Why Should I Use A Subwoofer Cable ?
If you are an audiopholic like me and you want to get the best out of every little detail that your system have and get anything else that may miss, a subwoofer cable is a necessity.
Most will say that a subwoofer cable is not so important. Some will say that it is important. The answer lies between and you are the only one that will take the “personal” answer to this question. Please before you even consider getting one or avoiding one, know everything about a subwoofer cable.
Premium subwoofer cables versus normal ones ?
First, a premium thing will not equal a normal thing. This is the same in this game. Premium cables will feature more options and quality like improved shielding and besides the extra protection, you will get better materials run into the cables that will ensure you have the best signal transfer.
- subwoofer cables vs normal wire
If you have sub-woofers like home cinemas or any hi-fi one, the requirements for good cables goes up and while some conventional analogue interconnects are just as fine as more premium ones ( even if you can use them more for audio-visual components ), sub-woofers as you may know, have 1 specialized function.
That function is reproducing the low frequency ( base ) of any type of movie or music. So what you will need is a good signal transfer over quite long lengths and some type of shielding against different types of external interference.
Subwoofer cables – from subwoofer to receiver
The most simple explanation that I could find is that subwoofer cables are single ( RCA ) – > single RCA cables. Every cable will need to make it’s job and transfer multi-octave signal without any interference or changing of the information carried over at the end of the cable.
The process explained goes like this :
Subwoofer —————- cables ———————> audio system
Note: if your receiver is equipped with dedicated audio output, it will most likely be able to carry both channels of stereo signals.
Even if you have a tinnier subwoofer, a unit that is averaging 55-122 cycle sounds and has a poor shielding, could pick uphum from near electrical lines.
If you are running low on the budget and you want to make your own subwoofer cable here’s a simple guide that will help you
Get a wire and measure what length you will need , accounting for the length between your subwoofer and receiver
Strip the ends ( the insulation ) and leave the wires exposed
Get the ends of your cables put into RCA plugs and screw them good
The positive lead of your wire will go to the tip of the RCA plug
The negative lead will be solded to the end of the wire ( sleeve of the plug )
Wait some time for the solder to cool off and then try to slide the shell and screw it good
Now that you know the process , you can repeat it to the next cable and after that you have a ready to go subwoofer cable
Normal question:
If, at my home, I have a subwoofer that is equipped with many inputs on the back, why my sub cables are only on one connection?
Answer: This is simple, as most of the available subwoofers will only need 1 connection ( coming from AV receiver ) as most of them are mono signals. LFE is the proper labeling of this type of input or you may know to use only the left channel as some manufacturers will specify this. Nothing is lost tho, you can try to use both of the rca inputs with the help of a good splitter.