Running Line Level Audio Under Floor of House

V

vanmeterannie

Active Member
I have a small mid-century home and have a few vintage radios that I've installed modern circuit board amps in, which I then can plug an iphone into or what have you...these do not use the tube circuitry or anything original other than the speaker and the on/off volume controls. And are not hi-fi, but I really dig the sound and ambiance in our older home.

So I want to run line-level audio from our system in the living room under the floor to these radios, which are literally a room away in a small house. I had the thought I could use the old telephone wire system since we don't have a land line, but after disconnecting it from the main phone line coming into the house and splicing audio in, I have massive hum when I connect the stereo to it. (There's nothing else on the line, it's just the result of the unshielded wire running relatively close to power lines for all I can deduce.)

So, what wire would you suggest I use to try to do this? Again these aren't long lines, will be mono audio (which I'm submixing down after our main system) and don't need to be super-clean, audiophile signals, but I also don't want gobs of hum or other noise. I'm not looking for suggestions on other setups like bluetooth or such, I only am looking for feedback on ways to try to get audio from one system in our living room to multiple smaller amps in nearby rooms using a wired connection.

Thanks!
 
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Hmmmm.... how about Cat cables .. :idea: I believe it has multiple conductors, is shielded, and would be easy to run under the home as well.
 
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Better off running balanced , even if you have to convert on both ends.
Its what pro audio does (or at least did before digital)
 
Back in the day when everyone had ipods I ran a long 3.5 mm auxiliary cable from the back of my house to the front of my house where my receiver/speaker selector was located. That way I could still control the song selection in the kitchen/outside area. The cable was just cheap stuff I got from a big box store and it wasn't even one cable - it was several 25 foot cables connected by 3.5 mm connector jacks. It had no hum whatsoever. I did run it thru my ceiling but part of it was outside at the front of the house when running it down the back of a wall. I will given the disclaimer that this was before I discovered audiophilia and all the trappings so I never did any "critical listening" but my friends and I thought it sounded great.

Kind of a funny aside - this house was in New Orleans and it got about 5 feet of water during Katrina. My wife and I had to relocate so we sold the house to a restoration guy. He restored the house and sent us pictures and stuff but had questions about the speakers I put in the walls and outside. I told him about the run of cord to the front of the house and he sent me an e-mail a couple of weeks later informing me it still worked even after going thru Katrina.
 
A few fellas hit the nail on the head with CAT5 (or 6) cables to accomplish this. However, you need more then just cable, you need a few of these: https://www.parts-express.com/balun-rca-stereo-to-rj45--183-332. These baluns convert the line in signal to the appropriate signal for sending down CAT5 cable, then with another balun, converts it back to line level. You can go 1000 feet if you need to with no signal loss.

Wayner
 
Just regular RCAs would probably be fine. I've been using twenty five foot RCAs in the car with no problems for decades. Have you tried it?
If you want shielded cables buy some LMR 240 Ultraflex Coax Cable and RCA ends and make your own.
 
No, haven't tried it - as I say all I've tried so far was just attempting the solder the correct ends on the old phone cable that's already run to every room and easily adapted for this, but the resulting hum make it not usable.

Luckily the former owner of this house was also an audio person and had holes run between my office and the living room and our bedroom is easily reached from the basement, so the only real issues are my wife's office and and kitchen to run new lines, which will require some surgery to get to because of a finished ceiling in the other half of our basement.

I may just get some shielded cable, CAT5 or otherwise, and try a test run to one of the "easy" locations and see what happens. @#$#*($ that I can't use the old phone lines, I'd be done already!
 
I would've guessed RG-59 was enough for interference-free, no-signal-degradation audio signals over that short a distance. Is RG-6 really necessary?

The Monoprice Premium RCA cables(RG-59) have done wonder in my setup, for similar distances, and the cinch connectors at the end are solid and grip well and stay firmly in place. I absolutely recommend them.
 
Final_Baton said:
I would've guessed RG-59 was enough for interference-free, no-signal-degradation audio signals over that short a distance. Is RG-6 really necessary?

The Monoprice Premium RCA cables(RG-59) have done wonder in my setup, for similar distances, and the cinch connectors at the end are solid and grip well and stay firmly in place. I absolutely recommend them.
Click to expand...

RG-59 would probably be fine, I'm just more likely to have RG-6 laying around.

I have to admit to not sharing your opinion on the Monoprice cables. I do not like the ends at all, although in theory the cable should work fine for ICs.
 
Yeah, I get why someone might not like 'em. But personally, since I don't disconnect them often, I like 'em, I'd rather have something that clenches on real solid. They definitely won't come off your equipment. lol. but they can be quite hard to insert and take out at times
I guess he could opt for RG-59 cables from another make if he feels this could be an issue
 
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Here's the deal. You are using inside wire (IW) for stereo. No problem. There should be 4 conductors in four colors. Red/Green Black.yellow. Tie the red green together. They are twisted together. Tie the yellow black together. Now you have two channels. keep the red on the right side. Black on the left.
Now make certain... absolute certain... the (Protector) is off of the circuit... because it has a ground used for voltage spikes say from lightning. The outside drop I assume is not attached by now. If it is take it off.
Now from the protector there may be more then one (IW) going to different rooms. Isolate the one you want to use if you can. Once this is done there should be no hum unless there is a short of some kind in the wiring
Very important make two channels. red/green black/yellow.. This is great copper and you can solder to it easily. Insulate all exposed copper with anything. Even paper & scotch tape if that is all you have. We are dealing with low voltage here.
 
20 foot RCA, test, crawl und house, done. Proper way, if its longer than 10 -20 feet, is a balanced connection. But I would try 30 feet with RCA too.
 
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