Using Component Video Cable for Audio?

[92saturnsl2]

UPS guy just dropped off my new Dayton SUB-1500 subwoofer. I'm about to get it set up, but I've got a couple choices of signal cable to use, and not sure which is better.

I have a few sets of cheapo RCA cables that are unshielded (I think shielded cables are desirable as subwoofers can pick up and reproduce 120V AC hum-- signal cable to subwoofer goes right through a gazillion AC cords behind my television).

The other thing I have is a set of high-quality component video cables. These are thick, heavy duty cables that are clearly shielded (outer insulation is transparent and shielding is visible.) What I don't know is if the conductors for transmitting video are similar or same as ones that transmit audio-- can't find a whole lot on the web regarding interchanging these. It's possible to peel one of the three cables (that make up the 3-cable assembly) away and use it as a mono subwoofer cable-- I don't mind sacrificing a component video cable as I will probably never use it again since all my present and future equipment will be HDMI or some future standard.

If all else fails I can order a cable off Amazon for $7, was hoping I could make use of something I already have. Any ideas?

 

[tundraotto]

go ahead. wont hurt anything to try.

 

[MrMoody]

Yes, they will work as well or better than anything else you could get.

 

[tcp71]

Same copper conductors. Use it with confidence.

 

[97prizm]

According to audioholics forum its no problem.

 

[Hall]

The component cable(s) will work 100% fine. The copper doesn't know or care if it's carrying audio or video. I have used component cables for years, sometimes peeling one of the three cables off to use.

Even Parts Express calls their "subwoofer cables" a "single RCA audio/video cable".

 

[14Accent]

Use with confidence, as others have said. Copper is copper is copper, it doesn't know what it's sending. Data is data.

Please let us know what you think of the SUB1500! I actually have one myself, and I love it! It's no $1k sub, but boy does it pair well with my system in my listening space.

I'm curious, what is the rest of your system like?

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by 14Accent
Please let us know what you think of the SUB1500! I actually have one myself, and I love it! It's no $1k sub, but boy does it pair well with my system in my listening space.

I have their 1200 model and with the right movie soundtrack, I sit on the couch with a ****-eating grin when it starts rumbling the house. Our daughter is usually on the couch with me, giggling, waiting for my wife to say something ! I have DA Air 6-1/2" front speakers and the Air center channel as well. I rarely give this information in public to avoid the "snobs" who will criticize this brand. Trust me, I don't care what they think....

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by 14Accent
Please let us know what you think of the SUB1500! I actually have one myself, and I love it! It's no $1k sub, but boy does it pair well with my system in my listening space.

I have their 1200 model and with the right movie soundtrack, I sit on the couch with a ****-eating grin when it starts rumbling the house. Our daughter is usually on the couch with me, giggling, waiting for my wife to say something ! I have DA Air 6-1/2" front speakers and the Air center channel as well. I rarely give this information in public to avoid the "snobs" who will criticize this brand. Trust me, I don't care what they think....

I can be an audio snob at times, but I also own some DA products (MK402X, BIC v1220), and I think they're quite decent.

 

[Hall]

The BIC subwoofer you refer to isn't a DA model. I presume you bought it from Parts Express though, but you can buy this brand from many resellers.

I just happen to be "local" to Parts Express plus I think their value-to-quality is [censored] good, certainly good enough for me.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by hallstevenson
The BIC subwoofer you refer to isn't a DA model. I presume you bought it from Parts Express though, but you can buy this brand from many resellers.

I thought I read somewhere that Parts Express owns both DA and BIC, so I lumped them together. Maybe that's not true though?

 

[danez_yoda]

I agree with the rest that the video cables will work before you fall to folklore there is a simple test you can perform to learn the answer for yourself. Run the cheap cable and play the amp with a CD on pause and crank the volume to max. Listen for the 60 Hz hum.

Then replace with your video cable and listen again. I would be willing to bet you will not hear a night and day difference. There may be some but not enough at regular listening levels to worry about.

The cheap "unshelded" wires are still constructed like a coax. an insulated wire goes to the center pin of the RCA and a set of stranded wires copper wires around the insulated one and that bundle is covered by a the jacket you see. It would be somewhat difficult to inject a differential signal into even these cheapie cables from 120VAC 60Hz in an adjacent cable.

http://www.bcae1.com/rcacable.htm

 

[92saturnsl2]

Originally Posted by 14Accent
Please let us know what you think of the SUB1500! I actually have one myself, and I love it! It's no $1k sub, but boy does it pair well with my system in my listening space.

I'm curious, what is the rest of your system like?


14Accent: What do you have your gain turned to on your SUB1500? I ask only because I'm having to set the gain on MAX and on top of that, dial in some extra bass via the EQ on my receiver to get the volume to match the front / center channels. I haven't had enough playing time to form any sort of opinion yet, but I thought it was peculiar that I'm having to turn the gain so high and still aren't there yet. I tried a another receiver and it didn't make a difference.

For the other components, I have an older Sony STR-DE985 receiver, Polk Monitor 70's for the fronts, matching Polk center (forgot model no.), and Polk surrounds. Receiver is the next item on the list for an upgrade. Prior to the SUB-1500 I had a rack mount 400w amplifier powering a 12" (car) sub in a ported box tuned to 30hz, worked okay but I can already tell the new SUB-1500 is going to be much nicer.

 

[14Accent]

Originally Posted by 92saturnsl2
Originally Posted by 14Accent
Please let us know what you think of the SUB1500! I actually have one myself, and I love it! It's no $1k sub, but boy does it pair well with my system in my listening space.

I'm curious, what is the rest of your system like?


14Accent: What do you have your gain turned to on your SUB1500? I ask only because I'm having to set the gain on MAX and on top of that, dial in some extra bass via the EQ on my receiver to get the volume to match the front / center channels. I haven't had enough playing time to form any sort of opinion yet, but I thought it was peculiar that I'm having to turn the gain so high and still aren't there yet. I tried a another receiver and it didn't make a difference.

For the other components, I have an older Sony STR-DE985 receiver, Polk Monitor 70's for the fronts, matching Polk center (forgot model no.), and Polk surrounds. Receiver is the next item on the list for an upgrade. Prior to the SUB-1500 I had a rack mount 400w amplifier powering a 12" (car) sub in a ported box tuned to 30hz, worked okay but I can already tell the new SUB-1500 is going to be much nicer.



I wish I could help... but that's way off from what I'm running as far as settings. I has a Pioneer VSX-45 receiver, and I set the sub level between 0.0db and -7.0db depending on what I'm watching. On the actual sub, I have the phase set to 0 and the crossover maxed out, with the gain set somewhere between the 12 o'clock and 2 o'clock position (when looking at the back of the sub). It sounds to me like there's something off in your settings, but I wouldn't know where to start since I don't know your receiver. Do you have the phase set to 0 and the crossover set to max? The receiver should take care of crossover duties for you.

 

[Toros]

Originally Posted by 92saturnsl2
Originally Posted by 14Accent
Please let us know what you think of the SUB1500! I actually have one myself, and I love it! It's no $1k sub, but boy does it pair well with my system in my listening space.

I'm curious, what is the rest of your system like?


14Accent: What do you have your gain turned to on your SUB1500? I ask only because I'm having to set the gain on MAX and on top of that, dial in some extra bass via the EQ on my receiver to get the volume to match the front / center channels. I haven't had enough playing time to form any sort of opinion yet, but I thought it was peculiar that I'm having to turn the gain so high and still aren't there yet. I tried a another receiver and it didn't make a difference.

For the other components, I have an older Sony STR-DE985 receiver, Polk Monitor 70's for the fronts, matching Polk center (forgot model no.), and Polk surrounds. Receiver is the next item on the list for an upgrade. Prior to the SUB-1500 I had a rack mount 400w amplifier powering a 12" (car) sub in a ported box tuned to 30hz, worked okay but I can already tell the new SUB-1500 is going to be much nicer.

Hahhh! I have an old Sony STR-DE675 for the HT setup in our beach house. Decades before HDMI. All audio connections are dig optical or digital coaxial. It sounds awesome with the Pinnacle MB60000 matched HT speaker setup which includes a 10" Pinnacle sub. I do not see a need for a receiver upgrade even when I replace the the 60" Sharp Aquos with a 65" Hisense Roku I bought last month. Will lose a few cables but that's about it. I'm toying with a few Harmony remotes to simplify remote use though.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Audiophile.

"Copper is copper" is not correct

There is good oxygen free copper with few grain boundaries and their is ??? chinese copper.

And there is Silver.

The winding, shielding and insulator materials all make a difference.
The connector makes a difference.

The effective total inductance and capacitance makes a difference.


but Bass frequencies are one of the easier to x-mit without artifacts

So its try and see.

I find positioning, level and phase adjustment are the more challenging.

Biggest problem with separate audio equipment is interconnection and the RCA cable is
the defacto standard and a VERY POOR choice.

It will function, you be the judge if it works..

 

[Alfred_B]

Originally Posted by danez_yoda
I agree with the rest that the video cables will work before you fall to folklore there is a simple test you can perform to learn the answer for yourself. Run the cheap cable and play the amp with a CD on pause and crank the volume to max. Listen for the 60 Hz hum.




Just don't forget to turn it down later

 

[92saturnsl2]

So far so good with the SUB-1500. I've settled in at about 70% on the gain, and sub volume on the receiver anywhere from 0 to +10db depending on what I'm listening to and how much I want to [censored] off the wife.

My first impression was a bit "meh" but I have to keep reminding myself this is a $200 sub, not a $600 one. It's clear the sub could use more power, there isn't much cone excursion at all for a driver that's advertised as "long throw," but that's probably just marketing at its finest. I'm fairly certain they're using Dayton's classic 15" driver, which is rated up to 250W, but one day when I have the time I might open up the cabinet and see what's in there, possibly upgrade the amp down the road.

The sound quality is actually pretty decent and blends well with my speakers. Works great for HT, could use a little more output for some types of music, but I'm more than satisfied for what I paid; the sub really is a great value.

My only real gripe is the performance between 20-30hz. I played some test tones through it and it's essentially silent between 20-25hz, and rather underwhelming up to 30hz or a bit higher. Not at all what I was expecting from a 15" driver. I suspect Dayton is using a rather aggressive hi-pass / subsonic filter, possibly to keep from overwhelming the amp. Just a wild guess. It's strange because most reviews I've found online mention at least adequate output between 20-30hz. I could understand a subsonic filter below the port tuning frequency, but this is tuned to 23hz IIRC. I've checked all my receiver settings and I'm certain there's nothing affecting this, so it's definitely a head scratcher.

The component video cable is doing fine as an audio cable, as many suggested. I compared it with a standard audio RCA cable and I can't discern any difference whatsoever.

 

[14Accent]

Originally Posted by 92saturnsl2
So far so good with the SUB-1500. I've settled in at about 70% on the gain, and sub volume on the receiver anywhere from 0 to +10db depending on what I'm listening to and how much I want to [censored] off the wife.

My first impression was a bit "meh" but I have to keep reminding myself this is a $200 sub, not a $600 one. It's clear the sub could use more power, there isn't much cone excursion at all for a driver that's advertised as "long throw," but that's probably just marketing at its finest. I'm fairly certain they're using Dayton's classic 15" driver, which is rated up to 250W, but one day when I have the time I might open up the cabinet and see what's in there, possibly upgrade the amp down the road.

The sound quality is actually pretty decent and blends well with my speakers. Works great for HT, could use a little more output for some types of music, but I'm more than satisfied for what I paid; the sub really is a great value.

My only real gripe is the performance between 20-30hz. I played some test tones through it and it's essentially silent between 20-25hz, and rather underwhelming up to 30hz or a bit higher. Not at all what I was expecting from a 15" driver. I suspect Dayton is using a rather aggressive hi-pass / subsonic filter, possibly to keep from overwhelming the amp. Just a wild guess. It's strange because most reviews I've found online mention at least adequate output between 20-30hz. I could understand a subsonic filter below the port tuning frequency, but this is tuned to 23hz IIRC. I've checked all my receiver settings and I'm certain there's nothing affecting this, so it's definitely a head scratcher.

The component video cable is doing fine as an audio cable, as many suggested. I compared it with a standard audio RCA cable and I can't discern any difference whatsoever.


I've noticed the same thing with mine. There's solid low-end, but nothing mind bending. I run mine at about 50% gain and between -7 and 0 db on my receiver depending on what I'm watching. My big issue is that I have the sub stuffed in a corner, and it shouldn't be. As soon as I get a new TV and get rid of my entertainment center I'll be rearranging everything with the hopes of improving sound quality.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by 92saturnsl2
My only real gripe is the performance between 20-30hz. I played some test tones through it and it's essentially silent between 20-25hz, and rather underwhelming up to 30hz or a bit higher.

How are you measuring this output?

The reason I ask is that our ears perceive such low frequencies differently, just because it's at the edge of our hearing ability. Some of us can't hear such low frequencies at all. But if you can hear them, they may APPEAR a lot quieter to your ears despite having the same SPL as higher frequencies.

You'd need a a well calibrated mic with a known correction curve to correctly measure the sub's output capabilities.