Speaker cable used with ht in a box??

[tholosophy]

I have searched "home theater in a box cable", etc, but no luck. So, I know home theaters in a box are not good, but I aquired one, and want to use it for garage use. The problem is, there is only one cable. It is a Klipsch something rather...there are two leads out of the sub/amp (L and R), but going into the surround speaker satellites, is only one seemingly like coaxial. Is this digital coax, or what am I looking at. The cable has a male connection, and does not have an l and r thread on it. How can I make 4 more cables terminated like this? Thanks.

 

[Sonusthree]

Hi Tholosophy,
It would be a big help if you could post a photo of the connectors and maybe even the model number.
You reap what you sow.

Regards,
Martin

 

[tholosophy]

Hey! Sorry that I took so long to reply. It is a standard RCA cable on the end(just look at the end in the picture), but instead of coax going in, it is a (+) and (-)...how does this work?? How does the (+) and (-) combine??


RCA Pic

 

[Sonusthree]

............ The cable has a male connection, and does not have an l and r thread on it. How can I make 4 more cables terminated like this? Thanks.

You have given us virtually no usefull information to work with. We all know what an RCA plug is.

Where do the statellites get their power from?
Do the surrounds have a seperate power supply just for the surrounds? If so then it may be a digital feed. This is possible but unlikely.
Are the surround speakers active or do they get powered from the main amp via the mysterious cable?

I asked for a model number in case the manual would be available online with technical specs that may provide usefull information.

Pictures of the setup and the actual wiring would be useful.

It is a standard RCA cable on the end(just look at the end in the picture), but instead of coax going in, it is a (+) and (-)...how does this work?? How does the (+) and (-) combine??

Coax is usually just a +ve and-ve. Do you mean that that it is wired as two cores side by side like a regular speaker cable?

A good picture says a thousand words.

 

[tholosophy]

I guess I can't be vague if I need help huh?

The set is Klipsch Pro Media GMX D5.1, it has a powerd sub. There is a decoder which connects to the sub. The source plugs into the decoder. But, the speakers connect to the sub. The sub supplies the speakers via a standard speaker cable, and from what I can tell, the speaker cable's only modification is the single RCA plug on the end. I would take a picture of it, but I do not have any cable at present, although I have seen it on a friends 2.1 version of the same GMX line. From what I can tell, the satellites do not require their own power, and drive off of the amp inside the sub. Here is a picture of the equivalent on Ebay:

Equivalent on Ebay

So, in conclusion, my guess is that the speaker cable's (-) and (+) are combined together into the RCA plug. Now, I do not know how a RCA plug is structured. Is the negative the Rim, and the Positive the prong? Thanks again, and I hope I have explained enough, it is all I know about the system.

 

[Sonusthree]

So, in conclusion, my guess is that the speaker cable's (-) and (+) are combined together into the RCA plug. Now, I do not know how a RCA plug is structured. Is the negative the Rim, and the Positive the prong? Thanks again, and I hope I have explained enough, it is all I know about the system.

GMX D5.1 user manual:
http://www.klipsch.com/media/products/owners-manuals/GMXD51_manual.pdf

Figure 2 is fairly self-explanatory

Generally speaking (but not necessarilly) the centre pin is the positive connection.
Klipsch may do the opposite but, in this case, as long as all the connections to all of your speakers are wired the same then this won't be a major problem.

(If you have a digital meter or continuity tester then you could easily find the configuration of the original wire that you have.)

It may be a good idea to remake all five leads yourself for consistency and peace of mind.
One speaker out of phase is the worst that can happen here and, although not ideal, is not especially problematic for the frequencies at which the satellites will operate.

Good luck,
Martin.

 

[tholosophy]

Found something on their Forums, this guy was talking about removing the RCA female plug, to allow the speaker cable to connect directly, bypassing the RCA plug altogether.

"There is a small capacitor that you can recover from the RCA circuit board. This acts as a 1st order high pass filter for the tweeter (I think at 12,000hz) , and is to be connected in series to the (+) terminal of the tweeter. I snipped it off the board and soldered it straight to the tweeter (+). Do take care to ensure the capacitor polarity is correct."

I could, but I would rather not do this, and would rather just wire the speaker cable to the RCA plug. Question is, what plug do I buy? Thanks again, this should be the end of this thread...

 

[Sonusthree]

Hi again,
RCA or phono plugs are standard items available from Ebay or electronics shops. Plastic covered ones are cheapest and do the job or you could splash out on some metal barrel or even some posh gold plated plated ones. The choice is yours.

Durabilty of the plug is something that you should consider and also the diameter of wire you are using and how well it will fit into the plugs cable entry.

Remember that your system may well be damaged if the speaker outputs become shorted anywhere. This is your main priority. It is a simple job but crucial that you take care.
I am assuming that you can can solder competently.

Cheers,
Martin.