Cable upgrade

[srikarkav]

Hi Guys,

At last upgraded the speaker cables for my Onkyo.... well almost

Bought DAC 14 AWG cables yesterday and it was enough for my front speakers,centre and right rear speakers.I have to go and buy some more for my LR and Sub.Should i go for a dedicated sub wire? Does DAC have any? cost? What is the difference between the speaker cable and a dedicated sub cable?
Thank u,

sri

PS: I will post my experience with the cables tonight.

 

[manu4panjab]

Hi Guys,

At last upgraded the speaker cables for my Onkyo.... well almost

Bought DAC 14 AWG cables yesterday and it was enough for my front speakers,centre and right rear speakers.I have to go and buy some more for my LR and Sub.Should i go for a dedicated sub wire? Does DAC have any? cost? What is the difference between the speaker cable and a dedicated sub cable?
Thank u,

sri

PS: I will post my experience with the cables tonight.

i suggest you choose sub cable because its different from speaker cable .sub cable has 75 ohm low impendance that help in damping factor and also help in humming too

i too change my sub cable from draka cables and i tell you all the humming from my two polk psw 125 subs completely gone and i can now hear much more depth :clapping:

 

[venkatcr]

You should get the same AWG 14 cables for your LR speakers also.

Yes, DAC does make subwoofer cables. They are priced between 1000 to 3000 rupees. The expensive variety have isolators at both ends to completely filter out all external interference.

Sub woofer cables are coaxial cables with a impedance of 75 ohms. They usually have a RCA connector at both ends. Though you can technically use any RCA cable, if they are not shielded properly, you may be subject to some loud noises and hums that can be irritating.

Sub woofer cables also come in form of split Y cable. This will have a single RCA connector on one end, and two RCA connectors on the other. Though some subwoofers have L&R input sockets, it is enough to connect to any one of them. Remember, subs are monorual, and not stereo.

Cheers

 

[sushanthace]

the 3100 doesnt have a sub pre out... just a passive sub... so what kind off cable should be used?

 

[anm]

since this is a passive sub, connection to it is same as any other speaker. You may use the same 14awg wire. Sub should be sucking the most power from your amp - so needs better cable I guess.
What is the price you paid for those DAC cable? Is it available by meters or do you have to buy a bundle?

Question for gurus - for passive subs, why do we need "subwoofer cables"? I have connected mine with a fairly normal RCA cable.

regards

 

[prakasse]

Hi Guys,

At last upgraded the speaker cables for my Onkyo.... well almost

Bought DAC 14 AWG cables yesterday and it was enough for my front speakers,centre and right rear speakers.I have to go and buy some more for my LR and Sub.Should i go for a dedicated sub wire? Does DAC have any? cost? What is the difference between the speaker cable and a dedicated sub cable?
Thank u,

sri

PS: I will post my experience with the cables tonight.

Hi Sri,

Can you tell the cost of 14 AWG DAC cable. Am planning to buy cables too.

Thanks,
Prakash

 

[srikarkav]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the responses.

@VENKAT- Yes i will be getting the same 14AWg cable for my rear.

Since my sub is a passive one, can i use the same 14AWG cable?

@anm & prakash- i bought it by meter at Rs 85/- per mtr.

cheers,
sri

 

[sushanthace]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the responses.

@VENKAT- Yes i will be getting the same 14AWg cable for my rear.

Since my sub is a passive one, can i use the same 14AWG cable?

@anm & prakash- i bought it by meter at Rs 85/- per mtr.

cheers,
sri

Hi Sri,

Where did you source the cables from ??

 

[srikarkav]

hi,
cable was from Pro Musicals, chennai

sri

 

[venkatcr]

Since my sub is a passive one, can i use the same 14 AWG cable?

I am not sure how you will connect a passive sub to an AV Receiver.

The Sub out (or LFE out) of an AVR is Line Level connection, and certainly needs an amplifier at the other end.

If your sub is passive, you need to connect the Front L&R to the L and R speakers terminals on the passive sub. Now the question is what do you do with the Front Speakers. If your sub has a crossover built in and has a L&R Out, you connect these to the Front speakers and you are done.

If your sub does not have the L&R out, I am wondering what to do. You connect either the sub or the fronts. You cannot connect both. One option is to get a small amplifier, connect that to the LFE out, and connect the amplifier to the sub.

Please send me a snap of the backside of your sub.

Cheers

 

[sushanthace]

I am not sure how you will connect a passive sub to an AV Receiver.

The Sub out (or LFE out) of an AVR is Line Level connection, and certainly needs an amplifier at the other end.

If your sub is passive, you need to connect the Front L&R to the L and R speakers terminals on the passive sub. Now the question is what do you do with the Front Speakers. If your sub has a crossover built in and has a L&R Out, you connect these to the Front speakers and you are done.

If your sub does not have the L&R out, I am wondering what to do. You connect either the sub or the fronts. You cannot connect both. One option is to get a small amplifier, connect that to the LFE out, and connect the amplifier to the sub.

Please send me a snap of the backside of your sub.

Cheers

Hi Venkat,


The sub woofer provided with HT3100 has only one terminal (press down type) for inserting the cable from the AVR, HTR 340 model is very basic and has the press down type(dont know the exact term) for all speakers and also for the sub woofer and the cable provided for the sub is similar to the speaker cables. just need to press-insert-release. And there is no option of Sub pre-out on the AVR

 

[anm]

Venkat, he has onkyo 3100 htib - I also have one. The connection to sub is just another spring clip, along with other speaker connections. So there are 6 speaker level outputs in Onkyo 340 receiver.

regards

 

[sushanthace]

Venkat, he has onkyo 3100 htib - I also have one. The connection to sub is just another spring clip, along with other speaker connections. So there are 6 speaker level outputs in Onkyo 340 receiver.

regards

ah so thats called a spring clip !!!!

 

[venkatcr]

Venkat, he has onkyo 3100 htib - I also have one. The connection to sub is just another spring clip, along with other speaker connections. So there are 6 speaker level outputs in Onkyo 340 receiver.

So there you have your answer. The 340 provides a powered channel for the sub. So you use the passive sub as just any speaker. You can use a standard speaker cable in this case.

Cheers

 

[srikarkav]

Hi Guys,

Thank u all for ur support. I got the remaining DAC cable today and my cable upgrade is complete. Today i read in another thread that venkat setup a system for his friend and he used DAC cable for it. Thats really reassuring.

Coming to the performance the 5.1 DD movies, there is considerable difference in the sound stage. Along with loudness the quality of the sound is greatly improved. I can really see very marked improvement in the sound from the rear speakers.The subwoofer sound has improved slightly, tho a little humming still remains.Overall, in the movie experience the fatigue factor is greatly reduced. Previously during loud action scenes i would keep asking my son to tone down the sound.Now i find the sound comfortable.

Regarding music there is difference only in 5.1 music DVDs. My son says there is nothing much in the stereo music. May be it is because Onkyo is not basically a musical AVR.

Sound from Tatasky is slightly improved.May be its my mind playing games with me..:lol:

Guys this is completely a lay man's review. Sorry if u found this amusing.

I have read in this forum that speaker cables also have burn in period. Is it correct?

I really hope i have made a small but long term investment.

Cheers,
sri


PS:Guys, Pro musicals from where i got the cable is offering a pair of three year old Wharfedale 8.3 FLs for 11+k and a 5.1 AAD speaker package which they claim retaiing at 90k for 60k.

 

[anm]

well the stereo doesn't change much because the cable run is much smaller compared to surrounds (typically - if avr is placed in between the front l/r speakers). Thickness of cable required is a function of length.
So your observation is in line with what difference should be there.

regards

 

[srikarkav]

any one on the cable burn in q?.

cheers,
sri

 

[anm]

just believe that your cables will get burnt in after 300-400 hours of critical listening. This faith will make you fall in love to your aging system once again and will save you some money