Long RCA Cable help

[APORTO]

Hi All,

I searched, but could not find any info on this subject. I have my AVR on the back wall of a finished 3rd floor. I have a PB4000 sub in the back left corner. I have an older Paradigm sub against the right wall. The problem is there is a walkway between the AVR and Paradigm. Right now, I have a temporary RCA running across walkway over the carpet. Permanent solution is to run a custom length RCA around the edge of wall similar to what I have done for speakers on right side of room. Speaker wire was easy: Monoprice pure copper 12AWG & screw on banana plugs. I like the idea of running the wire, cutting to size, then add the plugs. What is the best practice for an RCA to supply sub for a similar long run?
the Image below describes my situation. Red is current wiring, green is what I want to accomplish. What wire should be used and what plugs?
Thank you,
Andrew

 

[slipperybidness]

For a long run of RCA, you likely should go with a shielded cable.

You may find that you need to step up to a balanced connection for a long run, depends on how much EMI is in your room.

 

[MR.MAGOO]

Is the AVR in back behind the couch because there's no room for it along the wall shared by the main sub?

 

[Verdinut]

I think that the following coaxial cable would do the job and at a decent cost:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=2683

 

[snakeeyes]

The SVS wireless kit would work. I use one for the back sub in my living room.

 

[ryanosaur]

I think that the following coaxial cable would do the job and at a decent cost:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=2683

Agree: this is 18awg double shielded... for a low-voltage signal; should be no worries. You could probably get away with their standard cable too at 22awg. Just avoid any runs parallel to power lines.
And run it as close to the door as possible, throw a cable protector and area/accent rug over it... or if possible, route it over and around the door frame.

 

[ryanosaur]

the Image below describes my situation. Red is current wiring, green is what I want to accomplish. What wire should be used and what plugs?

What is the green cable length, vs running it up and over the door frame? Cable tacks are cheap and if you spend an extra moment or two, you can keep it pretty clean. Of you have some matching paint... buy some cable covers, paint them to match the wall, and boom. I've also done the area rug thing with no ill effect, though I wouldn't necessarily wat to do it with even that RG6 cable... though it should have beefy insulation on the conductor.

 

[BMXTRIX]

You can certainly use a pre-fab RCA cable if you want. The most common way for professional installers to do this is to use RG6 cable and terminate it with F connectors, then use F to RCA adapters. It does an excellent job of rejecting interference and is easy to re-terminate if something causes issues.

But, RG6 is more common for in-wall installations. For running things externally, the Monoprice cabling is a nice cheap solution that will work very well. Or wireless is likely to work just fine as well.

 

[2channel lover]

Hi All,

I searched, but could not find any info on this subject. I have my AVR on the back wall of a finished 3rd floor. I have a PB4000 sub in the back left corner. I have an older Paradigm sub against the right wall. The problem is there is a walkway between the AVR and Paradigm. Right now, I have a temporary RCA running across walkway over the carpet. Permanent solution is to run a custom length RCA around the edge of wall similar to what I have done for speakers on right side of room. Speaker wire was easy: Monoprice pure copper 12AWG & screw on banana plugs. I like the idea of running the wire, cutting to size, then add the plugs. What is the best practice for an RCA to supply sub for a similar long run?
the Image below describes my situation. Red is current wiring, green is what I want to accomplish. What wire should be used and what plugs?
Thank you,
Andrew

View attachment 27311

Post #4 has you covered I think.

You can buy shielded Coaxial in 50', 75, 100' lengths...std RCA plugs...I'm set up (wired) for 2 nearfield subs they would be about 16' from the pre/pro but to travel up a wall to the ceiling, across the room (in the attic space above) down the TV wall and some slack...I bought 75' sub cable which had the rca connections already.

From my experience, this will be harder to tuck under baseboards, etc, than 12guage speaker wire, but it can be neat and unassuming.

 

[JerryLove]

Personally: I like the "convert to balanced" option... but they are all fine choices:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/288115-REG/ART_CLEANBOXPRO_CLEANBOX_Bi_Directional_Level_Matching.html

 

[Speedskater]

For long RCA cable runs, you need a coax with a very heavy shield. Some of the best long cables are the Blue Jeans Cable LC-1, Canare LV-77S, Belden 1505F or 1695A.

The designation RG-6 doesn't tell us much. Smeo RG-6 cables are optimized for low frequencies (which is good for audio) while others are optimized for cable TV frequencies (which is very bad for an audio cable).

 

[highfigh]

You can certainly use a pre-fab RCA cable if you want. The most common way for professional installers to do this is to use RG6 cable and terminate it with F connectors, then use F to RCA adapters. It does an excellent job of rejecting interference and is easy to re-terminate if something causes issues.

But, RG6 is more common for in-wall installations. For running things externally, the Monoprice cabling is a nice cheap solution that will work very well. Or wireless is likely to work just fine as well.

RCA ends are easy to find for coax, even right angle, to allow placing the sub close to a wall.

 

[Speedskater]

The most common way for professional installers to do this is to use RG6 cable and terminate it with F connectors, then use F to RCA adapters.

Any RG-6 cable designed to work with 'F' connectors is optimized for cable TV frequencies. It's a very poor choice for an audio interconnect cable.
* * * * * * * * * *
It could have 20dB's or more 'Common Impedance Coupling Noise' current than the coax cables I listed above.

 

[ryanosaur]

Any RG-6 cable designed to work with 'F' connectors is optimized for cable TV frequencies. It's a very poor choice for an audio interconnect cable.
* * * * * * * * * *
It could have 20dB's or more 'Common Impedance Coupling Noise' current than the coax cables I listed above.

Just to clarify, the monoprice cables are subwoofer/digital audio coax... terminated with standard rca's. All double shielded. Their Standard is rg-59, the High Quality and Onyx series is RG-6.

 

[snakeeyes]

The SVS wireless sub kit is super simple and reliable. Very easy. Takes 2 min to install.

 

[ryanosaur]

The SVS wireless sub kit is super simple and reliable. Very easy. Takes 2 min to install.

Definitely not a bad idea.

 

[Speedskater]

Just to clarify, the monoprice cables are subwoofer/digital audio coax... terminated with standard rca's. All double shielded. Their Standard is rg-59, the High Quality and Onyx series is RG-6.

I was thinking of the RG-6 cables that you find on a cable TV installers truck.
The label RG-6 only tells us the diameter, impedance and center conductor gauge. 1/4 inch, 75 Ohms & 18AWG.
Nothing about what frequency range and many other properties it was designed for.

 

[ryanosaur]

I was thinking of the RG-6 cables that you find on a cable TV installers truck.
The label RG-6 only tells us the diameter, impedance and center conductor gauge. 1/4 inch, 75 Ohms & 18AWG.
Nothing about what frequency range and many other properties it was designed for.

I concur, but I am willing to bet they aren't just repackaging spools of Cable TV coax... rather once I learned about the RG59/RG6 rating and what it told me about their product, I felt better buying it over many of the other inexpensive sub cables on the market. Especially the ones that are copper-clad-steel conductors. Yet for any short run with a low-voltage signal, I get that it's not a big deal. When you look at 20' or more, I think it matters more. But to consider a 25AWG conductor for 3x the price, and the shielding may not be any better, is borderline prohibitive.
If there are not a lot of signal sources filling the room, our OP should likely consider the wireless solution.
Barring that, if he knows the run is free of parallel electrical runs, or can dodge them by spacing the subwoofer cable 12-18" away, he should be good with a cable.
I still think he should avoid the full-room-circumnavigation with the cable, and run it by the door frame for a shorter wired run.

 

[Verdinut]

I was thinking of the RG-6 cables that you find on a cable TV installers truck.
The label RG-6 only tells us the diameter, impedance and center conductor gauge. 1/4 inch, 75 Ohms & 18AWG.
Nothing about what frequency range and many other properties it was designed for.

Those cables are good for video signals with frequencies well outside the audible frequencies, so they are obviously adequate for the transmission of any audio signal.

 

[Speedskater]

Barring that, if he knows the run is free of parallel electrical runs, or can dodge them by spacing the subwoofer cable 12-18" away, he should be good with a cable.

6 inches should be way more than enough.