45' sub signal wire run causing problems

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chubby chaser

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#1
Because of the shape of my living room I had to place my sub across my room. I ran the sub signal wire from the HT reciever up a wall across the attic and down another wall. I ended up using 45' of wire to do this. When I go into theater mode and turn up the sub and HT reciever I get some sub clipping. I thought it was the sub so i experimented by moving the sub next to the reciever with a short wire and the clipping stopped. Im guessing Im losing signal on this long run of wire. Is there a fix for this problem???? I would really like to have my sub placed off to the side instead of the middle of my living room.
 
#2
chubby chaser said:
Because of the shape of my living room I had to place my sub across my room. I ran the sub signal wire from the HT reciever up a wall across the attic and down another wall. I ended up using 45' of wire to do this. When I go into theater mode and turn up the sub and HT reciever I get some sub clipping. I thought it was the sub so i experimented by moving the sub next to the reciever with a short wire and the clipping stopped. Im guessing Im losing signal on this long run of wire. Is there a fix for this problem???? I would really like to have my sub placed off to the side instead of the middle of my living room.
Click to expand...

What gauge wire are you using, and what levels does this "clipping" occur at? perhaps running a second (double up) the 45' wire run will fix the problem, or simply use 14 or 12 gauge (if you're using typical 16 or 18 gauge wire).

John L.
 
#4
I did use cheap rca sub cables. Ill give a new cable a try. How do these look?
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=181-858
I will have to use two with a female/female connector to make up my 45'. My concern is that my pioneer HT reciever (vsx 517) will not put out enough signal to travel 45".
Has anyone tried putting a meter on the sub signal source and then the end of the cable run and see how much signal is lost??? What readings would I be looking for ??
I did try to make up my own cables on the original install but the rca connectors didnt have enough room in them for my ole eyes and paws to make use of them. I finally resorted to a quick fix the ole radio shack bandaid. It didnt work so Im back to square one.
 
#6
http://www.silversonic.com/docs/products/UltimateRCA.html
Nice connectors and I see where you are going with using RG6. What type of RG6 would you recommend?? Is twisted pair cat 5 cables a type cable to look for?? If RG6 can carry HDTV then it should be able to carry a sub signal 45'. Ill prolly give this a try as a cost effective way to get signal to the sub. If that does not solve my problem I learned a new word today.
balun I knew a device had to have been invented that would increase a weak signal and here it is. Thanks for educating me. Wow the price is a bit much though. I mean from what I read about a bauln its just a coil of wires designed in such a way that it increased signal. Im sure there is a little more than that to make this work. If the rg6 cable and connectors dont work I guess Ill have to shell out the bucks for this balun.
Thanks gents Ill keep you posted on my progress.
 
#9
I have a similar run, and have used guitar cable quite successfully for the body of my cable. I believe I used the 55% shield (can't remember, it has been a couple of years), but the cheap stuff will probably work just fine too:

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?webpage_id=3&CAT_ID=56&ObjectGroup_ID=476

For connectors, I quite like the PE house brand connectors:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=091-1265

They are cheap and are well made. I can't ask for more. Anything more is overkill IMHO.

The overall cost per foot of cabling is really quite reasonable using these materials, and I have never had any interference or loss issues regardless of the cable length I have made with these materials.

So, for the cost of ONE of the 25' sub cables, you can buy a 100' spool of the guitar cable and a stereo pair of of RCA connectors and have enough spare parts to make another cable in case your dog gets into the first one! 😀 Plus, it doesn't even look like the AR cable even COMES in 45' lengths!
 
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