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Subwoofer cable harsh and horrible for full-range audio

Kingbleu

Kingbleu

Well-Known Member
I am using Audioquest Irish Red subwoofer cables to connect my phono preamp to my preamp. It is a long run and these subwoofer cables are the only cables I have that are long enough. The sound is good to me but I wonder what the sonic differences there would be betweeen a subwoofer cable and regular cable, if any. I have read all that has been written about using regular RCA cables for subwoofer cables but not much info is available for my situation of using subwoofer cable inplace of regular cable to send a signal from the turntable to the preamp.

I didn't think much of it until I read the specs at Audioquest website. This is what stood out and has me concerned.
SOLID .5% SILVER CONDUCTORS FOR IMPROVED SUBWOOFER PERFORMANCE
Solid .5% Silver-Plated Copper Conductors: A superbly cost-effective way to maximize a video or digital cable, harsh and horrible for full-range audio, but like turning up the “sharpness” for a subwoofer, enhancing articulation and intelligibility.
 
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Miklos said:
If it makes you feel better who's to say you shouldn't do it or at least try it? Just because some of us think it's BS doesn't mean you won't like it better.
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I've seen very few questions raised when someone's reason is "because I want to".

It's other situations like what the OP seems to be saying, "it sounded fine until I read the sales and marketing literature", that seem dubious.
 
Guys lets clarify something real fast before you beat eachother down. I never said the sound changed after reading the literature. All I said was i was concerned. This needs to be addressed because right now your debating about something that is irrelevant. If i had some longer cables i would just swap and do a comparison.
This thread was not a question of it sounded good i read literature it now sounds bad. The thread was intended to address the claim from audioquest that their subwoofer cable is harsh and horrible for full range audio. Until i do a cable swap i cant comment to this claim.
 
I have a subwoofer cable. It's not a scam. Although I got mine for a buck at a garage sale. Granted that an RCA cable is (may be) an RCA cable, but sub cables are often sold that way because they are extra long. Note that's what the OP stated, it's a long run. They are usually kinda heavy gauge to minimize losses. I think mine is 12 or 15 ft.

As to whether it sounds like crap on full range audio, I don't think I've tried that, but if I have, I didn't notice any problems.

With no explanation by the manuf. and none in this thread about why it would sound inferior to any other silver plated copper cable of the same gauge with a full range signal, I'm inclined to disbelieve any difference, but if it sounds OK to you, there's your answer.
 
I should have know better. Any thread on cable performance turns into a pissing match.
I purchased a bunch of cables cheap years ago from an audio store going out of business. Everything was 75% off. I bought the whole store. Just using what I have. I didn't run out and buy specific branded cables. I am about to switch the subwoofer cables out and do a comparison. I will have to use RCA couplers to make the long run and that alone might effect the sound but the cables on either side of the coupler will be identical.
So it sounds good now. What will it sound like after the switch? If I hear a difference will it be better or worse? If I hear a difference will it just be in my head. I have no skin in the game and I have no bias toward either outcome so if I do hear a difference then you can call BS perhaps it is in my head. If I do not hear any difference after switching cables than "that's good one less thing to worry about." Forest Gump
This should really heat up the comments to follow.:blah:
 
Kingbleu said:
I should have know better. Any thread on cable performance turns into a pissing match.
I purchased a bunch of cables cheap years ago from an audio store going out of business. Everything was 75% off. I bought the whole store. Just using what I have. I didn't run out and buy specific branded cables. I am about to switch the subwoofer cables out and do a comparison. I will have to use RCA couplers to make the long run and that alone might effect the sound but the cables on either side of the coupler will be identical.
So it sounds good now. What will it sound like after the switch? If I hear a difference will it be better or worse? If I hear a difference will it just be in my head. I have no skin in the game and I have no bias toward either outcome so if I do hear a difference then you can call BS perhaps it is in my head. If I do not hear any difference after switching cables than "that's good one less thing to worry about." Forest Gump
This should really heat up the comments to follow.:blah:
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If you try to compare, you need to have someone switch the cables for you so you do not know which one you are using. Otherwise, you mind will bias your opinions.
 
To my ears, (and I think that it may be accepted audio wisdom in some places) ..shorter cables sound better than longer ones ..
Best way to find out would be to move the preamp closer and compare a shorter cable to the long one ..
And since Audioquest is in the business of cable marketing, the advice is likely intended to encourage people to use shorter cables in other than subwoofer setups..
FWIW.. I consider 3ft to be a long interconnect and avoid them if I can .. but to each his own ..
 
Kingbleu said:
SOLID .5% SILVER CONDUCTORS FOR IMPROVED SUBWOOFER PERFORMANCE
.
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I would worry more about shielding than this. You could run 20-30 feet of shielded cable with no problem, but a short run of un-shielded RCA could pick up electromagnetic waves causing hum and interference. I have found that the yellow cable stripped out of those component video cables we all have laying around work great with a sub.

One-half percent silver!!! Wonder what the other 99.5% is?
 
I think that line-level cables (eg, preamp to amp) are completely different from speaker cables. The first are coax to provide noise shielding for the (relatively) low signal level between high-impedances sources and loads; the second are designed to transfer a fairly high voltage to a low-impedance load. I've never tried what you tried, but I'm not surprised if it sounds a bit off. How long a run are you talking about? I've used 15 feet or so of conventional RCA conncetor cable to connect line level from a preamp connected to my computer to the aux input of an inexpensive stereo and it works well.
 
toxcrusadr said:
I have a subwoofer cable. It's not a scam. Although I got mine for a buck at a garage sale. Granted that an RCA cable is (may be) an RCA cable, but sub cables are often sold that way because they are extra long. Note that's what the OP stated, it's a long run. They are usually kinda heavy gauge to minimize losses. I think mine is 12 or 15 ft.

As to whether it sounds like crap on full range audio, I don't think I've tried that, but if I have, I didn't notice any problems.

With no explanation by the manuf. and none in this thread about why it would sound inferior to any other silver plated copper cable of the same gauge with a full range signal, I'm inclined to disbelieve any difference, but if it sounds OK to you, there's your answer.
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You can run long cables for line level sources. I do agree it could be beneficial if the cables have bigger gauge wire. Cables in between a turntable and a phono preamp is a whole other can of worms. Cartridge loading, cable capacitance, etc. So length and inductor size and shielding matters. I had a custom set of double shielded cables made for one turntable due to it picking up RF noise. They had to be pretty short to keep the resistance and capacitance where it should be for the cartrige i was using. But I've never noticed a difference with long cables for line level sources as long as they had decent shielding and the signal wire was thicker than whats used in very cheap cables.
 
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