RCA plug to banana plugs? (1 Viewer)

[Michael.M.C]

I need to go from an RCA type speaker plug to two banana type plugs.

Does Radio Shack carry splitters like that? If I stripped the RCA plug I would not know which was positive and which was negative due to the plug going into the speaker not being marked.

Thanks

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Be carefull here.

"RCA type speaker plug" - this is usually a line-level signal (un amplified) from a VCR, DVD player or a CATV box.

"Two banana type plugs" - Many speakers have 5-way binding posts that take banana plugs. But the signals come from SPEAKER WIRES that carry amplified signals.

In general if you have a device that has RCA female jacks for sound output - you cannot plug these directly into speakers. You need an amplifier to convert from line-level to speaker-level signals.

 

[Michael.M.C]

Bob, I should have been more specific.

I have two new bose double cubes that have the propriatory plug on the speakers and a male RCA plug for the sub/AVR/whatever.

I want to be able to plug these into the banana plug type recepticles on my HK AVR 325. Without cutting the (male) plugs off I was hoping to connect with a splitter type setup.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Michael.M.C]

RS has nothing that will do the job. Correct me if I am wrong but isn't the line going to the center of the RCA plug positive? If that is the case I can just cut it and banana plug it myself.

 

[Dave Milne]

Sell the Bose cubes and buy some real speakers?

Sorry, I couldn't help that. Seriously, you are correct that the center pin of an RCA plug is typically positive. However, if you are only using these two speakers, it really doesn't matter as long as you wire both speakers the same. If you are using these as surrounds, it is best to wire them with the same polarity as the other speakers in the system. Usually you can check this with a flashlight battery: when the woofer cone moves out, you have the correct polarity (disconnect the speaker from the receiver first, of course). This might not work with the Bose cubes because the "woofers" move so little, you can't tell which direction by looking at the cones (diaphragms in this case).

Assuming that you wire both Bose speakers the same way (you should), then there are only two options: in phase with the rest of the system and out of phase with the rest of the system. You can just listen and see which option sounds better. The difference is likely to be subtle.