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RCA cables.

Some interesting points.... I’ll probably just use the standard shielded RCA jumpers for the components and make RG59 with F connector to RCA for the subwoofer The 59 will snake easier through the walls. The shielding should all but eliminate any potential AC hum, which from past experiences in my other set ups using traditional RCA cables where there had been issues.
 
LocoStereo said:
So at what point does it become pointless to spend crazy $$$$?
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When you can feel the pinch. If $25,000 is walking around money get a sweet set. (That ain't this crowd)

Otherwise, get better wire the farther you go. Good suggestions in this thread without it going off the rails until my money comment but I was answering your question. No reason to spend til it hurts.
 
whoaru99 said:
Whether or not it will have an effect one can discern at audio frequencies who knows, but at high frequencies CCS is cost savings because the cheap steel core with thin copper plating works just fine re. skin effect is predominant. But, I venture a guess you know that.

The bigger concern for a long cable IMO is the higher DC resistance of the aluminum braid. Heavier copper braid with lower DC resistance would better help against the noise ingress more typical for audio...hum, rather than RFI where the foil shields and such of RG-6 are more designed for.
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I'm using runs of about 70 feet and not having any problems. The setup is a little weird cuz I build this huge 7 foot AM loop antenna. I didn't want it in the living room cuz I didn't want to frighten visitors. So I put it in one of the back rooms and the receiver hooked up to it became the receiver that also handles FM and streaming. And that receiver just feeds all the others via the TV coax, Tape Out to Aux In kinda thing.
 
No question it can work. I remember when I read some article/story about digital signal being so robust that wire coat hangers were good enough.

I didn't do any sort of relative listening comparison to a "real" cable but I can personally attest that digital audio signal passes using a pair of wire coat hangers. But, in practice, cable that I have no doubts about is readily available and pretty inexpensive in the big picture. I usually have some 1505A and 1505F on hand for unbalanced cables and 1800F for balanced. 1505A was a mistake being solid core but in cases where there isn't any bend radius issue or frequent change of connections it's fine.

I even have a few pairs of cables I made from strands of wire stripped from CAT5. Just two 24-ga solid wires in their twisted pair terminated with Switchcraft RCAs. I had expected some hum/noise possible with no shielding but there isn't any. They worked fine so I haven't bothered to replace them with anything else. Granted they are just 3ft, not long ones, so that probably makes a big difference itself for noise ingress.
 
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Blue Shadow said:
thought that was the speaker wire comparison all the non-believers cite when they are making their case for zip cord.
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Unless you have monoblocks/amps next to the speaker, might need some electric fence wire to get the necessary length. Coat hangers wouldn't be long enough for me and I don't want to straighten and splice that many. :)
 
The OP is cabling a sub-woofer. Aren't low frequencies more forgiving of signal propagation aberrations? Wouldn't interconnect deficiencies be more apparent with mid and high frequencies, noticeable as harshness, lack of clarity, or other problems? If EMI/RFI aren't present in sufficient strength, might not a pair of 22AWG wires do the trick? Copper is considered to be superior, but would any steel or aluminum really affect a sub's signal enough to hear?
 
oldflame said:
If EMI/RFI aren't present in sufficient strength, might not a pair of 22AWG wires do the trick? Copper is considered to be superior, but would any steel or aluminum really affect a sub's signal enough to hear?
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You need to use shielded wire to prevent noise from being picked up. This applies to all low-level signals.
 
skipper, those have the death grip RCA plugs on them. Great if the use is a one time connect leave it for a decade. If you like to change gear and need to remove the cable it may well destroy the RCA jack after a couple of uses. There is a place for these, the install and forget it use.
 
oldflame said:
...If EMI/RFI aren't present in sufficient strength, might not a pair of 22AWG wires do the trick? ...
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Yeah, it can work. Here is a picture showing the unshielded twisted pair 24ga cables I described in a previous post in this thread. It's just the pairs stripped from Cat5, left at the twist rate whatever was inherent to the pairs.

I did this on a lark, expecting some hum or noise but there isn't. So, they've been the cables in that system ever since.

_IMG_000000_000000.jpg
 
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Blue Shadow said:
skipper, those have the death grip RCA plugs on them. Great if the use is a one time connect leave it for a decade. If you like to change gear and need to remove the cable it may well destroy the RCA jack after a couple of uses. There is a place for these, the install and forget it use.
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I haven't noticed a problem but I don't play with the subwoofer cable. I just connected it and left it there. But, when we moved from one house to another and I had to play with locating it, I've not noticed a death grip.
 
Maybe metabridge is different from monster but the monsters will rip the ground metal off the rca jack. Just stating it as a comment about that spiral sliced unbendable (cast) metal rca plugs. Perfect for what you are using it for, long term install. Won't come loose and probably will be tight enough to exclude ingress of electron slowing contamination.
 
Blue Shadow said:
Maybe metabridge is different from monster but the monsters will rip the ground metal off the rca jack. Just stating it as a comment about that spiral sliced unbendable (cast) metal rca plugs. Perfect for what you are using it for, long term install. Won't come loose and probably will be tight enough to exclude ingress of electron slowing contamination.
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I had a Monster cable years ago. I still might have it hiding in some box somewhere and, yes, THEY are death grip candidates. These Metabridge may look like them but, trust me, they are not Monster cables.
 
OK, I'l play the pedantic curmudgeon here.

You're not discussing "RCA cables" here, RCA is a connector type, not a cable type.

You're discussing cables that just so happen to have RCA connectors on the end.

Generally, these are coaxial cables although there are some that simply have parallel wires, sometimes shielded,

Coaxial cables can be used for audio signals, RF signals, as well as digital signals.

These coaxial cables can have RCA connectors for audio, as well as "F" type connectors f0r RF as well as BNC connectors, those used for FM antennas (dunno what they are called) on European components and perhaps others.
 
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