Subwoofer Cable

jm1

I have a couple of cables from an active crossover to subwoofers I would like to update. Currently these are just standard IC cables and the weakest link in the system. I was thinking of using 3M dedicated subwoofer cables for the two runs I need.

Does anyone have any experience with the Audioquest Sub-1 or the Harmonic Technology HT Subwoofer cable? I am looking for owners impressions of these cables in their system.

jm1

Looks like I will be trying a Nordost cable. Thanks for the reply.

HDMIKE

You could also go to monoprice and get whatever wire you want for 1/4 of that price.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10236

zingo

HDMIKE wrote: »

You could also go to monoprice and get whatever wire you want for 1/4 of that price.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10236

+1 if you just want a quality cable for little coin. If you want to go with something more HIFI, more power to you.

jm1

I am looking for something significantly more HiFi as this is part of the two channel system. One of the two Bass-Line cables are in place at this time.

Thanks.

kneedragger37

jm1 wrote: »

I am looking for something significantly more HiFi as this is part of the two channel system

Whatever melts your cheese, as they say... However (and I'm mostly quoting Kurt from BJC here, who forgot more about cables last week than I've learned in the last 15 years) your sub cable has basically the easiest job in your system -- carrying, low-frequency, low-bandwidth, line-level bass signals to your sub. The only critical job your sub IC has is to keep out induced noise like 60 Hz hum. So long as you're not hearing any hums, buzzes, or other induced noise, spending more than $25 or $30 on a sub cable seems a bit of a waste, as it would make no improvement in sound quality.

Mike21

I'm with kneedragger.

Blue Jeans, Signal or Zebra : http://zebracables.com/sub.html

jm1

Gentlemen,

I would agree with you on this 100% if this was strictly a HT system and/or I only listened to mainstream music. But I listen to a significant amount of acoustically recorded music. Having the audio room treated in all three dimensions along with other system upgrades has given me a new awareness of just how important the low frequency/low level ambient information is to the overall sonic presentation.

I am simply continuing my quest to refine all aspects of the audio system. This happens to by the area I am currently addressing. My intention was not to start a cable debate. I was only merely looking to see if there were any comments on the mentioned cables.

kneedragger37

jm1 wrote: »

Gentlemen,

I would agree with you on this 100% if this was strictly a HT system and/or I only listened to mainstream music. But I listen to a significant amount of acoustically recorded music. Having the audio room treated in all three dimensions along with other system upgrades has given me a new awareness of just how important the low frequency/low level ambient information is to the overall sonic presentation.

I am simply continuing my quest to refine all aspects of the audio system. This happens to by the area I am currently addressing. My intention was not to start a cable debate. I was only merely looking to see if there were any comments on the mentioned cables.

None of the cables mention will give you an audible improvement in sound quality. In 15 years of pro audio, and longer than that as a home audio enthusiast, I've listened to hundreds of cables. Very few have any audible differences (unless they're defective -- then you can hear a difference).

If you're going to get a real, audible difference in cabling, especially with music, you've got to spend significantly more, and you have to think about your cabling as whole, not just one cable. You could spend $1500 on an Aluminata RCA IC or similarly priced Reference-Quality IC for your sub, but you still will likely be unable to hear a difference unless you are making similar upgrades to (in order of increasing significance) your speaker cables, source device IC's, and especially your AC cables.

If you're serious about buying Reference-Quality cables, in terms of making your music system sound more "spacious," eliminating background noise is critical -- the foremost source of that noise is usually the AC powering your system -- so spending big bucks on your AC cables will yield a noticeable improvement. Source device IC's will also improve things siginificantly, and speaker cables to some degree. Your sub cable, carrying the lowest frequency and lowest bandwidth information in your whole system, will have the least noticeable improvement of any cable in your system.

Again, we are talking about spending more money on cables than most people spend on their entire AV system in order to get an audible difference in sound quality. The difference between a $25 and $150 or $200 cable is negligible at best. I have $150 cables from Monster, Phoenix Gold, and others in my system that I bought before I knew any better, and they are absolutely indistinguishable from the lower-priced cables that I now buy from BJC or Monoprice in terms of sound quality.

You may consider this a cable debate rather than a direct answer to your question, but it's the best advice I can give based on my experience.

jm1

To summarize, the system is powered by a BPT BP-2.5 balanced power unit with the differential noise filter and Bybee Quantum Purifiers. All power cables are PS Audio.

I will only follow the digital path to keep it simple: Museatex Bitstream DAC (Ed Meitner’s of EMM Labs previous company) -> Simaudio P-5 pre -> Bryston 10B Sub active crossover -> Simaudio W-3 amp -> Dynaudio C1 monitors. The cables in question will go from the Bryston 10b to two SVS PC-Ultra subs. All the ICs/speaker cables stringing the above together are Nordost Frey.

The cables in question will replace some standard ICs I had cryro treated a few years ago.

Not sure if this addresses your concerns, but this is what I have at the moment. There are no plans of changing as significantly exceeds my expectations.

Thanks for posting the above.

kneedragger37

jm1 wrote: »

To summarize, the system is powered by a BPT BP-2.5 balanced power unit with the differential noise filter and Bybee Quantum Purifiers. All power cables are PS Audio.

I will only follow the digital path to keep it simple: Museatex Bitstream DAC (Ed Meitner’s of EMM Labs previous company) -> Simaudio P-5 pre -> Bryston 10B Sub active crossover -> Simaudio W-3 amp -> Dynaudio C1 monitors. The cables in question will go from the Bryston 10b to two SVS PC-Ultra subs. All the ICs/speaker cables stringing the above together are Nordost Frey.

Well why didn't you say in the first place???

Most cables that will match the rest of your system would retail starting around $1000 a meter. At the risk of offending basically EVERYONE on the forum -- most people on this or any other forum will not have the resources, or likely even the desire, to have auditioned, much less owned, the type of cables you are talking about. Most would not have set-ups in terms of equipment and listening environments that would allow the full benefits of such cables to be audible anyway. I certainly don't have this type of system or listening room in my home, that's for sure... I've just been fortunate enough to have the privilege to be in those types of environments from time to time, and the training and experience to hear the difference.

That all being said, the $100 - $200 cable options we opened this thread with do not even come close to the level of quality that's represented in the rest of your system. I would think that it would be best for you to stick with the higher-end stuff from Nordost (you've likely already spent thousands on your Frey speaker cables and IC's -- why skimp now with the BassLine when you could stick with Frey?). Other alternatives might be JPS, Analysis Plus, Shunyata. I really don't think anything from AudioQuest or similar high-end consumer-grade manufacturers is going to give you what you're looking for -- it sounds to me like you're looking for middle- to high-end audiophile, not high-end consumer.

jm1

Once both BassLine cables are in place, I will evaluate the results. I was not planning on placing two 3M runs of Frey for the subs. There are other areas I would contend with before this would happen. The next cable will be a long run of Heimdall or Frey for the TT completing a Nordost path from the cartridge to the preamp.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to post your thoughts.