Is there a difference in subwoofer cables? (1 Viewer)

[EdNichols]

I have read much discussion on speaker wires and how they do (or do not) make any difference in sound but I could not find any info. on whether there would be any difference in sub cables. It seems to me that it would not matter since you are taking a low level signal of the lower frequency and then amplifying the signal in the sub. What is your opinion/experience with sub. cables? Would a $2.50 cable with RCA jacks on either end work as good as a $35.00 Monster sub cable?

 

[Michael__M]

The difference in the sub cable is the shielding. A good coax cable is the ticket to keep unwanted noises out of your sub line. I have also seen that some cables remove the ground from one end to stop ground loop noise. Check out BlueJeansCable up top or make your own with RG6 from the Depot.

 

[Thom_r]

I have tried the cheapest cable in my house, really thin with little shielding. And when I power on all my equipment, I get no sound at all from the sub (good thing).

I know what your talking about though (ground loop problems), I have heard it many times before.

Just saying try what you have and if it works, why waste money on different cables.

 

[EdNichols]

I just wonder if (like speaker wire) sub cables sound any different from each other.

 

[ScottCHI]

do speaker wires really sound different from one another?

 

[Nathan Stohler]

I don't think there's much of a difference. When I first got my sub, I used one of the cables in a cheap pair of RCA patch cables (very thin). It sounded fine, but I noticed when I plugged/unplugged the cable, I heard noise in the sub when I touched the plastic plug (as if I had touched the metal part of the plug).

Although this didn't really matter, I decided to buy a thicker coax cable (around $5, I think) just to set my mind at ease. It's not sold as a $40 "digital subwoofer coax cable", but it works for me, and I don't hear any unwanted noise.

 

[Edward J M]

The subwoofer signal frequencies and narrow bandwidth (10-100 Hz typically) aren't terribly difficult for a cable to accurately carry. Good shielding and quality connectors are what you need more than anything.

OTOH (for example) if you're talking component video cables for an HDTV....that's a totally different animal. Wide bandwidth and very high frequencies are much more difficult to carry accurately, and there will be a big PQ difference between different cables.