Cable Run for Subwoofer

[Tommy]

Ok I still need to select and buy a subwoofer for the room but more importantly at the moment I gotta worry about running the wires in the wall. The sub will not be in the wall just the wire.

As far as running the in-wall wire, should I terminated it at a wall plate or is there some type of wall plate & box I should be looking for to run the wire right thru?

Sonnie, I see in your construction pics the wires comming right thru a wall box but dont see how it was finished or what the face plate looks like.

[Sonnie]

lol.... mine was jury rigged. I took a thick plastic drain cover from the hardware store and drilled a hole in the center, painted it and pulled the wires through. My cable wires are fed through a solid single gang plate with holes drilled the size of the wire. I suspect you could do the same. I'm not much on wall connections... I'd just rather eliminate as many connections as possible, but that doesn't mean you can't use them.

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

As far as running the in-wall wire, should I terminated it at a wall plate...

You can certainly do that. You might want to do that if the plate is on an outside wall, to make sure there are no air leaks for HVAC purposes.

or is there some type of wall plate & box I should be looking for to run the wire right thru?

You can do that, too. The nice thing about running your own wire is you can drop it out of the wall directly behind the sub, and no one will see it at all. So, it doesn’t make much sense to use a pretty (and expensive) wall panel terminated with an RCA connector.

I suggest just getting a blank cover for an electrical box, and drill a hole in it (you can actually by some with a hole pre-drilled, although it might not be the correct size for you). You can either attach the cover directly to the sheetrock, or to an electrical box.

In case you haven’t picked up on this, regular coaxial cable like they use for TV antennas or cable TV works great for this, and it’s cheap. You can get a cable pre-terminated with F connectors and bring it right out the wall, and use F-to RCA adapters to connect to the sub, and receiver on the other end. Same thing if you want to use wall plates: Get some with F terminals. Use another antenna cable between the wall and sub with F-to-RCA converters.

Regards,
Wayne

[russ.will]

Another good reason for keeping the cable run unbroken, is that the shielding on the cable will be effective over its entire length. Mains EMF induced sub hum is the most annoying thing in the world. Aside from the obvious, it tends to generate a sympathetic whining sound from the wife if she has the ears of a bat, like mine.

There's a thread here on a UK forum from a guy who really knows his stuff on all things long, round and sheathed.

Russell

I will also agree and say that you should just run it right out to the sub with no wallplate...just adds an unnecessary connection point.

[Tommy]

overclockedpc wrote:

I will also agree and say that you should just run it right out to the sub with no wallplate...just adds an unnecessary connection point.

Thanks for the advice, terminating at the wall plate aside is there another way of running it through the wall that will look more professional then just drilling a hole in the sheet rock?

[Tommy]

Ok so I have 2 runs to make, I'll put 2 subs in, one on the back wall in the opposite corner of my rack so that will be about 14' away. And the second will be in the front of the room, depending on how the wire is run but I'd say 34' away if ran down both the walls.

What exactly do I need to order as far as what type of wire and connections on it plus anything else that I may need?

[russ.will]

For starters, good quality, solid performing cable does not need to be particularly expensive or charmed with snake oil. Get a cable that is acually made by a cable manufacturer, not packaged by a cable seller.

Google "Canare LV77S". This is a quality co-axial dual screened cable that is very popular in the UK and just happens to be made in the USofA. It's not even expensive over here, so it should be dirt cheap over there. This is broadcast quality stuff that is often run 10s of metres (100s of feet) in the pro world.

Just had a quick surf and it can be found here in the USA.

There is a post in the UK by a bloke who really understands what actually makes a cable work. Get yourself I a nice cup of tea and sit down for a very long and very informative read. It covers ALL AV/Hifi cables. Look here.

Russell

[lcaillo]

Most of our pre-wired sub runs are simply QS RG6U. The down side to this is that you end up with extra connections if you terminate with a connector at the wall plates or that the cable is very stiff to work with if you make a continuous run out to the components. In terms of signal quality, it is fine.

Canare is great stuff.

[bbieger]

Just like the old adage, if its worth doing, you might as well do it right. While I agree that creating a super clean set up by installing a rca jack at the plate itself, it is probably not necessary. But I would go through the "trouble" of installing a proper outlet box. Just grab a "old work" box from home depot. You cut a rectangle in the wall, rung the cable through the entrance of the box, slide it in the wall and use a screwdriver to snug it tight. Then you can make your own switch plate cover.

A much better solution than simply hogging a hole in your drywall. Also, you can more effectively seal the outlet box which helps A LOT in terms of energy efficiency. You would be quite surprised at how much cold air can blow through your outlet covers and switch plates.

If your fishing the wire through a tricky wall, you can use a magnet and steel chain (like a tub plunger chain) to help "find" the cable snake in the wall.

[fibreKid]

Wall plates and subwoofer cables don't have to be ugly.

[recruit]

Very tidy John I'll have to tidy my cables up one day