Newsgroups: rec.audio.tech Subject: Re: Adding RCA connectors to speaker cables: can it be done? References: <[email protected]> [email protected] (Charlie) writes: > Can I take speaker cables and put RCA-type male connectors at the end > of it? If so, will the signal degrade over a 20 feet cable? > > What I need to do is run a cable over an 18 feet distance to connect > the RCA Audio out jack from a VCR into the RCA Audio-in jack of a PC > sound card. I do not recommend you to use speaker cables for this application. If you do so, yout will definately get the audio going through to the amplifier. The cable itself does not change the signal much, but there is one very big problem: noise pickup. Those speaker cables provide absolutely no shielding against interference from external noise sources. This means that the wires will pick up noise from nearby mains wires, radio transmitters nearby, other devices in the home etc... Usually a lot of noise. On speaker application this picked up noise is not usually of any problem, because the picked noise is not enough to make out any audible noise from the speakers. But this same amount of noise is considerable amout of noise in much weaker line level signals. So using speaker wire to carry line signals (like you aim to do) is juts like asking for noise problems. For line level signals shielded aidio cable is the right cable type to use. By this I mean the cable types as used in normal RCA cables, microphone cables ad such are suitable. Buyt this kind of cable and you will get good results. > I have not been able to locate a vendor that carries a cable like > this. Long RCA cables are available from various sources ready made. If you want to build the cable yourself, use shielded audio cable (sometimes called diode cable) or microphone cable for the wiring. > I think what I need is to buy speaker cables that look like these: > > http://www.radioshack.com/images/ProductCatalog/ProductImage/278/t278-1106.jpg > > And put RCA Jacks on the ends that look like these: > > http://www.radioshack.com/images/ProductCatalog/ProductImage/42/42-2478.jpg > > thanks. -- Tomi Engdahl (http://www.iki.fi/then/) Take a look at my electronics web links and documents at http://www.epanorama.net/
