Subwoofer Cable

[jeffvee]

My sub is the JBL studio series L 8400, 600 watts.

Which subcable should I buy for my home theater? Do I need one that is THX certified? One that is stereo?

 

[Matt34]

Don't get caught up in all the "THX certified" stuff. You should be able to get a nice cable for around $15-30.

Type in "subwoofer cable" on Ebay and you'll get plenty of choices. I did see a 15ft Bluejeans cable which comes recommended by some here for $28. Avoid any that have the word "monster" in it.

 

[ducker]

I picked up a standard 25' dual RCA red/black cable. split it in half so I had 2 single runs. 25' wasn't quite long enough to run it in the basement and up to the sub at the opposite side of the room, so I spliced a bit of one cable in to the other. Get great sound out of the sub. just make sure you make a good connection. THX on a sub, unless you're swimming in money... I wouldn't bother....

 

[Takeereasy]

All you need is a high quality, shielded, 75 ohm RCA cable. Run it from the sub pre out or LFE out on the back of your receiver to the rca jack on the rear of your sub designated LFE. JBL's site says that the stereo jacks (red and white RCA's) are switchable to LFE. As an alternative you can pick up an RCA cable and a Y splitter. No the cable does not have to be THX certified, and more importantly it does not have to be expensive to be good. Monster Cable for example is viewed as extremely overpriced by many posters on this site.

Here's a link to some decent cables, you'll have to poke around a bit to match the length of cable you need but I jsut wanted to give you an idea of price. http://www.accessories4less.com/cgi-bin/item/HT152

 

[tomd51]

Similar to Takeereasy's suggestion, I went with all AR Pro/Pro II series cables for my setup. These can be found on eBay either used or new for relatively cheap or from Accessories4Less for a bit more.

Haven't had problem one with these and they provide solid, clean connections for everything in my system. No need for THX certification, don't believe the hype... -TD

 

[Hi Ho]

Buy some RG-6 coaxial cable and a couple RCA adapters. You will have a high quality cable for about $6.

 

[zumbo]

I like the bluejeanscable. Fast shipment. No frills. High quality. Fair price.

 

[Nick250]

I use Radio Shack Gold because they are right down the street from me and they as good as any others. AR cables are good as well and you can get them at Best Buy or Curcuit City.

 

[mtrycrafts]

My sub is the JBL studio series L 8400, 600 watts.

Which subcable should I buy for my home theater? Do I need one that is THX certified? One that is stereo?

Subs are the easiest to cable. I would use the least expensive suggestion posted above.
By the way, you don't need the word 'sub' in the cable as that can be expensive for those few letters

 

[Ldog]

Buy some RG-6 coaxial cable and a couple RCA adapters. You will have a high quality cable for about $6.

This is what i use... Its works really well, plus the coaxial RG-6 is shielded better for the longer runs.

 

[Takeereasy]

mtrycrafts makes a good point as well. One of the alternatives that I know of that is usually a very cheap alternative is to use a yellow video RCA Cable. They are usually well shielded and they are a 75 ohm cable. If you switch the yellow color on the cable for purple you'd have a sub cable as they are generally the exact same cable with a different color scheme.

 

[zumbo]

Subs are the easiest to cable. I would use the least expensive suggestion posted above.
By the way, you don't need the word 'sub' in the cable as that can be expensive for those few letters

I have to respectfully disagree here. In my experience, subs can be a pain to cable. Sub hum is a huge problem that we all have faced at some point or another. The sub cable from blujeanscable, or one of similar quality, has the highest resistance to this.

Also, I would like to add that the cable ends on Radio Shack cables are not very good. They are loose. After a couple of ins and outs, they can become extremely loose. The AR stuff is ok, I am using some. But, If you poke around the Audioholics site, you will find out that they are not top-grade either.

 

[Takeereasy]

I use a Monster Cable yellow video RCA cable for my sub. It's one of their higher end cables but it doesn't do any better or worse of a job than the $20 Canadian AR cable it replaced, it's just prettier. Correct me if I'm wrong (I usually am ) but as long as the cable is well shielded and can pass the 75ohm signal there will be no hum or signal loss.

 

[zumbo]

I use a Monster Cable yellow video RCA cable for my sub. It's one of their higher end cables but it doesn't do any better or worse of a job than the $20 Canadian AR cable it replaced, it's just prettier. Correct me if I'm wrong (I usually am ) but as long as the cable is well shielded and can pass the 75ohm signal there will be no hum or signal loss.

Hum can be a funny thing. Who knows what the cause is for each situation? But, if it were me, I would want to be certain I had used the best cable for hum elimination.

 

[Hi Ho]

When I got my first subwoofer I was using a lamp wire "RCA" cable I made. I had very bad hum problems. There is an example of what NOT to use.

 

[WmAx]

I have to respectfully disagree here. In my experience, subs can be a pain to cable. Sub hum is a huge problem that we all have faced at some point or another. The sub cable from blujeanscable, or one of similar quality, has the highest resistance to this.

For cheapest highly shielded cable, one can buy some buy-by-length pro-music instrument cable at Parts Express and add some RCA ends.

Also, I would like to add that the cable ends on Radio Shack cables are not very good. They are loose. After a couple of ins and outs, they can become extremely loose. The AR stuff is ok, I am using some. But, If you poke around the Audioholics site, you will find out that they are not top-grade either.

Radio Shack cable varies. I have seen examples of crimped (this is bad, it almost always ends up coming loose and having a poor connection IME) and soldered versions from Radio Shack. If one has a Big Lots clearance center near them, I recomomend checking out their selection(s). I have, from time to time, come across long(12' plus) cables of very high quality so far as soldered connection(s) and sheilding. I once came across some cable of long lengths with high quality machined RCA plugs and was triple-shielded cable. Just a couple of weeks ago they had some very nicely shielded 12' Phillips brand cable with soldered connections for about $6 each.

-Chris

 

[zumbo]

I am speaking of the RCA plug itself.

 

[WmAx]

I am speaking of the RCA plug itself.

If you mean the diameter of the metal wings that grab the outer metal cylinder(ground), then if they are loose, the fix is easy to impliment using common pliers.

-Chris

 

[jeffvee]

That's a great idea. What type of tool is needed to attach the connectors

 

[WmAx]

That's a great idea. What type of tool is needed to attach the connectors

A soldering iron + solder.

-Chris