I'm a newbie to this. I have doubts if my installer has installed teh correct cable type.

My installer ran 50ft runs of AudioQuest Type 2 speaker cable from the node zero where the amps/receivers will be and both subwoofers planned for a large 1000 sq ft room. The receivers/amps and subwoofers are not chosen yet. The AudioQuest Type 2 runs are installed in conduit and buried behind walls/under crawl spaces.

My doubt is: I thought subs take unamplified line-out signals and use internal amplifiers. Or do some get their input already pre-amplified? I suspect the answer is 'yes' to both, but as you can tell I don't have the right terminology and wouldn't mind confirmation that I can use the installed cable.

Thanks in advance.

Btw, some more data on the AudioQuest Type 2 cable...

AudioQuest Type2 speaker cables employ Hyperlitz design and SST (Spread Spectrum Technology) for optimal performance. Type2 uses four individually insulated LGC copper conductors, two are 21 awg and two are 19 awg, this making a 16 awg cable. These conductors are spiraled for optimal signal carrying characteristics and good RF rejection. Burgundy satin outer jacket.

I'm a newbie to this. I have doubts if my installer has installed teh correct cable type.

My installer ran 50ft runs of AudioQuest Type 2 speaker cable from the node zero where the amps/receivers will be and both subwoofers planned for a large 1000 sq ft room. The receivers/amps and subwoofers are not chosen yet. The AudioQuest Type 2 runs are installed in conduit and buried behind walls/under crawl spaces.

My doubt is: I thought subs take unamplified line-out signals and use internal amplifiers. Or do some get their input already pre-amplified? I suspect the answer is 'yes' to both, but as you can tell I don't have the right terminology and wouldn't mind confirmation that I can use the installed cable.

Thanks in advance.

Btw, some more data on the AudioQuest Type 2 cable...

AudioQuest Type2 speaker cables employ Hyperlitz design and SST (Spread Spectrum Technology) for optimal performance. Type2 uses four individually insulated LGC copper conductors, two are 21 awg and two are 19 awg, this making a 16 awg cable. These conductors are spiraled for optimal signal carrying characteristics and good RF rejection. Burgundy satin outer jacket.


I would say that your installer should have run either premium subwoofer cables from one of any number of cable companies, or coaxial cable, either R 6 or R 59. Better Cables has a 49.2 foot subwoofer cable for $109.95. Typically people use the line level input to the subwoofer rather than the speaker level input. Coax such as R 6 or R 59 terminated with RCA adaptors would have been much less expensive than using premium subwoofer cables.

You will probably be ok since the speaker wire he used is 16 gauge and even though with 50 foot runs of 16 gauge speaker wire you might have a loss of as much as 1 db at 20,000 Hz, it should not affect response in the range of 10-120 Hz.

There are some subwoofers that do not have built-in amps. They are called passive subwoofers. There are far more active subwoofers than there are passive subs. You should discuss which subwoofers your installer and you have in mind.

The vast majority of commercial subwoofers are active.

You should be all right with what you have because you are not using the 50 foot runs of speaker wire to drive full-range speakers.

Better Cables has a 49.2 foot subwoofer cable for $109.95

lol, wow people spend extreme money for no reason.

Monoprice 50ft cable is $9.28!!!! I have two and they work 100%

Besides that if someone has RCA connectors for RG6, just run RG6 from HD. I do that stuff too but I did it for 100+ ft runs of Component video.

even though with 50 foot runs of 16 gauge speaker wire you might have a loss of as much as 1 db at 20,000 Hz

Yeah and I would like to know the guy that can hear the difference of 1 dB ;)

To the OP do not spend $100 or even $50 for a cable run to your subwoofer, you will not get your money's worth whatsoever.

AudioQuest Type2 speaker cables employ Hyperlitz design and SST (Spread Spectrum Technology) for optimal performance. Type2 uses four individually insulated LGC copper conductors, two are 21 awg and two are 19 awg, this making a 16 awg cable. These conductors are spiraled for optimal signal carrying characteristics and good RF rejection. Burgundy satin outer jacket.


Pure BS, scamming you into thinking that you will get a better sound. TRUE ABX blind tests have proven that this is what we call 'snake oil' sales!!

EDIT: my bad....you already own the cable :D

That stuff is speaker wire (I think?) and any sub will take speaker wire although active subs should be connected to your LFE.

Did he run any Coax anywhere?

The installer may have asked if you're running active or passive subs, in the case of passive there would be amplifiers at the A/V rack for the subs, and speaker wire run to their locations. Active subwoofers contain their own amplifier, and would necessitate coaxial wiring run from the pre-amp/receiver and the sub locations. Any coaxial wiring will do, either RG-6, fancy subwoofer cables with RCA connectors, or plain jane $9 50-footers from Monoprice will do the job.

Greg

Active subwoofers contain their own amplifier, and would necessitate coaxial wiring run from the pre-amp/receiver and the sub locations.

Active subs plate amps do have speaker wire connections on them just in case people want to connect their main speaker full range wire into the sub....I guess that was the design way back before AVRs had a sub LFE connection?

Although in the case of the OP I suspect the contractor assumed contractor subs will be install and these are generally passive.

You should be all right with what you have because you are not using the 50 foot runs of speaker wire to drive full-range speakers.For 50ft runs, I doubt you will "be all right", unless you plan to run a speaker-level signal to the subs. Most likely you will be using an active subwoofer (has it's own amp) and will want to use a pre-amp level signal. In that case, speaker wire will probably work poorly, especially for runs that long, as speaker wire is not so good at transmitting a pre-amp level signal with no interference. However, that particular wire may be shielded sufficiently and/or feature a design to prevent any interference. Still, it is not ideal. You could try attaching RCA connectors to the ends and see how it works. If possible, I would ask your installer to pull the appropriate cable using the speaker wire.

Pure BS, scamming you into thinking that you will get a better sound. TRUE ABX blind tests have proven that this is what we call 'snake oil' sales!!It may not yield better sound, but this IS true:

"These conductors are spiraled for optimal signal carrying characteristics and good RF rejection."

Canare 4S11 cable features the same design. You can read about it at the Canare site or at Blue Jean's site.

may not yield better sound, but this IS true:


yeah, you are right about it.

People hate me when I say it...

But I'd just by-pass the amp and run an amp in yoru rack.

Fortunately I have 250 runs of CAT5 all over the house and a few are spare in teh subwoofer wall. Can I use CAT5 somehow for this, with baluns?

Thanks everyone for the great responses. In summary, I should be okay with the installed speaker wire but am now limited to passive subwoofers.

Diverging a little from the topic: The subwoofers will be mounted in a dry call with a 12" empty cavity from floor to ceiling. Would I best go with a closed enclosure passive subwoofer? The installer was recommending some Sonance models - can't remember which ones.

Thanks everyone for the great responses. In summary, I should be okay with the installed speaker wire but am now limited to passive subwoofers.No.

Although not ideal, you could use a speaker level connection to an active subwoofer. What you would do is set your processor (receiver or pre-amp) up as having NO SUB (which will set the front speakers to LARGE, by default). This will reroute the LFE channel and any rerouted bass from those channels set to SMALL to the front channels of your receiver. Your sub(s) would be connected to the receiver's front channel speaker outputs. You would then connect the front speakers to the same speaker outputs or to the subwoofer's speaker-level outputs.

If passive subs is what you want to use (which may be the case since you are going to use an in-wall setup), then you should be fine with the speaker wire. You will need an amplifier for your sub(s). Otherwise, since they are in conduit, the installer should be able to pull the correct subwoofer cabling for you.