need special subwoofer cables?

[Early B.]

Are there any technical gurus out there who can tell me the difference between a subwoofer cable and an RCA cable? Are subwoofer cables just long RCA cables or are they specifically designed for subs? How so?

Thanks.

[mantis]

Bottom line is,

sub cables are in fact long rca cables with a twist.Better shielded and designed to carry low end.


Shielded is key,

Dan

[John K.]

EB, there aren't any special requirements for a cable to connect your receiver to your sub and no special design(or extra cost)is necessary. Any regular shielded coaxial cable with a RCA plug on each end is fine and should cost $1 a foot or less.

[Early B.]

mantis --

You said subwoofer cables are "designed to carry the low end." What does that mean?

[ntculenuff]

Low Frequencies travel differently from midrange and high frequencies so just any interconnect won't necessarily give you the best bass possible.

[dorokusai]

The cable issue is opinion 100%. No experts opinion means anything less or more than an individual.

Try a high end cable if you want to, or just stay generic, its your money. Some sub cables have a solid core for increased bass response, is it functional? I have no idea.

[mantis]

Tell you what,
give me a run down of your system and I'll tell you what sub cable to buy.

Done deal,
Dan

[mrgoodcheese]

A plain old RCA cable or a length of coax with RCA connectors on the ends will work fine, so don't blow a lot of money.

[PolkThug]

I've posted this before, but it's a good read..

cables (http://www.verber.com/mark/cables.html)

[shack]

Originally posted by PolkThug
I've posted this before, but it's a good read..

cables (http://www.verber.com/mark/cables.html)

I wonder what Mr. Dunlavy is doing with his "free" time these days.

I think his point is and as has been said on this forum more than once....cables make a difference...to a point. A generic RCA coax and a well designed sub cable ARE different. Lampcord and well designed speaker cables ARE different. The stuff in the box with the Aiwa CD player and well made interconnects ARE different. There is in my mind (and in Mr. Dunlavy's it seems) a point of diminishing returns. Make sure what you are using is of good design, well made with quality materials and you should be ok...generally speaking. Since I have not had the opportunity to audition very "high end" gear with matching "high end" cables for any length of time vs what I have now I can't make the comparison. I will say that "good" cables do make a diference over some of the cheap stuff for me... but I doubt my gear would benefit from the really expensive stuff (even if I could afford it). To each his own. If the cheap stuff sounds good to you...then there are more $ for other things...if not and the $ spent has increased your enjoyment of your gear...then either way you come out way ahead. Just my .02.

[PolkThug]

One thing that I definitely think is hokey, is the "directional" subwoofer cable. I had one setup on display in the "wrong" direction, and could tell no difference from the "right" direction, at least to my ears.

[mrgoodcheese]

Originally posted by shack
I wonder what Mr. Dunlavy is doing with his "free" time these days.

I think his point is and as has been said on this forum more than once....cables make a difference...to a point. A generic RCA coax and a well designed sub cable ARE different. Lampcord and well designed speaker cables ARE different. The stuff in the box with the Aiwa CD player and well made interconnects ARE different. There is in my mind (and in Mr. Dunlavy's it seems) a point of diminishing returns. Make sure what you are using is of good design, well made with quality materials and you should be ok...generally speaking. Since I have not had the opportunity to audition very "high end" gear with matching "high end" cables for any length of time vs what I have now I can't make the comparison. I will say that "good" cables do make a diference over some of the cheap stuff for me... but I doubt my gear would benefit from the really expensive stuff (even if I could afford it). To each his own. If the cheap stuff sounds good to you...then there are more $ for other things...if not and the $ spent has increased your enjoyment of your gear...then either way you come out way ahead. Just my .02.

I agree with you that there are cheap, less quality cable, and standard "to a point" perceivable cables. Any "supposed" improvement beyond a certain, slightly flexible point, for audio or video, is nothing more than a placebo effect.