Wiring Problem

[Taxx]

I have a Sony receiver w a single "sub out" port (RCA Style). I have a KLH powered subwoofer with a port that will accept an RCA style plug. So far everything is good.

The problem: My house is wired with Black/Red terminal where the subwoofer should go. The jack in the wall accepts Banana Clip style plugs. The wire is 16 gauge running to that jack. Can I rewire the jack? Or will a simple Y-converter do the trick?

I looked at the Q and A at:

http://www.audioholics.com/FAQs/connectingsubwoofer.php

While the problem is similar, it is not the same.

 

[Az B]

It would probably be easiest to change the wall jack to RCA, but you could also just clip off the ends of an RCA interconnect, isolate the two seperate wire and attach bannana plugs.

 

[BMXTRIX]

The wiring is what is going to be at issue here as you likely have speaker wire run to your wall plate which is not the 75 ohm cable that should be used to send out your subwoofer audio.

So, if you have zero ability to retro in a piece of coax, then almost any conversion will provide decent results. I would look for a couple of RCA wall plates online and then terminate the back side of them to the cable in the wall. This will still leave you open to some interference and hum on your sub though since the cable is not correct.

Good luck though - it is a gamble when in this situation, and sometimes you win.

EDIT: This is a link to a RCA connector that has solder on connections on the back. You can replace your banana connectors with this type of RCA plate and solder for a secure connection point.

http://www.hubbellpremisewiring.com/Catalog/Model_SFRC.htm?SID=SVHHHEAQPKXR9HBPH09XNDL1TWM551N4&PID=1218

 

[JohnA]

75 ohm?

While it is true that you need a 75 ohm cable for Video and digital audio you don't for analog audio (a LF sub input). All you need to do is replace the Banana Clip plugs with an RCA female plug...just solder the Red to the + and the Black to the -, and make sure you match the wires on either side correctly.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Perhaps I should have been more specific... You can use about any 2 conductors of wire to get a line level signal from point a to point b. The issue is that because it is line level you are much more likely to get interference and hiss on the line when using regular speaker wire. Generally coax is used because the shielding on it helps to keep the line level signal clean from your A/V receiver to the subwoofer. There is also shielded wire that will work also.

When we have run into this before and have noticed noise on the line, we have used a couple of pieces from Sonance that lift the audio signal to a very low speaker level, then bring them back to line level. The added power helps to negate interference on the wire.