What type of cables do I need to hook up subwoofer?

rdman

Complete noob, can someone tell me what the cables for hooking up subwoofers are called? Also, what are Y wires?Pictures or actually hooking up the subwoofer for dummies would work well.

engtaz

1st I take it you have a AVR with 1-rca out for subwoofer.
2nd Your sub has 2-red and white rca inputs.

If so you will need a Y adapter (2 male rca's [plugs into sub} to 1 female rca). You then run 1 cable (male to male rca) from the sub to AVR.

rdman

Hi Engtaz, looks like you are very active. thanks

Anyways, the sub is the Velodyne VX-10. It has speaker level inputs/outputs and a Line Input. My AVR is a Onkyo TX-SR504 which has the RCA line for powered Subwoofers. I am not even sure if it can handle speaker level inputs/outputs.

rdman

ok after taking a closer look at the instruction. I think I need to use that Y-RCA cable as you suggested it and then connect it to the single female on the AVR.

engtaz

Yes you will need http://cgi.ebay.com/Monster-One-Female-to-Two-Male-Y-Adapter-RCA-Cable-Mint_W0QQitemZ330129771872QQihZ014QQcategoryZ64591QQtcZphotoQQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

engtaz

Then just a male rca to male rca cable,( AVR to female side of y adapter) be sure to get one long enough to reach with room to spare.

Face

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10236&style=

engtaz

monoprice for all my cables except their Y adapter is the same a Walmat's.

rdman

Are the gold plated cable really worth it?

engtaz

reduces oxidation

reeltrouble1

you need to contact Frank at www.Signalcable.com, he will fix you up with some solid cabling, very honest fellow, he also gives Club Polk members a 5% discount, is a long time supporter of our Club and has donated countless cables at our audio events. I use one of his sub cables in the Reel Time Rig and it is excellent, nice build quality. Even if you do not buy from him, check out the site, give him a call or send him an e-mail about what you want to do.

In the mean time sure, run down to Rat Shack or Wal-mart and get something to get you by, my recommendation is to by-pass the monster stuff, not really bad cables ( I still have some of their stuff I got used) just too expensive new for what you get at Radio Shack.

Welcome to Club Polk, we are a passionate audio bunch, but lovable.

RT1

John K.

RD, the generic term for the connecting wire is a coaxial cable(with an RCA plug on each end). You don't have to necessarily buy something that's specifically called a "subwoofer cable"; no such specially-designed cable is necessary(or even possible in reality). The MonoPrice cable that was linked above is a reasonably-priced example of what to use and the one that runs about $4 is what I use on my latest($1100)sub because it does the job as well as anything.

You plug one RCA plug into the subwoofer preout on your 504 and the other plug into either of the line-level inputs on your VX-10. They join inside the sub amplifier, so it isn't necessary to use a Y-connector to feed voltage into both inputs. The 504 puts out enough voltage so that feeding one input is plenty.

Since your 504 will be handling the crossover duties, you should turn the crossover control on the VX-10 up to the 200Hz maximum to get it out of the way of the 504's crossover.

F1nut

A $4.00 cable on a $1100.00 sub......priceless!!!

McLoki

I am sure he never fell for the old bell ad of "If you have a $10 head, protect it with a $10 helmet." Kind of explains alot.

Michael

rdman

John, thanks. That really helps (200Mhz crossover on sub) and I was tweaking with it all day last night. More questions from the Noob coming.

Bill Ayotte

McLoki wrote: »

I am sure he never fell for the old bell ad of "If you have a $10 head, protect it with a $10 helmet." Kind of explains alot.

Michael

I think he was saved at one point by something like a bike helmet....Damn safety devices keeping the stupid people alive.....:D

Bill Ayotte

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

you need to contact Frank at www.Signalcable.com, he will fix you up with some solid cabling, very honest fellow, he also gives Club Polk members a 5% discount, is a long time supporter of our Club and has donated countless cables at our audio events. I use one of his sub cables in the Reel Time Rig and it is excellent, nice build quality. Even if you do not buy from him, check out the site, give him a call or send him an e-mail about what you want to do.

In the mean time sure, run down to Rat Shack or Wal-mart and get something to get you by, my recommendation is to by-pass the monster stuff, not really bad cables ( I still have some of their stuff I got used) just too expensive new for what you get at Radio Shack.

Welcome to Club Polk, we are a passionate audio bunch, but lovable.

RT1

I second this, I run one of his sub cables as well, and various other cables throughout my two systems.....Nice stuff.

WilliamM2

I second this, I run one of his sub cables as well, and various other cables throughout my two systems.....Nice stuff.

So he should buy a $70 sub cable, and $35 y cable for his $150 sub?

I think the monoprice cable is the best option for this setup.

Willow

I'm using one of his cables (signal) to my sub and it is a very well built cable.

Bill Ayotte

WilliamM2 wrote: »

So he should buy a $70 sub cable, and $35 y cable for his $150 sub?

I think the monoprice cable is the best option for this setup.

Where do you get that figure? he makes a splitter cable as well.....Mine was no where $70....

WilliamM2

Where do you get that figure? he makes a splitter cable as well.....Mine was no where $70

I thought the splitter was seperate, sorry.

But it is still $35 for a two foot cable, plus $3 each additional foot. So a twelve foot cable (mine is 20ft.) is $35 + $30 + $6.95shipping. That's at least $70...a real bargain. :rolleyes:

Face

Has anyone actually tested monoprice cables against any others?
I tested it against a monster cable and acoustic research cables. I found that the auto-turn on was at a lower level with the monoprice cables opposed to the name brand cables. I probably should have done a SPL test before discarding the name brand crap.

Shadrachtcc

rdman wrote: »

Complete noob, can someone tell me what the cables for hooking up subwoofers are called? Also, what are Y wires?Pictures or actually hooking up the subwoofer for dummies would work well.

I'm brand new to this forum - just joined last night - and I just bought the beginners subwoofer the PSW10. I have a mono output on my Denon AVR but my question is, is there really a difference in the sound and performance of this sub if I hook it up with the Y cable??

Bill Ayotte

Shadrachtcc wrote: »

I'm brand new to this forum - just joined last night - and I just bought the beginners subwoofer the PSW10. I have a mono output on my Denon AVR but my question is, is there really a difference in the sound and performance of this sub if I hook it up with the Y cable??

If you are not going to use a y-cable, I believe you hook the cable into the LEFT input....I have been wrong before...I don't think there will be a performance difference either, I have hooked my Sunfire sub up both ways, and really didn't notice a difference....

Face

I'll be testing with a SPL meter soon.

reeltrouble1

I really think some folks have been searching for a penny in the corner of a round room for too long.

Check out a real expert...........http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showpost.php?p=649858&postcount=52

Although Ken is speaking about higher frequencies in that link there are others in the thread about the low frequencies, but he shows how cables can be different, the type of cable you use can certainly make a difference, just use your ears, if you like what you hear be happy. I recommend Signal, don't like it send it back and get a refund, I used the inexpensive stuff once, had grounding issues, moved to a better cable no issues and sounds better..........go figure.

Have fun.

RT1--Anti-Anti Hi-fi Audio Insurgent.

tonyb

Man,I just love that anti hi-fi audio insurgent stuff.Make some t-shirts or
bumper stickers...I'd buy 'em and stick them on the cars of unsuspecting
insurgents.

Bill Ayotte

tonyb wrote: »

Man,I just love that anti hi-fi audio insurgent stuff.Make some t-shirts or
bumper stickers...I'd buy 'em and stick them on the cars of unsuspecting
insurgents.

I'd buy them too....That would be an awesome T-shirt...

rdman

Anyways, to follow up with my orginal thread. I got the Monoprice cables and Velodyne shipped me the Y adapter. Those guys are awesome. Too bad I had to return my velodyne VX-10 due to lack of bass (for my room) and a dent on the outside due to shipping. But as a company, they are great.

McCelery

Returning to the Y-adapter issue, the signals reconnect inside the sub, right? I have a feeling most people (including myself previously) have used the Y-adapter because they figured, "might as well be sure the whole signal goes through!" But electronically, it doesn't make sense, right? Since we're talking a single output from the AVR and voltage is all that matters, isn't the Y-adapter superfluous?

Isn't this just making a signal path that looks like:

|
|
/ \
| |
| |
\ /
|
| ?

Oops, that did NOT come out looking right. But you get the idea. (I'm not trying to be know-it-all, promise. I'm legitimately asking because I only thought about it recently and I realized I don't know for sure.)

Lowell_M

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

I really think some folks have been searching for a penny in the corner of a round room for too long.

Check out a real expert...........http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showpost.php?p=649858&postcount=52

Although Ken is speaking about higher frequencies in that link there are others in the thread about the low frequencies, but he shows how cables can be different, the type of cable you use can certainly make a difference, just use your ears, if you like what you hear be happy. I recommend Signal, don't like it send it back and get a refund, I used the inexpensive stuff once, had grounding issues, moved to a better cable no issues and sounds better..........go figure.

Have fun.

RT1--Anti-Anti Hi-fi Audio Insurgent.

...and again.... JohnK just peed his pants...