Subwoofer cable upgrade worth it?

[SoaDMTGguy]

I have an Onkyo HT-SR800 system, which came with 22-gauge speaker wire and a similarly wimpy subwoofer cable. I replaced the speaker wire with 16-gauge stuff, but I am still using the crappy subwoofer cable the system came with. Would it be worth upgrading this cable, or would my money be better spent on upgrades to the speakers/sub themselves? If I should upgrade the cable, any recommendations?

 

[mtrycrafts]

I have an Onkyo HT-SR800 system, which came with 22-gauge speaker wire and a similarly wimpy subwoofer cable. I replaced the speaker wire with 16-gauge stuff, but I am still using the crappy subwoofer cable the system came with. Would it be worth upgrading this cable, or would my money be better spent on upgrades to the speakers/sub themselves? If I should upgrade the cable, any recommendations?

How long is the sub cable run? Are you encountering any issues with the sub?
Even such low end cables may be just fine in some cases.
If it bothers you, buy one from monoprice, or the Tartan cable from Bluejeans.

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

As wimpy as the included subwoofer cable may seem, there's a decent chance that Onkyo sized it correctly for the application. You could try any cable with RCA connectors that you have around the house - a video cable would be an excellent one to try out to see if it makes a difference (because video cables are shielded better than a lot of audio cables). That's what I'd do if you have any video cables or other RCA cables around.

If you are looking to buy, you can get a good quality inexpensive cable like this six-foot cable from Monoprice.com for $4 plus shipping. That's just an example, and they have less expensive ones, too. If it were me, I'd head to Radio Shack, buy one of their subwoofer cables (or any good cable with RCA plugs), and try it out to see if there's a difference. I'd do that because I could try it out that same day and because I could take it back if it didn't make a difference.

 

[Adam]

How long is the sub cable run?

That system comes with a 10-foot cable.

 

[SoaDMTGguy]

Welcome to the forum!

As wimpy as the included subwoofer cable may seem, there's a decent chance that Onkyo sized it correctly for the application. You could try any cable with RCA connectors that you have around the house - a video cable would be an excellent one to try out to see if it makes a difference (because video cables are shielded better than a lot of audio cables). That's what I'd do if you have any video cables or other RCA cables around.

If you are looking to buy, you can get a good quality inexpensive cable like this six-foot cable from Monoprice.com for $4 plus shipping. That's just an example, and they have less expensive ones, too. If it were me, I'd head to Radio Shack, buy one of their subwoofer cables (or any good cable with RCA plugs), and try it out to see if there's a difference. I'd do that because I could try it out that same day and because I could take it back if it didn't make a difference.

Thanks for your help. I went ahead and purchased the cable from Monoprice (it came to $6.41 after shipping). Anything under $10 falls into my "why the hell not" category. Now to see if it makes a difference...

 

[Adam]

Anything under $10 falls into my "why the hell not" category.

That's a great category.

 

[adwilk]

That's a great category.

One more last beer fits nicely there too...

 

[jamie2112]

Great choice on the cable. Monoprice is the best for the money IMO.....

 

[tn001d]

Make sure you get monster subwoofer cable

 

[mtrycrafts]

Make sure you get monster subwoofer cable

That's not even a good joke. He might go for it