i am about to purchase a second subwoofer, and would like to place it in the rear corner of my living room. i have a speaker wire in the wall, going from the AVR to the rear wall where i "had" a surround rear speaker... so now its just a banana jack wall plate. is there any way or "adapter" that i can get the "rca subwoofer signal" across the regular speaker wire to the subwoofer?

currently seeking a banana jack to rca converter if it even exists...

thanks,
WudChuK

You can solder an RCA plug or jack on the speaker cable but that is way less than optimal. Speaker wire is not shielded and there is a very good chance you will pick up noise.

But it is a cheap test so give it a shot if can waste $5.

-Robert

You can solder an RCA plug or jack on the speaker cable but that is way less than optimal. Speaker wire is not shielded and there is a very good chance you will pick up noise.

But it is a cheap test so give it a shot if can waste $5.

-Robert

Does it matter if it is in-wall rated speaker wire, versus non-inwall speaker wire? Or are you referring to shielding more like that on a coax cable?

This is an interesting question, and one I have been wondering about myself.

Cable with RCA connectors is shielded cable. I would rather not solder an RCA connector to a paired (unshielded) wire. Nor would I want to strip RCA shielded wire and twist the shielded side for the negative and the core for the positive.

I have about 50 ft of good quality 14 ga. speaker wire running in my walls for back surrounds, which is paired (unshielded) regular speaker wire. I would like to use one of these to experiment with sub placement using the LFE connection from my receiver. I read somewhere that Radio Shack sells banana clip to RCA jumpers, but this isn't something I have ever looked for, so I'm not sure they exist. I see two problems:

1. lack of shielding, which might cause hum.
2. Too much resistance. What does 50 ft. of 14 ga. wire do to the LFE signal?

I suspect neither of these would be a major problem, especially the lack of shielding on the wire in the wall. And to the second concern, 50 ft. of 14 ga. wire would produce a negligible resistive load, but such a heavy gauge, copper wire is also highly conductive (efficient).

Those who have experience with this, please tell me if I'm wrong.

This is an interesting question, and one I have been wondering about myself.

Cable with RCA connectors is shielded cable. I would rather not solder an RCA connector to a paired (unshielded) wire. Nor would I want to strip RCA shielded wire and twist the shielded side for the negative and the core for the positive.

I have about 50 ft of good quality 14 ga. speaker wire running in my walls for back surrounds, which is paired (unshielded) regular speaker wire. I would like to use one of these to experiment with sub placement using the LFE connection from my receiver. I read somewhere that Radio Shack sells banana clip to RCA jumpers, but this isn't something I have ever looked for, so I'm not sure they exist. I see two problems:

1. lack of shielding, which might cause hum.
2. Too much resistance. What does 50 ft. of 14 ga. wire do to the LFE signal?

I suspect neither of these would be a major problem, especially the lack of shielding on the wire in the wall. And to the second concern, 50 ft. of 14 ga. wire would produce a negligible resistive load, but such a heavy gauge, copper wire is also highly conductive (efficient).

Those who have experience with this, please tell me if I'm wrong.

so if coax or speaker wire are out of the question, would this be the proper cable i need to run for a subwoofer??

RCA Cable (http://www.datapro.net/products/composite-video-cable-single-rca.html)

probably would need a custom 75ft run to get up the wall, across the living room, and back down the wall to a wall jack......

You don't want to use speaker wire unless you are using the speaker level connections. If you can find an adapter, you can test, but without a shield you will most likely get 60Hz hum. I tried to find banana-to-rca adapters and couldn't. You can use coax, RG-6 or RG-59, and put RCA connectors on each end. The problem will be getting it in the wall. A 75' run is not a problem.

The "LFE cable" I purchased from monoprice is just RG6 with RCA ends on it.

My guess would be that any wire rated to run in-wall for a specific distance to power a speaker would be as well suited to running a sub - assuming the ends could be installed properly.

All I've ever installed on RG6 is snap-n-seal coax ends (when I was a cable guy). The crimper tool was like $50 - the ends are dirt cheap. No clue what a home kit would run you for installing RCA ends - especially if you only need to do it once.

Also, for your cable needs, head over to http://www.monoprice.com.

Best site evar.

The "LFE cable" I purchased from monoprice is just RG6 with RCA ends on it.

My guess would be that any wire rated to run in-wall for a specific distance to power a speaker would be as well suited to running a sub - assuming the ends could be installed properly.Except that speaker cables are not shielded like RG6 or other proper interconnects.