Subwoofer cables...Are they the key to better sound?

[Driver_King]

Exactly what the topic says. If I were to purchase a Monster subwoofer cable, would it make a real enjoyable difference to what I really hear? I personally think the subwoofer bundled with my Onkyo HT SR800 sounds great as it is...

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Since we are on the topic...

anybody have some good suggestions on a good prices subwoofer cable for a good price?

[ruvic2007]

Cheaper and probably the same or even better than a monster cable

[Driver_King]

Ok...But does it offer an enjoyable, noticable difference in sound quality?

[blindcat87]

I have used several different sub cables over the years. I used an expensive Monster sub cable given by a friend. I have used a commercial video cable I got from markertek.com. I have also used a bluejeanscable sub cable, my current cable. For sound quality, all were pretty much equal. The winner in my book, my current bjc cable. Video cables mmake good sub cables because of their shielding and characteristics. They make a great low cost alternative. The reason the bjc cable wins in my book is that it has shielding as good as the Monster and video cable, but it has the best connector I have ever had in a sub cable.

BTW these cables were used with a Velodyne sub followed by a Hsu Research VTF-3 HO sub. So, no lightweight wimpy subs here. I would advise going with a video cable and spending the extra on movies unless you are picky about your connectors, then go bluejeanscable and still have some money to spare.

If these cables can do the job with my monster Hsu, they can give you the best with any Onkyo sub.

Chris

[cam555]

the best sound you can get from your sub is determined if your sub how high input and outputs. so that you can run your fronts to you sub then the front placements on your receiver....this allows your sub do determine what frequencies are meant for only the sub to play and what frequencies are supposed to go to your front speakers. can anyone else elaborate on this?

[blindcat87]

This is not correct. For a 5.1 or higher setup, you want to use the RCA input of your sub. The processor/reciever crossover selection determines where the frequencies go. If you hook up your sub through the fronts using speaker wire, they will only get the information going to the fronts. This is generally a relic of prologic and non powered subs.

Chris

Originally Posted by cam555

the best sound you can get from your sub is determined if your sub how high input and outputs. so that you can run your fronts to you sub then the front placements on your receiver....this allows your sub do determine what frequencies are meant for only the sub to play and what frequencies are supposed to go to your front speakers. can anyone else elaborate on this?

[Driver_King]

Yeah, I'm just using the RCA cable bundled with my system and even when I crank up the volume, I get no auidible distortion. I have created a very enjoyable mix of frequencies that make the sub compliment all of the sound. I am just wondering if it'd be better if I had better quality wiring. In my opinion, the Onkyo subwoofer is incredibly well made for a HTIB system.

[cam555]

i read that the crossover inside your sub does a better job determining where the frequencies go then your receiver.

[jomari]

Originally Posted by blindcat87

This is not correct. For a 5.1 or higher setup, you want to use the RCA input of your sub. The processor/reciever crossover selection determines where the frequencies go. If you hook up your sub through the fronts using speaker wire, they will only get the information going to the fronts. This is generally a relic of prologic and non powered subs.

Chris

To further explain as well, the sub receives the LFE signal given out by the receiver, the frequency determined by the reciever (which is defaulted at 80hz) will also send the anything lower to the subwoofer IF you have your speakers set to small.

the subwoofers 'sound' will also be determined by its specs as mentioned earlier too.

[jomari]

Originally Posted by cam555

i read that the crossover inside your sub does a better job determining where the frequencies go then your receiver.

hmm. im not quite sure how that can be accomplished. how can the sub determine what frequencies will go to it instead of the reciever?

based on the recievers settings, it would re-direct the bass filtered to go to the subwoofer, letting it handle the work instead of the receiver.

[blindcat87]

I don't doubt it. Onkyo seems to really pay attention to detail in their stuff. The big thing with sub cables is that the low frequency stuff seems to be more vulnerable to interference. If you aren't getting distortion, humming, or are not hearing an audible sense of something missing, you are probably good. The only reason I would go any higher that what you have got is if you plan on changing things around in a way that might add interference.

I once spent about a month trying to help a friend figure out why his sub started humming all of the sudden. It turned out that he had run phone line to go to his Tivo and that had added some interference of some kind. He got a video cable with better shielding and was back in business.

If you have any doubts about whether or not you are getting all the bass your sub can provide, pick up one of the setup DVDs like Avia or go to somewhere like av123.com that sell a sub test tone CD. That will really help you get a handle on what your sub is really capable of. If you do the latter, be aware that you need to not crank the volume when running test tone CDs because their tones can sometimes damage speakers and subs if turned too high since they play sustained single frequency tones and long frequency sweeps.
My advice would really be that if you don't hear anything problematic, a new cable is not likley to give you more. Analog cables do have some differences, but it is rarely much of a difference if you didnt pay a couple of k or even 10 K for your stuff. If you really have doubts, I would suggest ordering a video cable or one of the bluejeanscable sub cables and trying it out. The former is cheap end not a waste if you don't get an improvement. The latter is not all that expensive, has a great warranty and satisfaction guarantee and can be returned if you decide quickly that it does not give you an improvement. About half of my cabling is now from them and each purchase has been a good experience.

Chris

Originally Posted by Driver_King

Yeah, I'm just using the RCA cable bundled with my system and even when I crank up the volume, I get no auidible distortion. I have created a very enjoyable mix of frequencies that make the sub compliment all of the sound. I am just wondering if it'd be better if I had better quality wiring. In my opinion, the Onkyo subwoofer is incredibly well made for a HTIB system.

[blindcat87]

How can it decide where the frequencies should go when it is only connected through your front speakers?

There is bass present in all 5 channels and bass specific to the .1 subwoofer channel. If you run your sub through the main speakers, you only get the signal going to the front. You lose the bass for the center, the surrounds, and most importantly the bass for the .1 channel. It can't pull those signals from thin air, it has to be connected. In 5.1 and up, most of the bass is directed towards the LFE channel, the .1 channel, so if you run your sub through the fronts, you just cut off almost all of your bass unless you are only watching stereo movies.

Someone has been handing you a big load. It really doesn't matter if the sub crossover is better if you don't have it plugged in to where the bass comes from.

Chris

Originally Posted by cam555

i read that the crossover inside your sub does a better job determining where the frequencies go then your receiver.

[blindcat87]

Correct. Most subs have the high level stereo inputs and good crossovers for use with stereo systems. Sub designers know that a lot of their subs will be used as surround subs, so they don't skimp on those parts either. The best use for the sub crossover for surround systems that I have seen is what I am hoping to do soon. I am hoping to add a Midrange specific sub to my setup, the Hsu MBM-12. In this case I will hook both up to my LFE output on my processor with a splitter, then I will set the crossovers of the subs so that the midbass unit covers the freqs down to 50 Hz and my sub will take over there going down into the subsonic region to 12 or 10 Hz or so.

Chris

Originally Posted by jomari

hmm. im not quite sure how that can be accomplished. how can the sub determine what frequencies will go to it instead of the reciever?

based on the recievers settings, it would re-direct the bass filtered to go to the subwoofer, letting it handle the work instead of the receiver.

[moviefan]

The LFE connection is the way to go.
As far as a good connection is concerned, cobaltcable.com offers locking connectors via a collar that twists down on the connection to eliminate any possibility of loosening thru vibration.
They will also make a sub cable in any length ... you don't need to buy a 3 or 4 meter cable if you need only a 2 meter!

[richteer]

Originally Posted by Driver_King

Exactly what the topic says. If I were to purchase a Monster subwoofer cable, would it make a real enjoyable difference to what I really hear? I personally think the subwoofer bundled with my Onkyo HT SR800 sounds great as it is...

Hmm. Cables do make a difference, but I'm tempted to suggest that upgrading your sub would be a better option. Onkyo stuff seems to be pretty good (at least, their receivers), but I'm not a fan of those HTIB set ups.

[cam555]

omg.....so this whole time i have had my system hooked up wrong???

[Blu-Raider]

I've had mixed feelings about this subject. I know for a fact that moving my sub closer to the receiver changed the characteristics. When I went from 50ft. of cable to 6ft and the sub became much more responsive.
Although I experience no hum or other shielding type issues, I've often wondered if I dropped some cash on a high-dollar super-shielded sub cable if I could tell a difference.

Hmmmm.....

[blindcat87]

Sorry, but yes if that is how you hooked it up. Surround systems are designed to be hooked up through the LFE out via an RCA connection. Since bass is non directional, it allows the sub to handle the bass from all 5 to 7 speakers as well as the dedicated LFE channel which only goes through that output.

don't sweat it, when I bought my first setup I was all happy to be able to watch Dolby Digital laserdiscs. Bought ID4 on LD just for that purpose. When hooking things up, I couldn't figure out where to hook up the RF out from the LD player to get the 5.1 sound. I then discovered that DD and Prologic were not the same thing and that I had bought a prologic HTIB not a DD HTIB. I also was not aware of the difference in sub hookups at that time since the HTIB I bought had anon passive sub that had to be hooked up through the high level speaker connection.

Chris

Originally Posted by cam555

omg.....so this whole time i have had my system hooked up wrong???

[Blu-Raider]

Originally Posted by cam555

omg.....so this whole time i have had my system hooked up wrong???

The sub does have an adjustable LPF (low-pass filter) so you're not completely in left field.