Audio over CAT5 or CAT6

bauderline

I have just butchered a CAT5 cable an ran it between a denon amp and one of my bose speakers... sounds fine to me !

Anyone care to comment on the pro and cons of piping your audio over this cable around a new build ? If I can do everything over the CAT5 or CAT6 cable all the better as it can be easily and neatly terminated using RJ45 wall sockets... not seen a similar solution for speaker wire...

Best regards, Baud.

crosstownk

At high volume it may not be able to deliver the necessary current to the drivers. This will result in a serious drop in sound quality. Personally, I wouldn't do it.

I don't think any serious audiophile would go for it that's why you haven't seen a similar solution.................

EDIT : It's possible that you may eventually damage the amp too.

Xennon

It will work fine over a short run, as the length of the run is increased so does the impedance of the cable to the speaker. This effectively increases the impedance of the speaker as seen by the amplifier and thus decreases the volume of said speaker.

Now in the greater scheme of things this is ok, well as long as your not driving any serious power (say over 5W) down the line...due to the resistance of the cable it heats... insulation melts....shorts the line...shiny new amplifier lets out the magic blue smoke from its output stage and captain hifi tells you that it has to go back to the UK distributorship to be repaired.
Not only that but now you have to dig up your walls to put in some proper cable or just trail it along the ground.

Cat 5 and 6 is not designed to carry speaker level signals. Use 2 core 2.5mm^2 flex to speaker points. To terminate use XLR or speakon wall plates. That should cover you.

http://www.sks.ie/audio_cctv.php?owner=684

The neatest, cheapest and easiest is to bring the cable out thru a hole (the diameter of the cable) drilled in a blanking plate and connected directly to the speaker.

Hal1

Once your not exceeding 15ft you shouldn't really have any trouble with signal loss. The other thing to consider would be the type of speakers you are using, with floorstanding speakers I wouldn't recommend your average cat5/6 cabling, as you might not recieve the full quality of sound from these types of speakers and / or damage the speakers.

fred funk }{

If he doubled up the Cat5, as in joined 2 X four cores together would that make a difference?
I'm in a similar situation, In my new build Cat5 was ran for surround sound in my lounge and that's what I was going to do.

10-10-20

CAT is twisted pair, so the impedance will be different than if he had used a similar wire with no twists. What difference it will make at 50Hz->20,000Hz, I don't know...

I'd stick to 1.5mm solid core.

Stoner

10-10-20 wrote:

CAT is twisted pair, so the impedance will be different than if he had used a similar wire with no twists. What difference it will make at 50Hz->20,000Hz, I don't know...

I'd stick to 1.5mm solid core.

I agree with the above, even crappy figure of eight speaker cable would be better.

But if you have to do it (not recommended) you might aswell use the cheaper Cat5e cable. Sounds like a bad idea though

Xennon

Jaysus lad, if you doing a new build, a roll of 2.5sq 2core flex wont kill ya.

Do it right once, avoid doing it again.

bauderline

I don't think the link below will solve the issue of speaker signal over CAT5 however there is a few interesting / useful gadgets some of you might be interested in....

http://www.muxlab.com/products/ve_avd_s-av_balun.html

For the record I think I will run proper speaker cable for surround sound in the lounge terminated with the XLR adapters, its a nice neat solution, probably do the same for the Family / Dining area... For the bathrooms I will install the ceiling mounted speakers and run the proper cable directly to them.. heck I might even do the master bedroom as well...

From what people are saying its worth doing it right first time around !

Thanks for all the input ! Appreciated !

Rgs. Baud.

mossym

given that most passive speakers have screw terminals or banana plug connections why on earth would you use xlr connections?

crosstownk

mossym wrote:

given that most passive speakers have screw terminals or banana plug connections why on earth would you use xlr connections?

Agreed. XLR are just too big and ugly for home use. Besides XLR are usually sheilded - something your home hifi system won't have any need for at speaker level.

mossym

well not only ugly, but most amps ad receivers for home use don't even have xlr connections, or anything compatible to them

bauderline

Well, I am not an expert. Can you suggest a neat way to terminate proper speaker cable at the wall so that I can come along and plug speakers into them when required. For example from time to time I may want to move the speakers around the room... I want a nice neat way of doing this, no bare wires hanging out of the wall !

I have no problem attaching a connector to the cable from the speaker.....

best rgs. baud.

10-10-20

If I was in your position, I would fit these to wall blanking plates:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&ModuleNo=1010&doy=13m7
Gold-Plated Phono Socket plugs.

Terminate the end of the speaker cables with the male variants of these, and you have a solid system.

Any better ideas?

mossym

10-10-20 wrote:

If I was in your position, I would fit these to wall blanking plates:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&ModuleNo=1010&doy=13m7
Gold-Plated Phono Socket plugs.

Terminate the end of the speaker cables with the male variants of these, and you have a solid system.

Any better ideas?

aye, that'd be the cheap way and what i would do, if you're not comfortable making them up however, this could be your friend
http://www.letsautomate.com/10640.cfm?CFID=869895&CFTOKEN=5b9fbf3-6708901c-669b-4451-a939-8e84265b9ac5

10-10-20

What type of connectors are these Mossym? Hybrid?

mossym

they are screw type terminals for passive speakers, they take normal speaker cable. i should have looked closer at the link you posted. the ones you linked to are for phono cables which are line level connections. if he is driving speakers with an amp then the ones i linked to are what he wants. if he is taking sound from say a pc or something he wants what you linked to.

mossym

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&ModuleNo=34720&doy=13m7

these onot a blanking plate would make the same as what i linked to, they should also take banana plugs if you didn't want to use the screw down connections

bauderline

Thanks guys !

Exactly what I wanted !

I take it these plugs would work fine with the sockets you have outlined ?

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&DOY=13m7&ModuleNo=44099&criteria=

best rgs, baud.

mossym

the ones i did yeah, no problem

bauderline

I suppose these might be another way of doing it at the wall if you could mount 'em on a faceplate... The "banana" method is better though....

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&DOY=13m7&ModuleNo=44212&criteria=

mossym

stay away form those, they only take wire up to a certain guage, which happens to be very thin..you'll want thicker wire to drive speakers well

10-10-20

Mossym - you're correct about the phono plugs. They aren't power plugs, just line.

Baud - If you are going down the banana plug route - see if you can get hold of 'locking' type connectors. Banana plugs can twist in the female receptor, and this may cause noise (I know it's gold plated...). So, locking types would be preferable.

mossym

10-10-20 wrote:

Mossym - you're correct about the phono plugs. They aren't power plugs, just line.

Baud - If you are going down the banana plug route - see if you can get hold of 'locking' type connectors. Banana plugs can twist in the female receptor, and this may cause noise (I know it's gold plated...). So, locking types would be preferable.

what would make them turn? there would be no tension on them from the speaker cable? to be honest never used them, i just put the cable through the screw down connections, but i'd be surprised if they moved

10-10-20

Kids!
I'm just thinking of my own situation where the speakers are wired at the rear of the TV, and my 2yr old son tends to wander in there from time to time...!

mossym

ah, well have never treid those either..:)

fair enough..can't argue that point!!

bauderline

That is a good point... my 18 month old son loves to taking anything with a cable on it for a walk... phone chargers, hair dryer, digibox co-ax ....

... normal transmission will be resumed shortly !!


Thanks for the tips, when I think about it I will likely need some line level connections as well... so all useful information for me !

thanks again ! baud.

bauderline

... and a helpful find !!!

http://www.cyberselect.co.uk/category/9

I have also discovered the sonos zoneplayer stuff, pricey when you scale it, but it looks like my groove none the less.

baud.

Xennon

you could use these;
http://www.maplin.co.uk/search.aspx?MenuNo=12297&MenuName=6.35mm+(1%2f4+Inch)+Mono+Jacks&worldid=-2&FromMenu=y&doy=17m7

Using phono plugs for speakers is doable, but they are a relatively weak connector.

Bananna posts are fine, but I wouldnt fancy their chances protruding from a wall plate.

XLR wall plates are industry standard and are durable. XLRs are only shielded on balanced cables, on speaker cable the norm is to connect - to pin 1 and + to pin 2. Always check that you solder to the correct pins as getting one speaker reversed in a multispeaker system will "fekk yer tunes man."

Also you can get some recessed XLR plates with lids, very stylish. Cant think of where we got them atm, if i think of it I'll post again.

mossym

xlr connections may be industry standard for audio, we use them at work all the time. However i have never seen them in a home theatre install.

bauderline

To XLR or not to XLR ....

I am going to purchase samples of the various options and do some testing then make a decision...

baud..