The Monkey Posted December 21, 2008 Report Posted December 21, 2008 Now for the dumb questions. I've never built a speaker cable. I want to do something quick and easy to test my AE2 speakers to see if the stock cable is picking up RF. Can I just use two separate runs of Mogami, using all four conductors? I won't be terminating at this point, just twisting the strands. Is this basic premise correct? Quote
naamanf Posted December 21, 2008 Report Posted December 21, 2008 Are you talking about the speaker cable that goes from the right speaker to the left or the RCA cable that comes from the source? Quote
spritzer Posted December 21, 2008 Report Posted December 21, 2008 For a speaker cable you only need two wires to each but you can parallel connect conductors as you want. Just make sure you don't connect the wrong ones... Quote
The Monkey Posted December 21, 2008 Author Report Posted December 21, 2008 Are you talking about the speaker cable that goes from the right speaker to the left or the RCA cable that comes from the source? The speaker cable that goes from right to left. For a speaker cable you only need two wires to each but you can parallel connect conductors as you want. Just make sure you don't connect the wrong ones... Makes sense. Thanks. Quote
Augsburger Posted December 21, 2008 Report Posted December 21, 2008 doubl post, slow connection. Quote
Augsburger Posted December 21, 2008 Report Posted December 21, 2008 Just to make sure, connect the L red off the amp to the L red off the speaker post. L Black off the amp to the L black off the speaker post etc.... like Spritzer said. Quote
naamanf Posted December 21, 2008 Report Posted December 21, 2008 Does it seem to pick up the signal better/worse when you move the speakers cable around? What about the RCAs? I would think there is a better chance of the RCAs being the culprit but I could be wrong. Quote
n_maher Posted December 21, 2008 Report Posted December 21, 2008 Does it seem to pick up the signal better/worse when you move the speakers cable around? What about the RCAs? I would think there is a better chance of the RCAs being the culprit but I could be wrong. I'm with naaman on this one, especially since Vincent said that unshielded XLRs had been a problem in the past as well. Someone correct me if I'm wrong buy I think line level signals are much more prone to noise and that's why you hardly ever see shielded speaker cable. Vincent, if you need some shielded RCA's I've got a spare pair kicking around I could send your way. Quote
The Monkey Posted December 21, 2008 Author Report Posted December 21, 2008 I also thought it was the RCA's, but they are shielded and do not introduce interference in other setups in the same location. Further, the noise is still present even when I remove the RCAs from the equation (i.e., everything is plugged in EXCEPT for the RCAs). I suppose it could be the power cable or a ground loop, but wouldn't that be in both speakers? The noise does not seem to change when I move the speakers around, but I have not moved them into another room. Quote
The Monkey Posted December 22, 2008 Author Report Posted December 22, 2008 grrr... So I used some Mogami to make another cable. I took a single length of star quad, stripped each of the 4 conductors and twisted two for each channel. Same noise out of the right speaker. I guess the speakers have to go back, which is a pain in the balls. Is there anything else I should try? Quote
n_maher Posted December 22, 2008 Report Posted December 22, 2008 I'd at least try a different location first to rule out local interference. Quote
The Monkey Posted December 22, 2008 Author Report Posted December 22, 2008 Nate, I'll do that. In terms of shielding, would the mogami star quad with the copper sheath be shielded? Or is there a different way of shielding speaker cables? Quote
grawk Posted December 22, 2008 Report Posted December 22, 2008 if you use star quad for 1 channel, and ground the shield at 1 end, it should be shielded Quote
The Monkey Posted December 22, 2008 Author Report Posted December 22, 2008 Thanks Dan, I think I get it now. I did not ground the shield at one end. One problem is where would I ground it if I'm not using terminations, just bare wire? Quote
The Monkey Posted December 22, 2008 Author Report Posted December 22, 2008 Ground it to ground. Thanks. The problem is I don't know where that should be. Do I tie the shield to one of the - binding posts? There is really nothing else to tie it to. Should it be tied to the chassis of the speaker containing the amp? Quote
n_maher Posted December 22, 2008 Report Posted December 22, 2008 Thanks. The problem is I don't know where that should be. Do I tie the shield to one of the - binding posts? There is really nothing else to tie it to. Should it be tied to the chassis of the speaker containing the amp? Yes, you can just tie the shield to one of the '-' binding posts at the speaker with the amp in it. Quote
grawk Posted December 22, 2008 Report Posted December 22, 2008 Or you can do a nate special, and use aligator clips and a jumper wire to connect it to bare metal on the chassis. Quote
n_maher Posted December 22, 2008 Report Posted December 22, 2008 Or you can do a nate special, and use aligator clips and a jumper wire to connect it to bare metal on the chassis. That setup is commonly referred to as "meet conditions" grounding. Quote
The Monkey Posted December 22, 2008 Author Report Posted December 22, 2008 Awesome. Thanks for the help, guys, I'll try it tonight. If it doesn't work, I'll just smash the speakers into little bits. Quote
grawk Posted December 22, 2008 Report Posted December 22, 2008 Nice Vincent. Pick up one of those flip video cams, and put it on youtube when you do it. Quote
Dusty Chalk Posted December 22, 2008 Report Posted December 22, 2008 Or you can do a nate special, and use aligator clips and a jumper wire to connect it to bare metal on the chassis.That's what I was thinking (without knowing it had a name, or a preferred implementer). Quote
The Monkey Posted December 25, 2008 Author Report Posted December 25, 2008 I haven't had a chance to make the shielded cable yet, but I just noticed that the power supply is making a buzzing sound. That can't be good, right? Bad power supply? Quote
The Monkey Posted December 25, 2008 Author Report Posted December 25, 2008 almost like a ticking... Quote
naamanf Posted December 25, 2008 Report Posted December 25, 2008 almost like a ticking... I am going to step out on a limb and say that is a bad thing. Can you return it for a new one? Quote
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