Very long RCA length for non-critical listening

Carlman · « **on:** 15 Nov 2005, 01:40 am »

I intended to power some outdoor speakers with an Audiosource 100w amp and a wireless digital sender/receiver made by 'Amphony'. Well, the Amphony L1000 is no longer made. So, my next option is to just run wires...

I would need to run a pair of interconnects about 35 feet, maybe more from the soundcard to the integrated amp.

What would the problem be with this? Will this damage a sound card output? Or, would it damage any kind of output running such a long cable? I have access to a ton of Cat5e cable that I could use to make the interconnects. The quality doesn't have to be great but I don't want it to be terrible.. and most importantly I don't want to damage the outputs of anything.

Thanks for any advice.

-C

WEEZ · « **Reply #1 on:** 15 Nov 2005, 02:34 am »

Hi Carlman,

I think I read where cat5 is a high capacitance cable. If true, 35' would probably not be a good idea

WEEZ

Carlman · « **Reply #2 on:** 15 Nov 2005, 02:38 am »

I could use coax or something... any suggestions?

WEEZ · « **Reply #3 on:** 15 Nov 2005, 02:48 am »

not sure, but even 35' of low capacitance cable (say,17pf/ft) would still be quite a load for anything less than a high current source, I would think.

cat5 is cheap- might be worth a try- but my guess is it would load down the source.

WEEZ

jermmd · « **Reply #4 on:** 15 Nov 2005, 02:51 am »

I have a 50 foot run of interconnects and other than a damn ground loop, the sound is fine. I used a pair of coax cables with RCA adapters that screw onto the end of the coaxial connector. I bought them at Home Depot for very cheap.

JoshK · « **Reply #5 on:** 15 Nov 2005, 04:06 am »

You might consider building a balanced sender & receiver circuit, like that on ESP. Pretty simply to solder up, cheap enough and you would avoid ground loops, noise or RF pickup and no problems driving a long cable.

Not sure if your soundcard has enough guts to drive long cables but if you don't want to go full on balanced then you could just build a simple buffer for after the card. Again, ESP should have such a circuit.

bubba966 · « **Reply #6 on:** 15 Nov 2005, 04:50 am »

Quote from: Carlman

I could use coax or something... any suggestions?

I'd use coax for that length run. I've actually used this http://www.monstercable.com/custom_install/productPageCI.asp?pin=163&LastPage=Audio%20Interconnects for 35' IC's with damn good results as well.

There's also a Belden product with 4 conductor twisted pair shielded wire that's I've used on multiple occasions for very long length IC's. Would work great if the size of the cables is a problem as the Belden that I'm thinking of isn't very large.

Hogg · « **Reply #7 on:** 15 Nov 2005, 04:53 am »

Carlman,
Try Alpha Goertz cables. They have low capacitance and are designed in some cases for long runs Tourmaline.

http://www.alphacore.com/interconnect.html

Jim

bubba966 · « **Reply #8 on:** 15 Nov 2005, 05:04 am »

Quote from: Hogg

Carlman,
Try Alpha Goertz cables. They have low capacitance and are designed in some cases for long runs Tourmaline.

http://www.alphacore.com/interconnect.html

Jim

That's a bit on the spendy side of things, isn't it? A 10m pair of their Tourmaline is just over $600! A bit over the top for an application that's not terribly critical. You could get the Belden or the Monster stuff I mention above for about $40 for the cable then add the connectors of your choice.

Carlman · « **Reply #9 on:** 17 Nov 2005, 03:02 pm »

Thanks for the suggestions... I was looking to spend less than $100, the cheaper the better since I'm spending more time on something I was hoping would be finished already. It's just outdoor speakers on my deck...

If I could find a wireless solution for under 200, I'd be really happy. One of the cool things about the digital wireless solution was that I could add multiple receivers around the house and have whole-house sound. Every room has a stereo with and auxilliary input. I don't understand why these are so impossible to find.

The market seems to be assuming I want control over everything from everwhere. I don't need a remote or to be able to change tunes from anywhere... That's all I can find. I like simple. Simple is good.

mgalusha · « **Reply #10 on:** 18 Nov 2005, 12:55 pm »

Why not put the amp next to the source and run 35ft. of speaker cable? No noise or ground loop problems and I'd bet the AudioSource amp would have zero problems with it. Only thing you might want to consider is using a fairly large gauge of wire to keep DCR low. Some of the 12GA stuff from Home Depot should work nicely for this.

Mike

ScottMayo · « **Reply #11 on:** 18 Nov 2005, 01:46 pm »

Sheesh, folks, he said "non critical" listening. Outdoors, no less.

Anything you use over a 35' foot run, including cheap radio shack zip cord, is going to adaquately get the signal from point A to point B. Yes, there might be some roll off or something, but if you're listening on outdoor speakers, you won't notice. On most outdoor speakers, the speakers themselves are already rolling off a lot more than that, and then there's outdoor ambient noise...

If you want to do it right, get some coax, or go to Blue Jeans Cable and have them make up just what you need. Or, yes, if the amp is separate from the speaker, keep the amp inside and run speaker cable out.

Alpha Goertz for outdoor listening, good mercy.

ctviggen · « **Reply #12 on:** 18 Nov 2005, 01:53 pm »

This is too expensive for you:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=182-714

But I'm thinking of doing this for my future outside speakers. I can run cat5 and then have IR control at the speakers. Pricier than what I'd like to do, too, though. Another option is just a nice speaker cable:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=100-656

which I can't decide whether this is easier to do, although it is cheaper. In my case, it's costing me days -- and I mean days -- of work to wire my house. If I could run cat5 and then run the other stuff some other time, that might be better.

Carlman · « **Reply #13 on:** 18 Nov 2005, 07:01 pm »

Oh yeah... long speaker cables... I didn't think of that but it doesn't really matter anyway... The amp is where it needs to be for easy access while entertaining.

For now I've bought a cheap transmitter by RCA that I'll see how she goes..

Thanks again,
Carl

andyr · « **Reply #14 on:** 21 Nov 2005, 02:17 am »

Quote from: Carlman

Oh yeah... long speaker cables... I didn't think of that but it doesn't really matter anyway... The amp is where it needs to be for easy access while entertaining.

For now I've bought a cheap transmitter by RCA that I'll see how she goes..

Thanks again,
Carl

Hi Carlman,

I run 35' ICs in my main (highly critical listening!

) system ... with no sonic degradation that I or several golden-eared mates can hear. They're DIY from Allen Wright's "Super Cable Cook Book" ... they're not very expensive but they do involve a lot of work. BTW, they're shielded ... if you thought you could get away with unshielded ICs then that would be a much easier job!

PM me if you want to learn more.

Regards,

Andy

jgubman · « **Reply #15 on:** 21 Nov 2005, 02:26 am »

I run 8 25' RCA Belden ICs made by Blue Jeans Cable from my pre/pro to my amp. Sounds fine.