Subwoofer output from my Denon AVR

surveyor

surveyor

Audioholic Chief
Do they make a pre-amp to boost the signal input to subwoofers. The subwoofer output is from a Denon AVR-3312ci. I do not want to change the subwoofer cable because it is under new pristine carpet. It is not detectable.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Why would you need to boost the signal, tho? What sub and what is the problem? Do you think the cable has become insufficient?
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
The cable is too long weak signal.
How long is it? I suspect the cable has problems other than being too long. A sub is a high impedance connection and it would have to be a very long or very poor cable to cause an issue. I strongly suspect another cause. So test the cable with your multimeter. Connect the hot and shield together at one end, and then measure the resistance between the pin and shield at the other end.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
TLS Guy the subwoofer cable measures 3.8 ohms!
That is far too high and is your problem. The DC resistance should be around 0.006 ohms per ft. So a 10" cable would have a DC resistance of 0.06 ohms. How long is that cable? You have not told us. RCA cables are not designed for long lengths and should NEVER be used for long runs.

No matter the trouble you have to go to, that cable has to be replaced.

If you have to have a long run then the correct engineering solution is to put an active device at each end, and convert at the receiver to 200 ohm impedance balanced line cable and another active device at the sub, to convert back to standard high impedance line. So if you have a run over about 25 to 30' you absolutely need to run a balanced cable, which would allow you to have a long run.
 
surveyor

surveyor

Audioholic Chief
You are correct TLS Guy. I ran a cable temporary on top of the carpet and the problem is solved. Thanks so much. I will probably purchase an Outlaw Audio OA4 transmitter and receiver vs. moving the subwoofers.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
You are correct TLS Guy. I ran a cable temporary on top of the carpet and the problem is solved. Thanks so much. I will probably purchase an Outlaw Audio OA4 transmitter and receiver vs. moving the subwoofers.
I would absolutely not go the wireless route, that will expose you to all sorts of latency issues.

Now I'm going to tell you what your fundamental error was. You placed an AV cable in an inaccessible location without placing it in conduit. Any unexposed AV cable of any type, including speaker wire, that you can not get at, should always be placed in conduit. There are NO exceptions to this rule. If you had placed that cable in conduit, you would not be in the pickle you are in now.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
The cable is too long weak signal.
NO, it's not too long- check your level and if needed, reterminate the ends. Coax provides very little line loss although a single strand of shielding touching the center conductor will.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
I would absolutely not go the wireless route, that will expose you to all sorts of latency issues.

Now I'm going to tell you what your fundamental error was. You placed an AV cable in an inaccessible location without placing it in conduit. Any unexposed AV cable of any type, including speaker wire, that you can not get at, should always be placed in conduit. There are NO exceptions to this rule. If you had placed that cable in conduit, you would not be in the pickle you are in now.
I used a Russound wireless TX/RX a few years ago and it has worked very well- I used recorded percussion to test it and it passed with flying colors.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
NO, it's not too long- check your level and if needed, reterminate the ends. Coax provides very little line loss although a single strand of shielding touching the center conductor will.
Well, since he can get to the sub with a cable across the carpet, I doubt it is too long, but that cable is bad, and has fart too high a DC resistance. So soldering on new RCA plugs might do the trick. However I suspect it is an unprotected in wall cable, and a nail or screw has entered the cable.
 
surveyor

surveyor

Audioholic Chief
The faulty cable was not in wall, it is under the carpet.
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
NO, it's not too long- check your level and if needed, reterminate the ends. Coax provides very little line loss although a single strand of shielding touching the center conductor will.
Agreed. I’ve had a 50’ run with zero loss that I could detect.
I’ve also used the space between base boards and carpet to tuck cables into. Can be a bitch, but for a retro fit it works great.
 
surveyor

surveyor

Audioholic Chief
The Outlaw Audio
OAW4 WIRELESS AUDIO SYSTEM
is working great. The problem has been remedied.
 
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