its very simple job as well as can be. The basic design of the sub is of course relevant, but you can't change that without a new sub. What you can do is experiment with placement of the sub in your room (right in a corner is generally best unless the room is nearly square)and be sure that you've calibrated the sub level correctly and are using a suitable crossover frequency(80Hz is commonly suggested for good results).

I can roll with that but the cable is also important to get the signal there unchanged. The rg6 with F to RCA ends does work well. I have done it millions of times with good results. Higher end cables for subs seem to help smooth out the sound a bit. It's not night and day, well sometimes it is but depending on the caliber of your sub will suggest the quality of subcable to use.

I have demo'd sub cables in the past and actually found sonic differences. the cable has a very easy job to do with only tranporting limited frequencies.The coax design cables do work in most cases. I don't use on on my sub I use a Audioquest Subcable.

Dan

GATOR3000

I use Audioquest subcable as well and it does the job well. Also, I have made up my own RG6 cable with 2 RCA type connectors at the ends.

Did some experimenting with both cables and found RG6 cable gives me more reviling and at the same time softer bass for music. The Audioquest cable gives me deeper and more extended bass for movies.

Gator

wingnut4772

Try Cobalt Cable.
They make excellent stuff for the money. I use them all around.

frdranger

Hey, thanks for the replies and suggestions guys! I appreciate it!

schwarcw

Audio Advisor is offering Audioquest Black Thunder subwoofer cable for 60% off. I suspect these may be the same ones Dan is using. A single 2M cable for $57.50, 3M $77.50, 5M $117.50, etc.

Dan, are you using one or two cables?

frdranger

It is true you can actually gain 3dB - 10dB by using both RCA jacks on the back of the subwoofer using a Y-splitter?

Dennis Gardner

frdranger wrote:

It is true you can actually gain 3dB - 10dB by using both RCA jacks on the back of the subwoofer using a Y-splitter?

You gain 3 db of volume within the limits of the amp. If you ran a test with the volume knob at 12 oclock, it will be 3 db louder with 2 inputs compared to one input.

If your sub has enough gain to run into distortion, which most do, then it will run into distortion at the same volume as before, but it will be at a new lower point on the volume knob. Your amp runs out of power at the same output.

Higher levels of input don't always equal higher levels of output and unless your amps sensitivity was so low that it wasn't reaching its full output at full volume due to input/voltage mismatch, then the increase would be seen at the top end of the volume range too.