# sub cable



## moreira85 (Jul 10, 2008)

My parents just remodeled their house. I told them to have a sub cable put in. It's cathedral ceilings and no access to the attic. They told the contractor to put in a speaker wire so now there's a spkr wire instead of a sub cable. Can I just get an rca connector and solder it to positive and negative to make it into a sub cable?


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

Sound quality-wise it is not ideal, but it would work. The main worry is picking up RF noise, since there is no shield, but as long as there is no hum or FM radio coming through the sub it will be fine. Unfortunately you won't know until you hook it up.

Another option is a passive sub and a sub amp with the main gear. This is how my sub is hooked up. Then it is just like driving a regular speaker and the output is higher voltage and much less susceptible to noise.\

Good luck.


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## SAC (Dec 3, 2009)

Is it possible to use the existing wire to 'pull' a sub cable?


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

You could try both your method and also what Anthony suggested. The worry i have with your idea (allthough a great one) is that the carpenter may have not drilled large enough holes for the RCA to fit through. At this point all you can do is try. Good luck and keep us posted.:T


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

Or pull the bare wire and terminate on site. Pulling blind like that is risky, though. You run the risk of losing both lines if you hit a snag. 

If you go that route, buy some of the pulling lubricant (sold at HD under the Ideal brand, there are others too) and don't skimp on the electrical tape to hold the two wires together. Overlap them by at least a foot and do a nice overlapping tape joint starting at the "lead" end and finishing at the tail. Be sure to wrap the tape such that it forms a nice point in front to guide the bundle through the openings. Lube the tape junction you just made and pull. 

the other gotcha to this approach is that they might have stapled the lines inside the wall. At which point using the existing line as a pull would be a non-option.

Finally, there's always behind the baseboards, but that requires a bit more work. If it comes to that, ask and I can give you more details.

Good luck.


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