Best subwoofer cable ?

[m. zillch]

What cable are you referring to that can make contact from tip to tip?

When I've encountered customers' solid core coax cables broken from previously having been mistreated (such as them ignorantly stapling them to the right angle of a door frame to keep it "neat and tidy", a common mistake on their part), I didn't think to either dissect the cables for a careful more definitive autopsy nor quiz the customer as to the cable's country of origin or manufacturer, so I can't say. Many (most?) do-it-youselfers have no idea the danger in doing this sort of thing:

or storing it perhaps like this:

A professional DirecTV antenna installer giving me and my staff training once showed us a sample of mistreated cable and besides a visible inspection of its exterior showing areas of concern you could also sense it was compromised at a specific point because it suddenly lost stiffness/rigidity there too. Curiously a simple test with a continuity meter with the wire laid straight on the table showed the signal flowed! He told us it had broken internally at that very point but the tips touched each other when placed straight so casual inspections may report it "works". [I suspect his demo was actually a cable he prepared for his show and tell, but it successfully got his point across.] He also described the even more problematic ovaling issue (even if the core itself is not obviously harmed) and how the impedance is compromised if the cable's dielectric geometry and distance to the core isn't properly maintained due to the dangerous use of overly tight bending, often irreparably so, even if one attempts to re-straighten the cable. Or as this site (SolidSignal) describes it: "there's no 5-second rule when it comes to bending coax cable."

...

source.


The main reason most wires we typically use in a home audio system are multi-stranded cores rather than solid core is because they are more flexible. Besides convenience and being able to safely negotiate tight bends this also increases durability with repeated use whereas solid core wire can more easily fail from being mistreated . . . or, for that matter, prepared/gimmicked via being "Uri Gellered", haha [for those of us who know how his trick is prepared]. Like this spoon has been:

Psst: this trick only works because spoons are solid core, not multi stranded.

 

[highfigh]

When I've seen customer's solid core cables broken from previously having been mistreated (such as them ignorantly stapling them to the right angle of a door frame to keep it "neat and tidy", a common mistake on their part), I didn't think to either dissect the cables for a careful more definitive autopsy nor quiz the customer as to the cable's country of origin or manufacturer, so I can't say. Many (most?) do-it-youselfers have no idea the danger in doing this sort of thing:
View attachment 79617
or storing it perhaps like this:

View attachment 79614

A professional DirecTV antenna installer giving me and my staff training once showed us a sample of mistreated cable and besides a visible inspection of its exterior showing areas of concern you could also sense it was compromised at a specific point because it suddenly lost stiffness/rigidity there too. Curiously a simple test with a continuity meter with the wire laid straight on the table showed the signal flowed! He told us it had broken internally at that very point but the tips touched each other when placed straight so casual inspections may report it "works". [I suspect his demo was actually a cable he prepared for his show and tell, but it successfully got his point across.] He also described the even more problematic ovaling issue (even if the core itself is not obviously harmed) and how the impedance is compromised if the cable's dielectric geometry and distance to the core isn't properly maintained due to the dangerous use of overly tight bending, often irreparably so, even if one attempts to re-straighten the cable. Or as this site (SolidSignal) describes it: "there's no 5-second rule when it comes to bending coax cable."

View attachment 79615
...
View attachment 79616

source.


The main reason most wires we typically use in a home audio system are multi-stranded cores rather than solid core is because they are more flexible. Besides convenience and being able to safely negotiate tight bends this also increases durability with repeated use whereas solid core wire can more easily fail from being mistreated . . . or, for that matter, prepared/gimmicked via being "Uri Gellered", haha [for those of us who know how his trick is prepared]. Like this spoon has been:

Psst: this trick only works because spoons are solid core.

WRT bending and stranded cable- tell satellite and cable companies, not me. CCS cable has been used by all of them, to avoid the need for a support wire, until higher frequency response became absolutely necessary. If anyone staples their cable around doorways, they deserve EVERY possible problem. because that's just ignorant.

Anyone who stores coax like a clothesline is an idiot and if they work for someone, they should be retrained. If they have been retrained, they should be fired for wasting company-owned materials.

BTW- have you noticed the ethernet cables that were wrapped exactly that way in boxes for routers and other network equipment?

Why are you being so pedantic?

 

[m. zillch]

Why are you being so pedantic?

Because YOU dismissed the AI summary I quoted as being "vague" and how YOU suggested cable experts should be consulted, so that's exactly what I did and quoted

In the 50+ years I have handled/installed Coax, I have never seen it just break like a stick. That AI answer is also very vague- might be better to go to a manufacturer's site and look for their recommendations.

Plus I threw in my own experience having witnessed actual examples of broken solid core cable in the field myself (at clients homes) and explaining what I learned in my classroom training/seminar from the professional DirecTV installer about how exactly it can happen.

 

[highfigh]

Because YOU dismissed the AI summary I quoted as being "vague" and how YOU suggested cable experts should be consulted, so that's exactly what I did and quoted, plus I threw in my own experience having seen broken RG6 in the field myself and explaining what I learned in my classroom training from the professional DirecTV installer about how it can happen:

Are you assuming that all info in AI is accurate? That hasn't been my experience.

Was that broken coax CCS, or pure Copper? Copper bends easily- CCS, not so much.

BTW- what was the deal with installers not grounding the feed? I understand that DTV, Cable and Dish haven't necessarily paid well, but the horror stories about how the installations were done (can't really use 'performed') amazed me and that includes on my own house.

 

[m. zillch]

Was that broken coax CCS, or pure Copper?

Perhaps you missed this part:

When I've encountered customers' solid core coax cables broken from previously having been mistreated (such as them ignorantly stapling them to the right angle of a door frame to keep it "neat and tidy", a common mistake on their part), I didn't think to either dissect the cables for a careful more definitive autopsy nor quiz the customer as to the cable's country of origin or manufacturer, so I can't say.

 

[Kingnoob]

Are you assuming that all info in AI is accurate? That hasn't been my experience.

Was that broken coax CCS, or pure Copper? Copper bends easily- CCS, not so much.

BTW- what was the deal with installers not grounding the feed? I understand that DTV, Cable and Dish haven't necessarily paid well, but the horror stories about how the installations were done (can't really use 'performed') amazed me and that includes on my own house.

What about rca that aren’t advertised as coax? Like the fosi Cable that I got and various others ? Are they a step down ? And less durable or what ? It’s shorter like a angled Cable.

was the blue rigger better ? Also not advertised as a coax.

 

[highfigh]

Perhaps you missed this part:

You didn't answer my question- solid core can be Copper, or CCS. CCS has limited frequency response and is much more stiff and you mentioned mistreatment as the cause of breakage.

 

[highfigh]

What about rca that aren’t advertised as coax? Like the fosi Cable that I got and various others ? Are they a step down ? And less durable or what ? It’s shorter like a angled Cable. View attachment 79657
was the blue rigger better ? Also not advertised as a coax.View attachment 79658

Stop believing that Fosi is the best cable- almost anything will work. You pushed the sub too close to the wall- bad idea. Buy a cable withright angle plug at one or both ends.

Line level cables with RCA need to be coaxial- if it's just a pair of wires (like the cheap stereos with RCA plugs on the speaker wires), it won't shield the signal from interference.

 

[m. zillch]

You didn't answer my question

More importantly I explained, and then repeated to you, why your specific question is unanswerable:

When I've encountered customers' solid core coax cables broken from previously having been mistreated (such as them ignorantly stapling them to the right angle of a door frame to keep it "neat and tidy", a common mistake on their part), I didn't think to either dissect the cables for a careful more definitive autopsy nor quiz the customer as to the cable's country of origin or manufacturer, so I can't say. Many (most?) do-it-youselfers have no idea the danger in doing this sort of thing:
View attachment 79617
or storing it perhaps like this:

View attachment 79614

Your best bet to get an answer to your question would be to either:

A. Ask the owner of the cable [No, this was decades ago so I have no contact information for them]

or

B. Examine the problematic cable in question up close

NEITHER OF THESE TWO THINGS I DID. As I recall it they simply told me the gnarly, recycled, VISIBLY KINKED cable—I'd assume due to having been bent too tightly—sticking out of their trash barrel to the side of the room "didn't work well" [paraphrased] and I took their word for it, but I never examined it myself up close.

 

[highfigh]

More importantly I explained, and then repeated to you, why your specific question is unanswerable:



Your best bet to get an answer to your question would be to either:

A. Ask the owner of the cable [No, this was decades ago so I have no contact information for them]

or

B. Examine the problematic cable in question up close

NEITHER OF THESE TWO THINGS I DID. As I recall it they simply told me the gnarly, recycled, VISIBLY KINKED cable—I'd assume due to having been bent too tightly—sticking out of their trash barrel to the side of the room "didn't work well" [paraphrased] and I took their word for it, but I never examined it myself up close.

Don't tell me my question is unknowable when you didn't bother to find the cause of the break and then argue about it.

I haven't seen many cables that stayed sharply kinked when they were solid Copper.

 

[m. zillch]

Don't tell me my question is unknowable when you didn't bother to find the cause of the break and then argue about it.

Your question is unknowable at this point and it is ridiculous to blame me for not having "bothered" to closely examine the visibly kinked solid core cable the customer already knew to discard. As my previous post discussed: there is no "5 second rule" for this. Once compromised from having been overly bent this sort of cable needs to be replaced, regardless of which of the specific internal failures has occurred:

 

[TLS Guy]

I can't believe this thread is this long. As Peter Walker said: - "Wire is Bloody Wire!"

 

[Kingnoob]

Stop believing that Fosi is the best cable- almost anything will work. You pushed the sub too close to the wall- bad idea. Buy a cable withright angle plug at one or both ends.

Line level cables with RCA need to be coaxial- if it's just a pair of wires (like the cheap stereos with RCA plugs on the speaker wires), it won't shield the signal from interference.

I meant to say the Fosi looked cheaped then the other cable I linked and neither are listed in the description as coaxial??
can you tell a difference between a cheap and premium cable ? The blue rigger claimed to be premium. What brand do you suggest??

 

[Speedskater]

You didn't answer my question- solid core can be Copper, or CCS. CCS has limited frequency response and is much more stiff and you mentioned mistreatment as the cause of breakage.

Copper Clad Steel coax is often used in cable TV systems. Carrying signals of over half a Gigahertz.
Solid core Copper Clad Steel probably has a shield optimized for over 50 Megahertz.
While coax with a braided copper shield is probably optimized for under 10 Megahertz.
In between 10 and 50 (or so) Megahertz either is good.