Yet another audio idiot question

Originally posted by cthomp21:

Originally posted by path914:
Wouldn't this work? Seems like a cleaner way than having a couple of y-splits.

If you could hear a difference, then you should be signing up for RC's $10,000 amp challenge and prepare to collect.

It would be a little more asthetically pleasing, tho.

I only meant looks and installation-wise, I doubt I could tell the difference between any of the different cables

Quote:

I only meant looks and installation-wise, I doubt I could tell the difference between any of the different cables

Yeah, I figured. I was just thinking of ways to get 10 grand....

Are those even shielded?

If not, one could make their own with Cat5 patch cable...and the twists on Cat5 are a lot tighter than what that picture shows.

those r knukonceptz rcas and i'm pretty sure they r shielded.

They don't look shielded, with the blue and silver wires twisted around each other like that....

now u got me double thinking

Umm... you won't really have to worry too much about shielding and whatnot. To be honest, you won't be able to tell the difference in sound with Radio Shack RCA's and expensive super twisted, silver lined, gold plated, ultra-mega-alpha-beta-gamma wave resistant RCA's. Just go with what you want to spend, and if you want it to look Golden.. or plain.

Ren

I still want to know how Cat5 cable sounds

It sounds like all other copper.

Seriously, you can make some nice cheap patch cable with cat5.

Originally posted by dbzjr:
Umm... you won't really have to worry too much about shielding and whatnot. To be honest, you won't be able to tell the difference in sound with Radio Shack RCA's and expensive super twisted, silver lined, gold plated, ultra-mega-alpha-beta-gamma wave resistant RCA's. Just go with what you want to spend, and if you want it to look Golden.. or plain.

Ren

You can definitely tell the difference between cheap RCAs and the more expensive ones. I've tested it myself. One time I compared some RCA brand RCAs that I got at wal-mart to some RF white wolf RCAs on my house sub. The difference was incredible. It felt like the sub put out like 50% more power. I've also done some other similar comparisons before and I can always tell the difference between the cheap ones and the expensive ones.

Originally posted by nando1856:

Originally posted by dbzjr:
Umm... you won't really have to worry too much about shielding and whatnot. To be honest, you won't be able to tell the difference in sound with Radio Shack RCA's and expensive super twisted, silver lined, gold plated, ultra-mega-alpha-beta-gamma wave resistant RCA's. Just go with what you want to spend, and if you want it to look Golden.. or plain.

Ren

You can definitely tell the difference between cheap RCAs and the more expensive ones. I've tested it myself. One time I compared some RCA brand RCAs that I got at wal-mart to some RF white wolf RCAs on my house sub. The difference was incredible. It felt like the sub put out like 50% more power. I've also done some other similar comparisons before and I can always tell the difference between the cheap ones and the expensive ones.

You should give Richard Clark a call and set up an appointment to win $10,000.

Originally posted by nando1856:

Originally posted by dbzjr:
Umm... you won't really have to worry too much about shielding and whatnot. To be honest, you won't be able to tell the difference in sound with Radio Shack RCA's and expensive super twisted, silver lined, gold plated, ultra-mega-alpha-beta-gamma wave resistant RCA's. Just go with what you want to spend, and if you want it to look Golden.. or plain.

Ren

You can definitely tell the difference between cheap RCAs and the more expensive ones. I've tested it myself. One time I compared some RCA brand RCAs that I got at wal-mart to some RF white wolf RCAs on my house sub. The difference was incredible. It felt like the sub put out like 50% more power. I've also done some other similar comparisons before and I can always tell the difference between the cheap ones and the expensive ones.

As long as you think you can hear a difference, more power to you. Spend all the extra money you want. I will take inexpensive wire and have equal sound.

I'm all for cheap Radio Shack wire. I can't afford drivers that would make a difference apparent. Maybe if I had 10,000 dollars for a custom setup...

Originally posted by devonb_37:
I'm all for cheap Radio Shack wire. I can't afford drivers that would make a difference apparent. Maybe if I had 10,000 dollars for a custom setup...

You would still be wasting your time. I'm all for getting some good quality wires ( www.Knukonceptz.com ) but I see no reason to pay any kind of premium for sound. Pay a premium for pretty interconnects or better quality terminations, but keep in mind that the sound will be the same.

Originally posted by nando1856:

You can definitely tell the difference between cheap RCAs and the more expensive ones. I've tested it myself. One time I compared some RCA brand RCAs that I got at wal-mart to some RF white wolf RCAs on my house sub. The difference was incredible. It felt like the sub put out like 50% more power. I've also done some other similar comparisons before and I can always tell the difference between the cheap ones and the expensive ones.

50% more power...

Originally posted by nando1856:

You can definitely tell the difference between cheap RCAs and the more expensive ones. I've tested it myself. One time I compared some RCA brand RCAs that I got at wal-mart to some RF white wolf RCAs on my house sub. The difference was incredible. It felt like the sub put out like 50% more power. I've also done some other similar comparisons before and I can always tell the difference between the cheap ones and the expensive ones.

The sub put out 50% more power...

LOL you iz the authority on audio shizzle

Originally posted by Honkeytonk Monkey:

Originally posted by nando1856:

You can definitely tell the difference between cheap RCAs and the more expensive ones. I've tested it myself. One time I compared some RCA brand RCAs that I got at wal-mart to some RF white wolf RCAs on my house sub. The difference was incredible. It felt like the sub put out like 50% more power. I've also done some other similar comparisons before and I can always tell the difference between the cheap ones and the expensive ones.

The sub put out 50% more power... LOL you iz the authority on audio shizzle

What? I thought the sub powered the amp, which in turned created outstanding highs and mids through the HU. That's how it works isn't it guys...Guys?...Isn't it?

Let's just say that the ears are playing tricks on those who can tell the difference

difference in sound???? i highly doubt it. better cables may be more durable or be prettier or whatever. hell i doubt it but, maybe have a slightly cleaner signal, but i dont think it would be audible. but 50% more power????????????? i mean .... that's it???? man you gotta get better cables. ever since i picked up the knu konceptz, my pyramid amp actually really does put out 10,000,000,000,000 watts. see the rca's are the secret to car audio. it dont matter if your whole setup consists of pyramid and pyle, and it dont matter if everything was installed completely wrong, cus when you get good rca's everything sounds better. man now my roadgear subs hit harder than a 13w7. i also hit a 168 in lastyears dB drag. so don't delay get some new rca's today

this thread is called yet another audio idiot question, but it wasn't. it was actually a good question that deserved a good answer. but what it should be called is another good audio question with an another audio idiot answer. 50% more power???? i don't see how this could be true, maybe if your old cables were duds,like they were not making a tight connection and it was getting like half the signal or something, but i still cant see it making that big of a difference.and if this was the case that dosent mean every cheap set of cables is bad, you just got a faulty set

Originally posted by path914:
All right, my understanding is that I need a 4 channel RCA from the hu to the amp, then a single speaker wire set to each crossover, then two speaker wire sets from each crossover to the tweet and driver. Sound about right?

Sorry to interrupt all the wonderful RCA talk

, but can anyone give me a simple answer to my previous question. Thanks

Maybe the sub used a DVC and only one was being used. Although, that would be 100% more power.

Originally posted by path914:
Sorry to interrupt all the wonderful RCA talk , but can anyone give me a simple answer to my previous question. Thanks

OK. So you want to power front speakers with a bridged 4 channel amp, and power the rear speakers with the HU, right? No sub- yet.

The only reason you would want to use 2 pairs of RCA plugs instead of 2 Y adapters would be to retain the fader control on the HU, which would be pointless in this situation. IIRC a 4 channel amp is 1+2 and 3+4, so run a single pair of RCAs to the amp, use 1 Y on the right and connect to 1+2, use the other Y on the left and connect to 3+4.

However, if you decide to add a sub later and use 1+2 for L/R front speakers(not bridged) and 3+4 bridged for sub, I would add another pair of RCAs because your HU probably has a dedicated sub out. So, I guess to save time and money(if you plan to add a sub), you could run the 4 channel RCA wires you mentioned earlier in the thread from the front and rear outputs on the HU and connect both rights to 1+2 and lefts to 3+4. Does that help?

Originally posted by path914:
All right, my understanding is that I need a 4 channel RCA from the hu to the amp, then a single speaker wire set to each crossover, then two speaker wire sets from each crossover to the tweet and driver. Sound about right?

Right you are, but some crossovers allow each speaker to be amplified separately. Good luck!

Originally posted by 2G Sport:
OK. So you want to power front speakers with a bridged 4 channel amp, and power the rear speakers with the HU, right? No sub- yet.

Yup, front drivers and tweeters off the amp and rear speakers off the HU

However, if you decide to add a sub later and use 1+2 for L/R front speakers(not bridged) and 3+4 bridged for sub, I would add another pair of RCAs because your HU probably has a dedicated sub out. So, I guess to save time and money(if you plan to add a sub), you could run the 4 channel RCA wires you mentioned earlier in the thread from the front and rear outputs on the HU and connect both rights to 1+2 and lefts to 3+4. Does that help?

I have no intention of getting a sub later, so that really isn't an issue. However, my HU does have a dedicated sub out, so if I changed my mind later, I would use that to connect to a seperate sub amp not affecting my other connections in any way.

Right you are, but some crossovers allow each speaker to be amplified separately. Good luck!

This wouldn't apply if I am bridging the amp so that one channel is going to each set of speakers, right?

Thanks for the informative response

No, it wouldn't apply in your situation. Good luck. I bet you'll be wanting a small sub soon to compliment your components.

You never know

. I'm not really into the ground-shaking bass type of music, but then again six months ago I thought that replacing the door speakers and HU would be plenty, so...

Originally posted by contouranado:

this thread is called yet another audio idiot question, but it wasn't. it was actually a good question that deserved a good answer. but what it should be called is another good audio question with an another audio idiot answer. 50% more power???? i don't see how this could be true, maybe if your old cables were duds,like they were not making a tight connection and it was getting like half the signal or something, but i still cant see it making that big of a difference.and if this was the case that dosent mean every cheap set of cables is bad, you just got a faulty set

I don't think you have the slightest clue of how the relation of increase in power to increase audible perception work to call this an idiot answer. If I was to increase the power of a 100w amp to 150w (50% increase) this would translate to a volume 1.75 decibels higher. This is an increase that is almost inaudible to the human ear. Your speaker will sound slightly louder and better. IT WILL NOT SOUND 50% LOUDER. This is what I meant by a 50% more power. If I would have said the sub was 50% louder which is what it seems like you though 50% more power means, this would require a lot more than a 50% increase in power.

Originally posted by nando1856:

Originally posted by contouranado:

this thread is called yet another audio idiot question, but it wasn't. it was actually a good question that deserved a good answer. but what it should be called is another good audio question with an another audio idiot answer. 50% more power???? i don't see how this could be true, maybe if your old cables were duds,like they were not making a tight connection and it was getting like half the signal or something, but i still cant see it making that big of a difference.and if this was the case that dosent mean every cheap set of cables is bad, you just got a faulty set

I don't think you have the slightest clue of how the relation of increase in power to increase audible perception work to call this an idiot answer. If I was to increase the power of a 100w amp to 150w (50% increase) this would translate to a volume 1.75 decibels higher. This is an increase that is almost inaudible to the human ear. Your speaker will sound slightly louder and better. IT WILL NOT SOUND 50% LOUDER. This is what I meant by a 50% more power. If I would have said the sub was 50% louder which is what it seems like you though 50% more power means, this would require a lot more than a 50% increase in power.

Your post made it sound like wiring allowed you to extract more power out of your sub's amplifier. This is what humors people. Quality wires are nice to have to resist corroding and look nice, but the sonic benefits of a 2000.00 set of patch cables compared to a 15.00 set from Knukonceptz would be nil.

I will say this for the sake of all members. Get quality wires (quality, no expensive) that have nice terminations for longevity and to save equipment problems. I have seen cheap RCAs tear up the corresponding female plug on many electronics. Do NOT EVER spend anything more on wires because they will NOT change the sound. Especially speaker wires. Buy the proper guage and stop there.

could you hear the difference between 100-150 watts? maybe/maybe not. but what about 300-450 watts(also 50%)?perhaps. i'm not going to argue that. but your statement was much much more incorrect. you said that different rca's made the sub "feel like it put out 50% more power."
now this is just my opinion but i think that the difference between 300 and 450 watts is much more audible than a different set of wires that do nothing but carry signal to an amp. oh and by the way an amplifier "puts out power" not a subwoofer.