| Author |
Message |
phelper
Guest
|
 Posted:
Sat Apr 16, 2005 5:57 pm Post subject:
how to build RCA jacks... |
|
|
I've run some speaker wire thru the walls into the attic and into
another room.
I wanted to hook up speakers in one room up to the stereo in the
other. I understand speaker wire has 2 conductors, a positive and a
negative. So I think the same about RCA cables, but I think I might
be mistaken. I bought some rca jacks at radio shack, the kind you
solder the wire to.
Anyway, I hooked up the positive wire to the center of the rca jack,
and the negative to the center of the other jack (2 jacks, one to
connect to the red of the stereo, the other to connect to the white on
the stereo).
Sound is not right...
So I ran a second set of speaker wire thru the attic.
So long story short.... It took 4 conductors to make this work. I
needed a positive and a negative on each jack.
Is this right? My ears tell me this is right...
Can they share the negative (so I can use three wires)?
Ie, positves stay separate, but the negatives of the jacks combine
into one wire.
Thanks.
PS... I use a store bought adapter to conver the RCA jacks into a
phono jack in the other room. The phono jack plugs into the speakers.
Anyway, why is it that the speakers sound better when I don't plug the
phono jack in all the way?
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Steve Urbach
Guest
|
| Posted:
Sat Apr 16, 2005 5:57 pm Post subject:
Re: how to build RCA jacks... |
|
|
On Sat, 16 Apr 2005 10:57:14 -0700, phelper <phelper@airmail.net>
wrote:
| Quote: | I've run some speaker wire thru the walls into the attic and into
another room.
Is this right? My ears tell me this is right...
Can they share the negative (so I can use three wires)?
Ie, positves stay separate, but the negatives of the jacks combine
into one wire.
It all depends on your Amp if this is a no-no.The return may be briged |
or part of a feedback circuit.
Bannana type and (red+black) spring clips are the common speaker
connections and they tend to be independent connections.
| Quote: | Thanks.
PS... I use a store bought adapter to conver the RCA jacks into a
phono jack in the other room. The phono jack plugs into the speakers.
|
They are the same thing.
RCA invented the phono plug, Thats why the call em RCA Jacks/Plugs
| Quote: | Anyway, why is it that the speakers sound better when I don't plug the
phono jack in all the way?
Ah! I will assume that: 1) all the way means the shell does not touch. |
2) You are talking about 'into the amplifier'
If this is true, you violated the above 'depends'. the 'negative'
(shell) connectons can NOT be interconnected .
The other posibility is a pair reversal, causing sperakers to be out
of phase. By convention, the rib or (silver) colored conductor is
Black/negative/return.
, _
, | \ MKA: Steve Urbach
, | )erek No JUNK in my email please
, ____|_/ragonsclaw dragonsclawJUNK@JUNKmindspring.com
, / / / Running United Devices "Cure For Cancer" Project 24/7 Have you helped? http://www.grid.org |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
T
Guest
|
| Posted:
Sun Apr 17, 2005 10:14 am Post subject:
Using 'Cable' cable for long runs of speaker wirewas: how to |
|
|
Newsgroup- I was wondering if the O.P. might want to string coax, the
same stuff folk use for television cable, to do these longish runs for
the remote speakers.
TBerk |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Todd H.
Guest
|
| Posted:
Sun Apr 17, 2005 12:52 pm Post subject:
Re: how to build RCA jacks... |
|
|
phelper <phelper@airmail.net> writes:
| Quote: | I've run some speaker wire thru the walls into the attic and into
another room.
I wanted to hook up speakers in one room up to the stereo in the
other. I understand speaker wire has 2 conductors, a positive and a
negative. So I think the same about RCA cables, but I think I might
be mistaken. I bought some rca jacks at radio shack, the kind you
solder the wire to.
|
A very very old stero I had used RCA jacks for the speakers. In
general though, it's not a great idea if the speakers will be
handlinga lot of current. RCA jacks just don't lend themselves well
to soldering 14 or 12 ga cable to em.
| Quote: | Anyway, I hooked up the positive wire to the center of the rca jack,
and the negative to the center of the other jack (2 jacks, one to
connect to the red of the stereo, the other to connect to the white on
the stereo).
|
I'm very confused. Are you running speaker level signals over this
cable, or line level signals? To wit, what specifically are you
hooking to each end of this run of speaker cable?
What you're doing sounds extremely very non-standard.
Best Regards,
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | Todd H
\ / | http://www.toddh.net/
X Promoting good netiquette | http://triplethreatband.com/
/ \ http://www.toddh.net/netiquette/ | "4 lines suffice." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
phelper
Guest
|
| Posted:
Sun Apr 17, 2005 7:02 pm Post subject:
Re: how to build RCA jacks... |
|
|
Hello,
I'm running line level signals thru the wire.
The stereo receiver (actually an a/v receiver) is in the living room,
and it has a plethora of rca in/out jacks on the back (in addition to
speaker lever outputs which I'm not using).
So there are 2 rca jacks I'm using for this application, they are line
level outs, one is red, one is white. The goal is to take the speaker
wire I ran thru the walls into the bedroom, put jacks on either end,
and plug the line level signal into some self-amplified speakers(just
computer speakers) in the other room.
Thanks for the help. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
T
Guest
|
| Posted:
Sun Apr 17, 2005 8:55 pm Post subject:
Re: how to build RCA jacks... |
|
|
phelper wrote:
| Quote: | Hello,
I'm running line level signals thru the wire.
The stereo receiver (actually an a/v receiver) is in the living room,
and it has a plethora of rca in/out jacks on the back (in addition to
speaker lever outputs which I'm not using).
So there are 2 rca jacks I'm using for this application, they are line
level outs, one is red, one is white. The goal is to take the speaker
wire I ran thru the walls into the bedroom, put jacks on either end,
and plug the line level signal into some self-amplified speakers(just
computer speakers) in the other room.
Thanks for the help.
|
Let me ask two questions:
- How many Watts does the 'radio' put out &
- How far away will the speakers be?
TBerk |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Kendall
Guest
|
| Posted:
Sun Apr 17, 2005 10:53 pm Post subject:
Re: how to build RCA jacks... |
|
|
"phelper" <phelper@airmail.net> wrote in message
news:srh26190qk3usa152eckiqq6734ghtp4m4@4ax.com...
| Quote: | I've run some speaker wire thru the walls into the attic and into
another room.
I wanted to hook up speakers in one room up to the stereo in the
other. I understand speaker wire has 2 conductors, a positive and a
negative. So I think the same about RCA cables, but I think I might
be mistaken. I bought some rca jacks at radio shack, the kind you
solder the wire to.
Anyway, I hooked up the positive wire to the center of the rca jack,
and the negative to the center of the other jack (2 jacks, one to
connect to the red of the stereo, the other to connect to the white on
the stereo).
Sound is not right...
So I ran a second set of speaker wire thru the attic.
So long story short.... It took 4 conductors to make this work. I
needed a positive and a negative on each jack.
Is this right? My ears tell me this is right...
Can they share the negative (so I can use three wires)?
Ie, positves stay separate, but the negatives of the jacks combine
into one wire.
Thanks.
PS... I use a store bought adapter to conver the RCA jacks into a
phono jack in the other room. The phono jack plugs into the speakers.
Anyway, why is it that the speakers sound better when I don't plug the
phono jack in all the way?
|
Sounds like you are doing things wrong. What you need to understand is that
each RCA jack needs 2 connections. When you look at the jacks on the back
of your AV receiver, realise that each jack has provisions for 2
connections, the center of the jack (or "tip") and the outer rounded part,
where the rectangle portions of the RCA grip the jack. Typically, when you
solder together an RCA connector, you wire the "shield" portion of the wire
to the outside part of the RCA, which connects to those rectangle pieces,
and then wire the inner conductor to the tip. This allows the signal to get
to the other end on the tip, and have a return path to ground through the
shield.
You, however, are not using coaxial cable, with an inner conductor and a
shield, you are using speaker wire for the 2 conductors. So, wire the
"plus" wire to the tip, and the "minus" wire to the outer part, and you will
have your 2 conductors. Then do the same for the other speaker wire. Plug
one into the red jack on the AV unit, and one into the white jack. On the
other end, plug the one that goes to the red jack to the right speaker, and
the one that goes to the left jack to the left speaker. Then test to see if
you are getting any additional noise through the speakers from not using
shielded cable. If you are, you'll have to replace the speaker wire with
the correct type, or go with a wireless solution. If you aren't getting
additional noise, consider yourself lucky, and enjoy.
Kendall |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
phelper
Guest
|
| Posted:
Sun Apr 17, 2005 11:59 pm Post subject:
Re: how to build RCA jacks... |
|
|
Wow, I'm at a total loss... I just don't get it.
I rewired....Bought new jacks. 2 wires per jack, a positive and
negative on each. Careful that the wire that's the pole on one is
also he pole on the other end. Same with grounds. Did this on both.
Sound comes out ok in the other room, but when I plug in the negative
rca jack into the receiver, the sound coming out of the receiver goes
to poop.
I tested with some monster cable, everything is great. Sound in both
rooms is fine. But when I use the wire that goes into the attic, look
out. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
phelper
Guest
|
| Posted:
Mon Apr 18, 2005 12:18 am Post subject:
Re: how to build RCA jacks... |
|
|
On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 13:59:06 -0500, phelper <phelper@airmail.net>
wrote:
| Quote: | Wow, I'm at a total loss... I just don't get it.
I rewired....Bought new jacks. 2 wires per jack, a positive and
negative on each. Careful that the wire that's the pole on one is
also he pole on the other end. Same with grounds. Did this on both.
Sound comes out ok in the other room, but when I plug in the negative
rca jack into the receiver, the sound coming out of the receiver goes
to poop.
I tested with some monster cable, everything is great. Sound in both
rooms is fine. But when I use the wire that goes into the attic, look
out.
|
Well, just to "prove" I'm doing the wiring right, I created a cable
myself out of some 18gague speaker wire... put rca plugs on each end,
and ran it thru the hallway... worked like a charm...
Again, it's a line level signal... Could there be some interference
coming thru the wire in the attic? Or bad wire that I ran in the
attic?
Thanks again for the help. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
phelper
Guest
|
| Posted:
Mon Apr 18, 2005 1:35 am Post subject:
Re: how to build RCA jacks... |
|
|
Hi Guys... please disregard my posts.
I did learn from y'all the proper way to wire with two conductors per
jack.
But that lesson was no match for my own stupidity. I've rechecked my
work, and found my mistake. Thanks for your time. Boy am I feeling
dumb right now... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
phelper
Guest
|
| Posted:
Mon Apr 18, 2005 2:08 am Post subject:
Re: Using 'Cable' cable for long runs of speaker wirewas: ho |
|
|
That's an interesting thought... However, I did manage to figure out
that the error in my wiring was with me, not any of my components..
#1 I wired wrong, #2 make sure that the 2 ends of the cord you wired
are the same cord. Wow. :)
On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 05:14:01 GMT, T <tberk@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
| Quote: |
Newsgroup- I was wondering if the O.P. might want to string coax, the
same stuff folk use for television cable, to do these longish runs for
the remote speakers.
TBerk |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Todd H.
Guest
|
| Posted:
Mon Apr 18, 2005 8:56 am Post subject:
Re: how to build RCA jacks... |
|
|
phelper <phelper@airmail.net> writes:
| Quote: | Hello,
I'm running line level signals thru the wire.
|
If you run line level signals through speaker wire you may find
yourself with a world of ambient 60Hz hum. THe longer the run the
worse the hum.
Line level signals should be carried on shielded cable. Shielded
cable uses a multistrand inner core wire for the signal (tip of the
RCA connector), and abraided exterior shield. The shield acts to
eliminate EMI and RFI incident on the cable.
For runs over... oh, let's say 50 feet, even regular 2-conductor
shielded cable isn't enough. You should instead consider a balanced
signal. But that's a topic for another time.
| Quote: | So there are 2 rca jacks I'm using for this application, they are
line level outs, one is red, one is white. The goal is to take the
speaker wire I ran thru the walls into the bedroom, put jacks on
either end, and plug the line level signal into some self-amplified
speakers(just computer speakers) in the other room.
|
I'm afraid to break the news to ya, but you really don't have a clue
what you're doing.
But that's okay! Folks here are trying to help ya get beyond that and
I'm one of em. As you've learned, each RCA connection is a 2 wire
thingee. So you have to have 2 wires per rca plug. One for "signal"
and one for "ground." Yeah, you might be able to get away with a
common ground arrangement on these two signals and get away with only
using 3 conductors to send this 2-channel signal (that's what the
tip-ring-sleeve connector your headphones have does after all) but
doing that on a stereo line level run with RCA jacks is rather
unnecessary when you have a total of 4 conductors going over there
anyway.
However, I suspect that you'll never be happy with this run of
unbalanced line level signal (how long is it anyway), perhaps even if
you were using the right cable to start with. If the noise injection
doesn't get ya, the signal degradation over that distance with an
unbalanced signal will get ya. If your run is 50 feet or more, you
may discover why low impedance balanced circuits were invented.
Best Regards,
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | Todd H
\ / | http://www.toddh.net/
X Promoting good netiquette | http://triplethreatband.com/
/ \ http://www.toddh.net/netiquette/ | "4 lines suffice." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Todd H.
Guest
|
| Posted:
Mon Apr 18, 2005 8:57 am Post subject:
Re: Using 'Cable' cable for long runs of speaker wirewas: ho |
|
|
T <tberk@sbcglobal.net> writes:
| Quote: | Newsgroup- I was wondering if the O.P. might want to string coax, the
same stuff folk use for television cable, to do these longish runs for
the remote speakers.
|
Turns out he was running line level signals, however, co-ax would be a
very bad idea for speaker level signals. The solid centercore could
_maybe_ handle the current, but the braided shield no way. And the
imbalance in resistance of the solid centercore and the braided shield
would likely do some very strange things at the high current levels
that get sent through speaker wire.
Best Regarrds,
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | Todd H
\ / | http://www.toddh.net/
X Promoting good netiquette | http://triplethreatband.com/
/ \ http://www.toddh.net/netiquette/ | "4 lines suffice." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
T
Guest
|
| Posted:
Mon Apr 18, 2005 3:49 pm Post subject:
Re: Using 'Cable' cable for long runs of speaker wirewas: ho |
|
|
Todd H. wrote:
| Quote: | T <tberk@sbcglobal.net> writes:
Newsgroup- I was wondering if the O.P. might want to string coax, the
same stuff folk use for television cable, to do these longish runs for
the remote speakers.
Turns out he was running line level signals, however, co-ax would be a
very bad idea for speaker level signals. The solid centercore could
_maybe_ handle the current, but the braided shield no way. And the
imbalance in resistance of the solid centercore and the braided shield
would likely do some very strange things at the high current levels
that get sent through speaker wire.
Best Regarrds,
|
Well, that's why I asked.
TBerk |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
T
Guest
|
| Posted:
Mon Apr 18, 2005 3:51 pm Post subject:
Re: how to build RCA jacks... |
|
|
phelper wrote:
| Quote: | Hi Guys... please disregard my posts.
I did learn from y'all the proper way to wire with two conductors per
jack.
But that lesson was no match for my own stupidity. I've rechecked my
work, and found my mistake. Thanks for your time. Boy am I feeling
dumb right now...
|
Na, you were being brave.
TBerk |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in