# Speaker/Subwoofer Wiring Question



## jorgevazquez87 (Dec 29, 2013)

Hello everyone, 

I bought 50 ft of speaker/Subwoofer cable. 50 ft is more than enough to wire the whole space were the Speakers and Receiver will be located. 

Is there any specific method to cut the cables to distribute to the different speakers/Subwoofer into the receiver? This is my first time doing this project


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## AppleLink (Apr 17, 2014)

If you are running a 5.1 setup you will need to run wire from every speaker to the receiver.
You may also want to run an RCA cable to the subwoofer location as well from the receiver for LFE input.


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

1) What kind of speaker/subwoofer wire did you buy?
2) What kind of equipment are you hooking up?
30 What kind of connectors are you thinking about? Or are plannig to use bare wire?


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## jorgevazquez87 (Dec 29, 2013)

I have the following equipment:

- Polk Audio RM6750
- Onkyo TX NR525
- Coboc SPW-2C14-50-CL 50ft 14AWG 2-Conductor Oxygen-Free Copper OFC Speaker Wire Cable,Clear

That's it. 

Thank you.


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

Nothing complicated/unusual to do. Just cut you speaker wire to length, remove a small enough amount of the insulation to allow the wire to get into the speaker clips & you are done.


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## 86eldel68-deactivated (Nov 30, 2010)

jorgevazquez87 said:


> I have the following equipment:
> 
> - Polk Audio RM6750
> - Onkyo TX NR525
> - Coboc SPW-2C14-50-CL 50ft 14AWG 2-Conductor Oxygen-Free Copper OFC Speaker Wire Cable,Clear


To connect your sub to your receiver, don't use speaker wire - use a subwoofer cable such as this one.


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## jorgevazquez87 (Dec 29, 2013)

Thank you for your help! 

Today is going to be a fun day  

I will verify if the 5.1 comes with the Subwoofer cable if doesn't I'll buy one.


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

Remember you don't have to spend a lot of money:

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023601&p_id=6303&seq=1&format=2

Very reasonable!


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## jorgevazquez87 (Dec 29, 2013)

Thank you for the links the only thing left is banana plugs. The Onkyo tx-nr525 support this? If so, can you send me a link from monoprice to add to cart please? Thanks!


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## GCG (Aug 22, 2013)

These should work for you. You have spring clips on the Polks so you'll use bare wire there. You _could_ use bare wire on the back of the Onkyo but the bananas will make it much easier.

Remember when making/changing connections *POWER OFF*.

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=104&cp_id=10401&cs_id=1040115&p_id=9436&seq=1&format=2


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## jorgevazquez87 (Dec 29, 2013)

Thanks for the advice, will help me a lot.

One thing. 

I started doing the cables, only for the positive side (crimping and getting copper exposed) but the cable wasn't enough to wire my last surround speaker. Since I only crimped the positive side and the negative side is with the default cover, I put the positive side in a antistatic bag prevent any issues.

Is this fine or it is harmful for the copper?


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## bhihifi (Dec 7, 2014)

The copper should not corrode in the time you need to run a longer wire. You could also have put a wire nut on it.

If this wire is going to a surround you could probably splice in an additional length to make your run; purists may scoff but for a surround this is not as critical. You could either use wire nuts or solder the additional wire length to reach the speaker in question.

Also, regarding your sub, does it have its own crossovers or will you be relying on your receiver's LFE channel to do the bass management. If the previous sentence does not make sense to you, then read on below. If it does make sense, then if your receiver does bass management, you need to connect your sub so that you bypass its internal crossover.

A sub reproduces low frequencies below the frequency response of regular speakers. Setting crossovers means you have to decide at what frequency (and below) you will rely on the sub to play sounds below the low frequency limit of your speakers. This frequency setting is either done by the receiver itself or by the listener (if the receiver does not do automatic calibration).

Most modern receivers use a test microphone for system calibration; after everything is connected, the receiver will send out test frequencies and set up the crossover frequency (where the low frequencies "cross over" from the speakers to the sub). Then the receiver manages the bass output (bass management) so you do not have to use the crossover settings for your sub, assuming it has that capability.

If you have to do it manually, search online: here are lots of good articles about subwoofer setup out there. 

You should buy a system calibration/test DVD to help you tweak your system so you get the most out of it after you run your connections.

Good luck!


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## jorgevazquez87 (Dec 29, 2013)

Thank you! The receiver come with a mic for calibration and sound testing. What about if the copper wire is way to long and is exposed outside the speakers? Can I cut the copper with scissors? 

Sorry for too many questions... like I said before this is my first project in the audio field


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## bhihifi (Dec 7, 2014)

Yes, you can cut the wire, but I would use wire cutters instead of scissors. But if the wire gauge is very thin, then scissors might also work. I would leave a bit of extra wire which you can tie up with a twist tie just in case you have to take the speaker off its mount and check it or change to a different speaker someday.

I researched your receiver and your speaker system. Your receiver does its own bass management using Audyssey calibration so you will connect the long RCA cable from the receiver's subwoofer pre out directly to the RCA terminals on the top right of the back of the subwoofer. Your sub has both left and right channel terminals so you should use a Y-connector from the end of the subwoofer cable to connect both terminals. Monoprice Product ID#6261.

Also on the back of your sub, you will turn the knob labeled "Low Pass Filter" fully clockwise so the sub does not do any crossover. Do this *before* you run the Audyssey calibration.

You might want to find a copy of your Polk system's manual online if you don't have a copy. I found it easily but am too new to this forum to be permitted to post any links.

The Onkyo web site has a copy of the receiver manual in case you need it to run the Audyssey calibration.

Other than wiring positive and negative terminals incorrectly, you have very little to worry about here. 

I think you're smart to wire all the positives first and then the negatives. I suggest you also get little self sticking paper labels or white electrician's tape and a Sharpie marker and label every set of wires (left front, right front, center, etc.) so that someday when you accidentally disconnect a few wires on the back of your system you will know where they reconnect. This will save you a lot of pain later.


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## jorgevazquez87 (Dec 29, 2013)

Again, thank you for your advice. This forum is really helpful and people like you and many others that replied to this thread convince me that my concerns are being answered as best as possible.

As soon as my cable comes I will report back with the results! 

Thanks!


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

bhhifi gave really good advice here. I'd only add to NOT split at the end of the sub cable to use both inputs. All it does it add extra gain at the input stage and can(not always) introduce distortion into the signal.


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## jorgevazquez87 (Dec 29, 2013)

Hello again people! 

I just wanted to report that yesterday I successfully completed my Receiver, Speakers/Subwoofer configuration. Based on the advice gave here everything worked successfully and as intended. 

There is only one thing I would like to point out regarding a RCA coaxial antenna. I connected it to the TV but everytime I switch channels the speakers make a "dot" noise. I was reading a little bit of this and is associated with the different audio that different channels return (not sure if this is 100% true). 

Any feedback about this?


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