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Basic speaker connectors. (1 Viewer)

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I'm building a house and had a local company wire it for sound and in 1 room there is supposed to be a connector meant for a subwoofer. All the other places for speakers have just standard wire hanging through the ceiling but for this subwoofer, they already put a plate on it and the connector they used is one of those jacks just like a cable outlet. Is the wire used for a cable outlet the same as speaker wire? I'm trying to determine if they could have made a mistake with the connector or if it means they put the wrong type wire in the wrong place. Any ideas?
 

Ryan Leemhuis

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sounds like the wrong type....it should be an RCA type connector if its a powered sub....unless thats what you meant...
 
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So if I changed the connector, it should work? I'm concerned that the cable used is the wrong cable. Can coax be used as speaker wire? Coax was not what was run for the other speaker runs. Is it coax because it's a subwoofer connection?
 

Ryan Leemhuis

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well first tell me exactly what type of coax connector you are talking about since basically all cables use coax wire...Is it an RCA plug(like the yellow,red and white ones on a TV) or an F type connector(the ones you normally screw on?
 

Wayne A. Pflughaupt

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Matt,

Yes, the cable for the sub is supposed to be a coaxial cable. I assume they pulled the same kind that is normally used for cable TV or TV antennas. While that is not designated specifically as audio cable, it will carry audio signals just fine; furthermore it provides better shielding (i.e., isolation from interference) than a lot of so-called audio cable does.

Of course, you need RCA connections to get the signal to your sub, not a cable TV connection. They used the standard “F” connections to terminate the coax, because it was the cheapest and easiest thing to do - although you can find them, RCAs are not readily available for terminating coaxial cable.

All you need to do is go to the local Radio Shack and get an F-to-RCA adapter. You will be able to screw it onto the wall plate, and plug your regular RCA cables into it, and you’ll be in business.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
 

Wayne A. Pflughaupt

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I checked Radio Shack’s website and found that they don’t have an adapter like I described above. What you’ll need to do is use a regular cable TV coaxial cable from the wall to the sub, and at the sub use this adapter:



As you can see, it will screw into the coaxial’s “F”connector. Then you can plug the cable into your sub.

It’s Radio Shack’s Part #278-252 .

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
 

Bob McElfresh

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Your installer is one of the few companies that did things right.

You have 2 types of signals in your system:

Speaker Level - These use speaker wire and carry WATTS of power to move air/make sound.

Line Level - These are very weak, low-voltage signals that travel TO your reciever to be amplified. All video signals are line level, as are many audio signals.

To protect the 'weak' line level signal from noise/interference you us a type of cable called "Coax". This is exactly what the CATV company uses. A center wire to carry the signal and it is encased in a foil or mesh "pipe" called the Shield.

The "F" connector used in CATV systems is designed to connect runs of coax.

All your "RCA" cables are actually coax with RCA jacks on either end.

Do this: Go buy a subwoofer cable that can reach from your wall-plate to your sub. ($20 for the AR Pro cable at Best Buy.) Cut the end off one end and install a CATV "F" connector. Plug in and enjoy.

Or, contact one of the custom cable sites like www.bluejeanscables.com or www.catcables.com and ask them to build you a cable with a "F" connector on one end and a RCA cable on the other. A good 12' cable runs about $20. (Hint: tell them you heard about them from Home Theater Fourm. They treat our members well)

Hope this helps.
 

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