Best subwoofer cable

[Tobias]

Hi guys, I just recently buy an R-115SW as a second subwoofer in my set up, and I want your opinions about a good subwoofer cable,

 

 

 

Regards from Argentina.

Edited April 5, 2015 by Tobias

[Schu]

the best cable? the one you are using now.

 

if you dont have one... order from here Blue Jeans Cables.

[Tobias]

Thanks for the reply... so... is there a myth about cables?

[willland]

Subwoofer cable quality($$$) is not "as" important as your other channels cables because of the smaller frequency range it is required to pass.  Look for one that is long enough, shielded enough, and with average to good construction.

 

I am not sure what is available in Argentina or what cables cost but find something like this or something similar.

 

https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/155411-audio-cables/?p=1838883

 

 

 

Bill

[Tobias]

Thanks Bill.

 

 

I can buy ANY cable in the USA, I have a contact that imports it to my country.

[Schu]

cable frequency?

[willland]

cable frequency?

 

Let me clarify.    

 

The subwoofer only covers frequencies from let's say 15Hz to 120Hz.  Therefore.......................?

 

Okay, it sounded good when I typed it

 

In other words, a cable that will do what is asked of it.

 

Bill

[TwoCables]

Not only that, but the subwoofer cable is just carrying electrons (electricity) from the receiver to the subwoofer, but I don't think it's amplified like it is in speaker cables (aren't subwoofers powered internally?). So, the cable just has to be good enough to carry the electrical signal from the receiver to the subwoofer, just like how the cables you use from the source (be it CD player, MP3 player, whatever) only have to be good enough to carry the signal to the receiver.

 

Therefore, the quality of the cable is more about how long it will last in harsher climates, or how well it will resist unusually high amounts of interference from other things - or how well it maintains signal integrity over a very long distance (like, 100 feet or something).

 

So, just get a good one, but don't spend too much on the over-hyped ones. Oh, and it does NOT have to be advertised as "a subwoofer cable". That's marketing hype, and it's B.S. The job of the cable is no different than any other: to carry the electrons from the source to the destination. So, all you need is something like this:

 

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023601&p_id=619&seq=1&format=2

 

I don't know if they ship to Argentina or if it would even be financially wise to order from them if they DID (what if shipping costs a fortune?), but a cable LIKE THIS ONE is all that's needed. Scroll down to see the "Knowledge Base" section for a list of Frequently Asked Questions.

 

Of course, the prettier connectors on a cable like the one below can be kind of fun:

 

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023603&p_id=2680&seq=1&format=2

 

 

The thicker wire gauge here (18 AWG for RG6 and 22 AWG or RG59) is good for extremely long cable runs, but it has no added benefit when used for the most common length of cable runs in most home theater setups.

Edited April 5, 2015 by TwoCables

[Tobias]

So what about ALL the "subwoofer cables" reviews on Amazon? all buyed opininions? because a lot of people experiments differences between cables...

[The History Kid]

A lot of it is hearing what they want to hear because they paid a larger amount of money.

I'm using a monoprice Digital Coax to my RSW-10 and it sounds exactly the same in a double blind test as a Monster "Subwoofer Cable" does.

Edited April 5, 2015 by IbizaFlame

[USNRET]

For my longer sub runs (30-50 ft) back in the Georgia man-cave I used quad shield RG-6 at about 10-15 cents per foot in quantity, I have never experienced any differences in regard to increased cost / performance.

[willland]

So, just get a good one, but don't spend too much on the over-hyped ones. Oh, and it does NOT have to be advertised as "a subwoofer cable". That's marketing hype, and it's B.S. The job of the cable is no different than any other: to carry the electrons from the source to the destination. So, all you need is something like this:

 

So true.

 

I am only using one "subwoofer" cable in my HT rigs and the rest are either digital coax RCA's or analog RCA cables.  As a matter of fact I have before used RCA video cables for my subwoofer with no problems at all.

 

Bill

[Gnote]

Pretty much one that reaches 

[TwoCables]

So what about ALL the "subwoofer cables" reviews on Amazon? all buyed opininions? because a lot of people experiments differences between cables...

 

That's "The Placebo Effect". If you were to strip the jacket off of a "subwoofer cable" and compare it to these other cables that you can use, then you'd find that they are pretty much identical inside.

 

Consider this: you can use plain old lamp cord (the power cord for lamps) as speaker wire because the term "sound signal" is just a simpler way of saying "electricity that gets sent to the speakers and vibrates the drivers in those speakers for the purpose of vibrating the air so that we can hear it as sound". So, it's not that sound is being sent through the speaker wires or subwoofer cables, it's that electricity is being passed through them. This is why you can use a USB port to do different things, like provide sound to a device or to recharge a device. The only difference is how that electricity is used by whatever is "requesting" it.

 

So, just like MonoPrice is saying in that FAQ section that I asked you to read, calling a cable "a subwoofer cable" is marketing hype. It's bait. They want you to buy their cable so that you don't give your money to someone else selling the exact same type of cable under it's TRUE name, which is far more complex than just "a subwoofer cable". Again, this is a subwoofer cable:

 

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023601&p_id=619&seq=1&format=2

 

As you can see though, it's not just for subwoofers. If you were to buy "a subwoofer cable", then you'd be getting this exact same type of cable. You could use it for all the same things as this cable. Actually, if you were to buy "a subwoofer cable", then it would probably look more like this just to fool all potential customers:

 

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023603&p_id=2680&seq=1&format=2

 

(be sure to scroll down and read the questions and answers this time, wink wink)

 

I mean, look at the difference. Which one would you rather have? Knowing what you know now though, I am hoping that you would rather have the first one because there's no additional benefits other than maybe the cable lasting longer in harsher climates and harsher setups. Most people though would say that the second one here is far better because of its looks. It's thicker and has better connectors. Yet, about 99% of people will not get an audible difference between these two unless we're talking about extremely long cable runs. Even then, it might still be difficult to hear a difference.

 

So yeah, please don't allow manufacturers to fool you with their lies. Don't allow the fooled customers to fool you because any differences they think they are hearing are simply due to The Placebo Effect. I mean, think about it: they can see the difference in the cables. Right? They can SEE IT. Therefore, they will automatically assume that the audio quality will different and that actually changes how you listen to the sound.

 

Try this for yourself: buy a super expensive very high-end super high-quality cable and and also buy the worst one that you can find. Now, have someone swap these back and forth on you while you have your eyes closed. Tell them to make sure you can't predict which one they are using. Now, try to guess which cable they have connected to your system after 10 or 20 different tries. I'll tell you how accurate you will be: you will get it right approximately 50% of the time because you won't be able to hear a difference. After this, now do it yourself so that you know which cable it is each time you swap. This time, you will always think that the more expensive cable sounds better because of The Placebo Effect.

 

We humans will believe almost anything, and we even have the power to make something seem to be absolutely true due to how strongly we believe it to be true.

 

Here's something that I had to do in order to avoid The Placebo Effect. After buying the ProMedia 2.1 system, I was having a tough time deciding between having the satellite speaker grills on or off. On one hand, I like them on because of the cool black and gold logo on the grills. On the other hand, I want them off because I enjoy being able to see the woofers and the tweeters. So, I decided instead to see if I could hear a difference. Therefore, I closed my eyes and kept removing and putting the grills back on over and over and over and over. After a few times, I began to notice that I could hear a clearer sound with the grills off. Again, I was keeping my eyes closed in order to avoid being influenced by the LOOK of my satellites.

 

Here's another placebo effect in action. I needed an adapter that allows me to plug the 3.5mm plug into the stereo RCA jacks on my sound card. Instead of just getting the cheapest adapter I could find, I went with this:

 

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021815&p_id=5612&seq=1&format=2

 

Talk about overkill. LOL The only thing I'm using this for is the super weak, unamplified electrical signal that's going from my sound card to the speakers. However, I enjoy looking at it. It makes me feel good, and it makes me think that my sound is a little better when the reality is, I'm not getting any audible benefit from using this instead of some cheap generic cable.

 

So yeah, as long as the cable can bring the signal to your subwoofer without harming that signal, it will work. That means, it doesn't have to be advertised as "a subwoofer cable". In reality, there is no such thing as "a subwoofer cable". It's really just a coaxial cable! Hell, you could take your cable TV cable and put these RCA-style plugs on the ends and you'd get the exact same results in sound out of your subwoofer. That's why MonoPrice.com doesn't have a special section for "Subwoofer Cables". They don't really truly exist. What you use the cable for determines what you can call it. Notice the different uses for this type of cable: "S/PDIF, Digital Coax, Subwoofer and Composite Video". You could use a cable that's being sold as "a subwoofer cable" for the same things because iit's really the same.

 

I apologize for the length, but I just want to make absolutely sure that you are no longer being fooled by the clever marketing tricks of some of these manufacturers and stores.

Edited April 5, 2015 by TwoCables

[Tobias]

Thanks TwoCables! thanks guys!

[derrickdj1]

Don't spend a fortune: get a sub cable from Parts Express.com or Monoprice.

[minermark]

Cannot pass up a good cable thread

 

https://youtu.be/3UQDTZcpsDE

Edited April 6, 2015 by minermark

[Tobias]

ajajaja

[twk123]

Don't spend a fortune: get a sub cable from Parts Express.com or Monoprice.

 

 

You can never go wrong with Monoprice in my opinion.

 

I have these from mediabridge and like them, they slide under the baseboard well enough too. I have had some quality issues with other mediabridge products though.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Mediabridge-ULTRA-Subwoofer-Cable-Feet/dp/B003FVYXY0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428283556&sr=8-1&keywords=mediabridge+subwoofer+cable

[TwoCables]

MonoPrice is great, but can their cables be acquired in Argentina at a decent price? I hope so! I love their cables.

 

Anyway, if I believe what MonoPrice.com says about "subwoofer cables", then I wouldn't buy one that's advertised as such:

 

 

Question: Isn''t it better to use dedicated cables for subwoofer connection?

 

Answer: What are often labeled Subwoofer cable are often a result of Marketing Spin and/or a little Consumer Electronics Voodoo.

If the cables are a result of pure spin, then the cables are exactly the same and there''s no reason to pay more for a cable that is specifically labeled, "Subwoofer Cables."

If the cables really are "Tuned" to more effectively carry only the low frequency signals, then that''s probably a lot worse. Most high end powered subwoofer manufacturers will tell you that they put a lot of development time into matching the cabinet design, drivers, amp and crossover network in order to tune the subwoofer and give it the right voice. This tuning is based on the fact that the inputs of the sub will receive a full frequency signal that the crossover will filter to provide the appropriate signal for the amp to amplify, but if the cable is pre-filtering the signal, then it's coloring the signal and causing the crossover to filter the signal out of tune. In other words, the sound would not be as rich or as full as it would be if the components of the sub were allowed to do the job that they would normally do with a full range signal that a proper cable provides.

 

I don't have enough experience to know if a "subwoofer cable" really WOULD result in an inferior sound in comparison to a cable that can carry the full range signal, but it makes sense to me. Of course, if you set your crossover frequency to match the cable, then it should be no big deal. Still, I'd rather pay the lower price for the MonoPrice.com cables. For example:

 

$5.28 before shipping for this high-end 15-foot cable: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023603&p_id=6306&seq=1&format=2