Subwoofer - Why not regular speaker wire

[hpolack]

My friend and I are new to Home theater runs. We ran 14 ga speaker wire in the walls for woofers and now the local audiophile store is suggesting that he will not get "True" surround sound unless he runs RG6 due to the impedence issues. He bought the following equipment, can you tell me if the guy is really overkilling it as we will need to likely cut holes in the ceiling to get this cable run.

Here's the list:

Yamaha RX-V2600 A/V Receiver
Yamaha CDC585 5 Disk CD Changer
Paradigm Studio 20 v.3 Bookshelves
Paradigm Studio CC-470 v.3 Center Channel Paradigm UltraCube 10 Subwoofer (on order) Definitive In-wall Two-Way Bipolar Rears (on order)

Here is what the audio guy said:

I have a single speaker wire ran from the entertainment center to the subwoofer box. The subwoofer requires RG6 for an RCA connection to utilize the "true" surround sound. A subwoofer could operate with normal Right and Left speaker wires however the low frequency signal is susceptible to interference and the "true" surround sound feature is lost.


Thanks for your advice in advance.

 

[jaxvon]

In essence your dealer is right. Your subwoofer is powered, so it will need to plug into an AC outlet. Because of this, it only needs a low-voltage connection in the form of an RCA terminated RG6 cable. Have the cable run, as it's the way to go.

 

[Sheep]

The subwoofer only needs a mono, low voltage signal. Speaker wire is used for speakers because they have a + and -.

All you have to do is get a RCA sub cord for the sub, not that speakers.

But, he is lying with the "true" surround sound thing. A sub signal can be transfered by Speaker wire or RCA.

Go kick him in the nuts.

SheepStar

 

[bmccord]

Did he tell you to also run two Flux Capacitors in series to boost the signal to restore "true" surround

 

[Sheep]

Did he tell you to also run two Flux Capacitors in series to boost the signal to restore "true" surround

No no, that would send him back to the jurrasic period. Its a mod done for better bass extension becuase the dinosaurs are actually walking around beside you.

It realy improved the bass response of my 8 inch subwoofer

SheepStar

 

[hpolack]

Thanks

So, essentially if I put an RCA jack on the wall and solder the wire to the back of it I should be fine. If I here a buzz or something, I should rerun shielded cable, otherwise cutting walls really are not going to gain me anything.

Thanks

 

[mtrycrafts]

So, essentially if I put an RCA jack on the wall and solder the wire to the back of it I should be fine. If I here a buzz or something, I should rerun shielded cable, otherwise cutting walls really are not going to gain me anything.

Thanks

Yes, you can try that approach as you have nothing to loose If there is no hum, you are home free. If there is, then yes, you need to run an RG type cable. Even RG59 will do. If that needs to be done, remodeling is a nightmare so you may want to consider running the wires in base molding? Or, up the wall to crown molding?

 

[xboxweasel]

So, essentially if I put an RCA jack on the wall and solder the wire to the back of it I should be fine. If I here a buzz or something, I should rerun shielded cable, otherwise cutting walls really are not going to gain me anything.

Similar to what I was goint to suggest. Use your existing calbe and put a male RCA jack on either end. Make sure you don't cross the streams.

 

[bigpapa]

If the speaker cable has a few twists per foot, you might not have any problem. There's nothing wrong with trying.

There's also speaker level to line level adaptors available. Be careful, you'll need one that can handle high power from your receiver, and will vary with attenuation from the reciever.