Sub cable connection question , Sub and cable shopping

[Steve M]

Newbe Questions while sub shopping and want to do it right
1 How long of cable for a sub before I run into any sort of issues ?
The run for zone 2 will be about 40 to 50 feet , Have not bought sub yet

2 How important is it to get a sub that has balanced connections vs unbalanced ?
Plan is Pre amp 8802a to Xpa 5 gen 3 amp balanced connect for 5.2 zone 1
8802a to A700 will be unbalanced for zone 2 , is 2 speakers and sub , zone 3 ,is 4 speakers
when zone 1 and 2 combined will be playing same content 100% of the time

3 I have been sub shopping and also Recommended the HSU vtf mk 5 for main zone 1 and these are unbalanced only
Can i get a smaller sub or different brand for zone 2 ??
if that long run zone 2 requires balanced cable and sub can i still use unbalanced subs for other zones ?


I buy all my cables from blue jean as they are local and those guys are great !! I was there yesterday and they were very helpful and hooked me up with 500 ft of belden 12 gauge speaker wire and banana plugs to start with at a great price

Thanks

 

[shadyJ]

I want to say that a 50 ft run should be fine with a plain old line level RCA cable, but on the occasions where I have run RCA cables past 35 ft, I have always had problems. However, that also may be because I wasn't able to isolate the cable from power cables. In theory, an unbalanced cable should work for that distance.

I would play it safe for long runs and use balanced cables.

You can use unbalanced RCA for short runs and balanced for long, the processor will not care nor will the subwoofer. You can use different subs for zone 1 and zone 2.

 

[Steve M]

Thanks , It will be under house in crawl space and can keep away from other stuff that can interfere with

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I've used 50' before with no problems. You can also use rg6 with rca plugs. It's shielded and usually cheap.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TLS Guy]

Newbe Questions while sub shopping and want to do it right
1 How long of cable for a sub before I run into any sort of issues ?
The run for zone 2 will be about 40 to 50 feet , Have not bought sub yet

2 How important is it to get a sub that has balanced connections vs unbalanced ?
Plan is Pre amp 8802a to Xpa 5 gen 3 amp balanced connect for 5.2 zone 1
8802a to A700 will be unbalanced for zone 2 , is 2 speakers and sub , zone 3 ,is 4 speakers
when zone 1 and 2 combined will be playing same content 100% of the time

3 I have been sub shopping and also Recommended the HSU vtf mk 5 for main zone 1 and these are unbalanced only
Can i get a smaller sub or different brand for zone 2 ??
if that long run zone 2 requires balanced cable and sub can i still use unbalanced subs for other zones ?


I buy all my cables from blue jean as they are local and those guys are great !! I was there yesterday and they were very helpful and hooked me up with 500 ft of belden 12 gauge speaker wire and banana plugs to start with at a great price

Thanks

For that length of cable balanced would be best. Since it is a sub you might get away with it. 25 to 30 ft. is generally considered the maximum range for an unbalanced cable. At 40 to 50 ft it really should be a balanced cable. Yes, you can use unbalanced cable for the shorter runs.

 

[PoutineHIFI]

Technically, balanced is always better. What changes with the length of the run is the value; increasing with the length.

Using a balanced cable addresses the noise and interference along the signal path resulting in a cleaner signal at the end, at a cost. Costs between the two cables might not be an issue but if upgrading to a higher end sub for only that purpose might not be worth it.

If costs is no object, balance away but personally I would do some testing with unbalanced first. Find yourself a 50' rca cable (even if it means connecting multiples together for a worst case scenario) and run it along a similar path to your intended path. Hook up a sub and see what comes out.

The money to balance the LFE signal to a secondary system might be better spent on something else, like a nice single malt.