Audio sockets/wiring yet again

[Dave Liquorice]

sound..

range,

A step up from the "bell wire" normally supplied and probably OK for most domestic 5.1 setups with tiddly speakers.

A proper system using full range and full power speakers for the LCRLrRr needs something a bit more substantial. In a fair bit of fiddling about in the past the *one* thing that made a real audible improvement in the system I had was changing the speaker cables from

76 stand to 1024 strand 2.5 mm^2. Really improved the LF, due to better electrical damping of the speakers with the lower impedance connection.

[David]

Any recommendations as to a supplier of speaker cable?

For some reason the Labgear brand immediately makes me think "over priced".

The cable I need is for the rear speakers but they are fairly meaty. Mission 77DS.

I will re-use the front speaker cables as they are very meaty. The previous rear speaker cables were close to bell wire.

Cheers

Dave R

[David]

How about looks to be as good a spec and £33.00 (+VAT) per 100M instead of £55.29 per 100M.

Comes in at £44.59 including VAT and delivery.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Those are phono sockets in an XLR frame. Phonos are designed for line level - not speaker - connections. Phono leads use very thin cable which isn't what's needed for relatively high current speaker circuits

[meow2222]

Yes, but work fine with speakers.

Indeed, hopefully no-one is fool enough to use those.

NT

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'll take your word for it. But sticking up out of the floor? Doubt they'd stand being whacked with the Hoover.

Can't see any reason to use a connector not designed for the job when there is a big variety of ones which are.

[meow2222]

why wold you install connectors sticking up? Its not that hard to install something flush.

What its designed for isn't relevant, what its able to do is. Lots of connectors were never designed for all sorts of tasks they proved good at.

NT

[Bill Wright]

A while back we stayed at a country pub and got chatting to the landlord, who was new. (In fact we knew him from his previous pub.) One problem he'd found was that the sound from the (domestic) 'music centre' was very quiet in the back room compared to in the lounge, where the music centre was. I was pissed enough to volunteer, so the next day I found that the left speaker for the back room was wired in parallel at the music centre with the left speaker for the lounge, and ditto for the right. The cables to the lounge were about 3m long and were the ones supplied with the music centre I guess, and were something like 0.5mm csa twin. The cables to the back room were 15m overall at least. The first 3m was the same stuff as for the lounge, but the rest was a series of 2m very thin phono cables with male and female ends.

Bill

[meow2222]

I guess he knew no better. I remeber when I was younger sitting in a pub at a table with bell wire draped from light fitting to wherever, with a completely uninsulated chocblock halfway along where people would brush it once pissed.

NT

[Michael Chare]

Ebay is another source

[Dave Plowman (News)]

And even more are used for tasks they ain't suitable for.

I've seen lots and lots of connectors used for speakers. But never phonos. That should tell you something.

[Adam Aglionby]

were Speakons not suggested before and/or possibility of using floor pockets , any socket is going to have a plug sticking out of it, good luck with getting twin 2.5mm stranded into a phono plug....

[meow2222]

Use metal plugs, drill out the entry hole

NT

[Dave Liquorice]

Meh, the cheap computer flat panel NXT speakers I have here connect to their amp box with phonos. But if the amp has more than a couple of watts output I'd be very surprised.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'd ask again - what's the point? No matter what posh plugs you use you're still into a connector which is mechanically very weak. And the bigger the plug - needed for large speaker cables - the more prone it will be to damage with any sideways force. And anything mounted on a floor is far more likely to get thumped than a connector on the back of an amp - which is what phonos are designed for.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Ah. Suppose they're no worse than those silly little jacks others use. ;-)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Are the speakers so far from walls to make skirting board connectors impossible?

Trouble with anything in the floor is making good if you decide to move - or move things around later.

[meow2222]

Yes, just saying he can if he wants to

NT

[spuorgelgoog]

I've got phono speaker sockets on a small Realistic (tandy) amplifier from the 1980s

Owain

[tony sayer]

In article , [e-mail] scribeth thus

Well ones that pull sod all current etc;!...