40 ft subwoofer cable (1 Viewer)

[Ronneil Camara]

Hey guys. Just would like to know if there are known issues when running a 40 ft long subwoofer cable? And also, since I will build it myself, I will be using this to convert my F-connector to RCA audio.

http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=278%2D290

Any comments will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Neil

 

[james_pierce]

For some reason it is not letting me post url's. Anyways you can do a search on the HSU Research forum and Sasha from HSU has some good recommendations on builing your own cables. I read on a post there where he recommended using 3 of their 20 ft cables using female to female adapters to connect them . So it seems it should not be a problem to run 40 ft of cable.

 

[ScottCHI]

good coax and you'll be fine. the adapters work well, too.

 

[Ronneil Camara]

What I have here now is RG-6 cables, and it's 16 AWG printed on the wire. I investigated the cable and it's just weird because, I am only seeing 1 strand of wire outside the white housing for the thicker wire but fully covered with foil. I'm sure that foil is a conductor. Is the outer wire really important for my requirement?

Thanks guys....

 

[Ronneil Camara]

I finished building the 40 ft cable using the 279-290 F-connector from RadioShack and it worked like a charm.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Cool. I would have used the cheaper nickel-plated adapters, but glad to see you got it working. There are better grades of RG-6 that have copper braided shielding in addition to the foil, but for this application what you have will work fine (as I’m sure you’ve already seen).

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Ronneil Camara]

Hey, you know what, I found out last night that the cable I built was producing a humming sound. :frowning: I was actually moving my SVS to the corner and noticed that hum. I connected back my old cable and there was none.

I don't know why. It could be multiple translations.

F-connector-2-RCA
F-connector-2-RCA

Looks like I'll just have to buy a branded cable.

 

[JustinG]

my sub cabling is like this:

RCA from rcvr to wallplate (rca to F adapter)
probably 30-40 ft of rg6 inwall to the other plate with the same adapters.
RCA from wall to sub.

I get no hum at all. Re-check your connections and make sure they are all tight/secure. Maybe you didn't cut the shielding back or something.

 

[Matthew Todd]

Neil, if you're going to buy a branded cable, you might want to check out bluejeanscable. You'll find their banner at the top of the speakers&subwoofers forum page. There pricing is very nice too.

Matt

 

[John Garcia]

The connectors should not cause hum. It's a cable problem. I've used those F to RCA connectors in this type of installation before with no problem.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Like Justin said, re-check your terminations, especially since you made the cable yourself. More oft than not, the problem with coaxial cable is improperly terminated F connectors. If you don’t have the specialty tools required to properly install F connectors, you’d be better off buying an off-the-shelf pre-made cable.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Ronneil Camara]

I have a crimping tool which I bought at RadioShack.

John Garcia might be correct. It might be the cable. :frowning:

----- blue foil w/ single strand wire
--------+ /
| /
+--------+
| +----------
+--------+ |
| | |
------------+ | |
| | |
| | |
| | +-- copper
| |
| +-------- white insulator
|
|
+------------------- external black cover


Am I correct that the blue foil should touch the inner circle on the F-connector? Is the blue foil connection really needed for subwoofer connection?

I will recrimp it again tonight but I am going to use the weather proof F-connectors,

 

[Ronneil Camara]

Sorry guys, I don't know if it's possible to attached a jpeg or gif image. There is no way for me now to attach a public URL. Here it is again....

+---------- black outside cover
| +----- white insulator
--+--+ |
+--+
| +----
+--+ |
------+ +-- center copper

----- blue foil inside
black cover but
outside white insulation

 

[Pete_M3]

bluejeanscable.com has your answer, 3 finished subwoofer cables to choose from, from $30 to $55 for 40 feet, and an isolation transformer if the cable doesn't get rid of the hum.

I've never built a cable, so I can't help you there.

 

[Ronneil Camara]

Ok guys, I did some experiment on different RG-6 cables available in my house. IIRC, I tested 6 different cable brands(white and black). I still used the same 279-290 F-connector to RCA from RadioShack.

What I found out was that, an RG-6 cable that uses foil instead of braided wire causes humming sound. The other 3 cables that employ braided wire didn't produce any hum at all. Oh by the way, for the RG-6 that uses foil technology, you can here the hum at most in 3 ft. I also tested the cable I bought at Bestbuy 5 months back. It is an Acoustic Research 15ft subwoofer cable. There is also a hum but very unnoticeable. I had to place my ear near the bottom part of my 20-39PCi subwoofer. But again, using coax RG-6 that uses braided wire, even if I placed my ear very close to the foot of my subwoofer, there was none.

So I guess, this can serve as a warning for some people who wants to build their own cable.

Bottomline, it might be cheaper going with the bluejeans route. But also, I haven't check an RG-6 braided wire price yet.

Just my 2cents...

Neil

 

[Scott*Ellis]

Hey... thanks to everyone that contributes to this forum. I have never posted but I always find what I need just by reading.

This post is just what I needed, I am about to install my first Sub and I am trying to get set up with cable etc. I have pre-run (during construction) some nice RG6 with braided shielding, my question now is what kind of connectors do I need and where should I get them? In the end I just need RCA connections I guess but where do I get them to go on RG6 and what tools do I need.

thanks again.
Scott

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

An easy no-tools solution is to use some twist-on F-connectors. They’re pricey compared to the kind you crimp on, and seem to get no respect, but I’ve had good luck with them. Then you can use some F-to-RCA adapters to connect to the audio gear.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt