Does Subwoofer cable Quality matter

[therock003]

Will i see a difference if i a purchase an expensive cable lets say an oelbach 30 euro cable compared to a plain rca2rca cable

https://www.idealo.de/preisvergleich/OffersOfProduct/3406513_-nf-214-sub-cinchkabel-oehlbach.html

[jan5678]

afaik no, it is a digital signal, it works or not. although the length might be of influance a distance of about 5 meters is no problem.

But i'm no expert, so others might have a better/other opinion

[therock003]

Does rca cover digital, i thought this was an analog transmission. Another thing ive noticed on a video is that expensive cables have better shielding so you hear less hissing and intereference noises i guess

[super8rescue]

Assuming the RCA cable is driving an active sub, then the only thing to consider is the screening quality of the cable in a noisy environment like a stage, if it is analogue.

If it's not an active sub then I would question the use of an RCA cable, TRS or speakon connection, unless its for a motorcar of course.

if it's an spdif connection, to an active sub, shouldn't make a difference, unless it is an extraordinary distance, that said, I have never seen spdif on a sub, so I may be ignorant in that particular dept.

[Hoser Rob]

That doesn't look like a digital cable to me.

Do expensive cables make a difference? As long as the cable has good quality shielding that covers the centre wire completely, and the RCA connectors are gold plated and make good contact, in a word, no. ANthing else is pure unadulterated snake oil. Audio cables have no electriical properties that matter at audio frequencies at all, whatsoever.

But I still wouldn't get the cheapest cables, they have inadequate shielding

[johnmeyer]

To echo what others have said, "Monster Cable" started the craze for exotic cables back in the 1970s. The audiophile magazines initially bought into the craze, but then the more ethical ones did double-blind tests with a listening panel and found that none of them could tell any sonic difference between lamp cord and Monster Cable. Having said that, the same panel were easily able to hear the difference between 22 gauge lamp wire and 16 gauge lamp wire. The amount of current required to drive a low-efficiency passive speaker was enough to cause voltage drop across the much smaller 22 gauge wire, and this translated to sonic anomalies that could easily be heard.

As others have said, the connectors need to be made of non-corrosive metal so the contact remains both secure and electrically sound, and the shielding must be solid to avoid induced pickup of stray signals.

All of my speakers, including my active feedback Velodyne subwoofer, are wired with 16 gauge lamp cord. I think I paid about $0.06/foot.

[Ennio]

Inputs on subwoofers can be analog or digital. The analoge cinch connector is the most commonly used IMO.

Not having the intention of starting any discussion/riot about audio "quality", there definately are audible differences in sound using different cables.

If they are audible for you, or if you'd care about them - you have to find out by comparing different cables.

As said, proper shielding can indeed make a big difference.

[Cornucopia]

For wires, ESPECIALLY for unbalanced wires (as is analog RCA or digital SPDIF), shielding makes a difference. And this gets more important the longer your run length is. One reason why balanced is preferred for professional use.
Also important is the gauge & composition of the wire - thicker always is better. It's a matter of impedance, and potential signal loss. And IIRC, silver > gold > copper > zinc/aluminum. Copper is the most common for the main portion of wires, and should be sufficient. For the connectors, with analog, it can be worth it to go to the expense of using gold rather than copper for better transfer across/between the medium. And that implies...
Also quite important is the solidity of the connector & connection, and this includes the soldering of the bare wire onto the connector.

Other than that, unless you are going longer distances and/or attempting to pass quite high frequencies/bandwidth (whether audio or video), it won't make much difference at all to the vast majority of consumers.

Note: digital cables still have those same issues, but some of them are masked/compensated for (to some degree) by digital coding's error correction.


Scott