sub and coax cable (1 Viewer)

[Kay_A]

Hi all, a newbie question from a real newbie.I just bought a receiver and speaker set and can't wait to hear that with proper setup but dont know what to buy. I just use the cables i have for now.
What type of cable should i use for connection from subwoofer out in receiver to my subwoofer (LFE)? is it a ordinary RCA cable or a special cable. My sub is 8", 35hz-120Hz (is it quite good?).
Another question, what will happen if i connect dvd to receiver via coaxial terminal with ordinary RCA cable?
Last question, I heard that i must use the correct size for speakers wire. If the wire too thin, It will lose some frequency (cut the hi/lo from the range), if too thick, there will be some noises. Is that true? So how to choose the correct size (and also type ) for speakers wire.
What cables should i buy for those connection (please specify the type and size, if any)
Sorry for those too stupid question. Many thanks for any response.
Kay

 

[Bob-N]

I'll have a crack at this one:
For your sub cable, use a good coax cable with RCA connectors. It's the same as your standard video cable (RG6 I think).
Speaker wire consensus seems to be 12awg but people have been happy with 16awg. Since you're from Indonesia, I don't know if your local hardware store have decent "twin lead" or "zip cord". If you were in the US, you could just go down to Home Depot and buy the wire they have there.
Not sure about the RCA cable (audio I suspect) to coax connection. I'd imagine you'll be loosing some signal strength due to the lower bandwith of the RCA audio cable according to some manuals I've read. I've always used coax and have AR Pro series video cables for my sub and coax connections.
Better cables, AR, Monster all make good cables (video and audio). Stick with your standard twin lead or zip cord for speaker cables and you should be fine.
Bob

 

[Mike LS]

Correct on the above.....
For the digital coax, you can us standard RCA cable....I've done it before with success, but if by "standard" you mean the flimsy black RCA that comes with most components, I'd suggest staying away from that. It'll pass the signal, but might be very prone to interferance.
You can use a good shielded 75ohm video cable with RCA connections for digital coax. There's really not much of a difference between that and specialty dig coax.
If you've got a couple of lengths of 75ohm composite video cable laying around, that'll work for both sub and coax.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Hi Kay. Welcome to HTF!
Bob-N did a great job, but I'd like to fill in on one question:

Another question, what will happen if i connect dvd to receiver via coaxial terminal with ordinary RCA cable?

This is called the Coaxial Digital Connection and it carries the AUDIO from the DVD player to the receiver. That single cable carries all 5 channels plus the sub-woofer channel.
The people who designed this system want you to use a RCA cable made with something called "75 ohm coax".
Guess what? You probably already have one of these cables. It's called a "Video Cable". Thats right, all video cables are made with "75 ohm coax". The guys who designed this system wanted you to be able to find this cable fairly easially.
But, this means you will be using a VIDEO cable to carry the AUDIO signals from your DVD player to your receiver...it IS a bit confusing.
One guy used a AUDIO RCA cable and it seemed to work fine. But he noticed that the sound would cut-out about once every 15-20 minutes or so. One day he noticed he was using an AUDIO cable, and he replaced it with a proper VIDEO cable and the problem went away.
Hope this helps.

 

[Kay_A]

Wow... thanx palls, those help me a lot.
You're right, I use RCA connection cable that came with my DVD/VCR (The red/white/yellow ones). I think i use the yellow ones (slightly thicker) for receiver-sub and dvd-receiver digitial coax audio connection.
So, i have to get rid of those white, red and yellow cables that came with the DVD? And a shielded 75ohm video cable with RCA connection can work with both connection?
How do I know if the cables i have is 75ohm or not?
Thanks for all responses. Once again, sorry, i know this is too stupid question.
Kay

 

[Ted Lee]

hi kay -
there are no stupid questions. don't be afraid to ask. that's why we're all here...to help one another out!
i would echo the above statements. i think you should replace the cables that came with your gear. they are too flimsy and my own informal test proved (to me) that they were holding back my audio.
i went to radio shack and bought some decent (but not too expensive) gold plated wires and they made a small, but noticeable difference.
i'd get as thick a wire as you can. 12g should be more than adequate, but i'd stay away from 16g if possible.
good luck...welcome to our world!
------------------
You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.

 

[Vietor]

Bob,
You said the problem was that he was using a standard RCA Audio cable (as in Radioshack variety?) and that was causing the digital signal to cut out for like a sec at a somewhat randomized 10-20 min?
I am wondering because I have that exact problem, and think I need to smack myself upside the head and get my sorry hide to radio shack ASAP. (hehe, well sure it works right 99.8% of the time. . .)

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Vietor: Audio RCA cables can be made with 50/75/110 or 300 ohm coax. So a audio cable COULD be fine, but you dont know.
Someone checked the Radio Shack bundles of L/R/Video cables and found all 3 were identical 75 ohm coax. They just put different-color connectors on the end.
If in doubt, go ahead and buy a "Digital" cable from a stereo store if you can get one for $35-$45 for the piece of mind.
Note: sometimes I get drop-outs, but it usually is caused by small bits of dust/dirt on the disk.

 

[Vietor]

What I am using is just a 12 foot RCA-RCA audio cable, I just wasn't thinking when I got it (I was driving home with my reciver and I just wanted to get home and hear it).
And then I sorta forgot about it.
But I need to replace the sub cable (using the one that came with the sub, ya know about as thick as some dental floss. . .) So I will just bump the audio cable over to that, and pick up a nice 75 Ohm video cable.
Anything nicer is not nessicary for my system, it would be overkill.
[Edited last by Vietor on September 11, 2001 at 03:13 PM]

 

[Vietor]

Double post, doh.
[Edited last by Vietor on September 11, 2001 at 03:13 PM]