Anybody using RG6 for interconnects? thoughts?

[jajlopez]

Hey Everyone,
I recently replaced my Purities with Vantages and ended moving the Purities to the rear for surround duty. Im going to end up needing about a 25ft line-level connection run to each speaker and figured that using RG6 would end up being the most cost-effective solution. Any thoughts? or suggestions?

 

[wings]

Rg6

I have used Belden 89259 for both interconnect and speaker cable, it is Very natural sounding and extremely hard to beat for the money.
PM me if you need a source (I'm also in San Diego).

 

[Speedskater]

RG-6 is a very generic name for 75 Ohm co-ax cable. Different sub-types are designed for different uses. While any sub-type will work for interconnects some are better choices than others. The poorest choices are quad-shielded and those with copper plated steel center conductors. The best have a heavy braided shield. There are other co-ax cables that are better choices for speaker cables (like some RG-11 types).

 

[Jimna]

why would quad shield be worse? and almost all coax i touch is heavy braid, and i touch it all day for work. and the only difference in rg-59/rg-6/rg-11 is diameter of both center conductor and dielectric. why is one better then the other in this app? the difference in RF use is cable loss over distance, but that has no bearing here. please explain.

 

[Speedskater]

Quad-shield is design to be used at very high radio (&TV) frequencies. It's principal use is by cable TV providers. The shield is optimized for those very high frequencies and does a poorer job at the low frequencies of interest to audio signals. Also it's shield is much lighter (higher resistance) and does not control ground loop problems well.

For loudspeaker cables the large conductors (both center & shield) of RG-11 are a better choice than the rather small conductors of RG-6.
RG-11 is often 14AWG while RG-6 is 18 to 22 AWG.

 

[jajlopez]

From what i've been able to find out, It seems that RG59 is preferred to RG6 in audio applications due to it's copper center conductor and braiding...If that makes any sense . In any case, I'd like to clarify that I will not be using this for speaker wire since the Purity Loudspeaker is internally powered. I will simply be running a low-level signal from the surround pre-outs on my AVR.

 

[Jimna]

speedskater,

i would have to respectfull say your very wrong. i am a cable tech, i check levels 10-20 times a day on all FQ 5-1000mhz on all of the above mentioned 75ohm cable. all types handle low FQ the best. the goal in RF is to not lose the top end as it is inherently the lossy end of the spectrum. the only benefit of rg-11 is it have the least loss per 100ft at the highest FQ, with rg-6 next and 59 coming in last. but lets be clear these problems only surface on new cable after a serious distance, much more than what anyone would want to use in any theater/stereo app.

as for the shielding i would like to see your source claiming the braid count, all the coax ive seen is the same be it quad or standard. as for quad shield being a high FQ use, well thats just wrong too. quad shield is for shielding cables from outside interfearances(ie. running beside powerlines in a house), it has no bearing on high to low FQ because all RF rides on the center conductor, not the shielding. the diameter of your center conductor is what determines the loss, the thicker the better levels are maintained, shielding has nothing to do with a focus on any part of the spectrum. notice in the chart below that at no point does the shielding factor into loss, just it the rating.(rg-6,11,59, ect..)
http://www.northamericancable.com/techinfo/clc.asp

so please explain your source of this info.

ive got rg-6 feeding my sub because i liked the sound of it better than the audioquest cable i had, but ive always wondered about the use of them as speaker cables. As fo IC's i would love an answer also.

 

[Speedskater]

Jimna, I think that you are missing my intent. None of it is about signal frequency response.

RG-11 is a better "loudspeaker" cable than RG-6 only because it has larger conductors.

Quad-shield is used by cable providers because it's shield is optimized for interference at frequencies that a cable signal is likely to encounter.

A co-ax with a heavy braided shield is good for analog audio interconnects because it controls ground loop problems well. (source Bill Whitlock, Steve Lampen and Jim Brown).

 

[Speedskater]

From what i've been able to find out, It seems that RG59 is preferred to RG6 in audio applications due to it's copper center conductor and braiding...If that makes any sense . In any case, I'd like to clarify that I will not be using this for speaker wire since the Purity Loudspeaker is internally powered. I will simply be running a low-level signal from the surround pre-outs on my AVR.

RG-6 comes in many different styles! Some are optimized for long over-head outdoor runs (with copper coated steel center conductors) some for under ground runs, some for cable TV providers. With different center conductors and different shield options you may find over a dozen different styles.

If you compare the same style RG-6, RG-58, RG-59, RG-62 & RG-174 (some you may never see). You won't find any meaningful differences for analog audio interconnects.

 

[Jimna]

i googled all of the above but didnt find anything about using rg6 as audio cables, do you have a real link or reference i can read? ive been searching out this answer a long time. i can get an unlimited supply of silver clad rg-6 & 59 but have never gotten a real answer on this. not that i dont believe you but i want real proof.

 

[Jimna]

just curious, do you work in the industry? just wondering about your coaxial cable info? 90% of rg6 is the same. it all has a steel coated core, some copper some silver. the only difference in indoor and outdoor is flooding compound to keep water out, but be it overhead or underground it all the same. "optimized for overhead runs" sounds like an add ploy to me.

 

[Speedskater]

just curious, do you work in the industry? just wondering about your coaxial cable info? 90% of rg6 is the same. it all has a steel coated core, some copper some silver. the only difference in indoor and outdoor is flooding compound to keep water out, but be it overhead or underground it all the same. "optimized for overhead runs" sounds like an add ploy to me.

By quantity sold maybe it is mostly quad-shield. But I just did a search of the Belden catalog for RG-6 and they have well over 70 different part numbers! Most don't have a steel core or quad-shield. The high strength steel core though does make it "optimized for overhead runs".

Been doing broadcasting, recording and industrial engineering since 1963.

 

[Speedskater]

i googled all of the above but didnt find anything about using rg6 as audio cables, do you have a real link or reference i can read? ive been searching out this answer a long time. i can get an unlimited supply of silver clad rg-6 & 59 but have never gotten a real answer on this. not that i dont believe you but i want real proof.

None specifically on RG-6, most is about co-ax in general but.
On the subject of audio and cable/wiring. the four most knowledge people I know are:

Stephen H. Lampen, Belden Cable Co.
book "Wire, Cable and Fiber Optics for Video & Audio Engineers"

Bill Whitlock, Jensen Transformer Co. http://www.jensen-transformers.com/apps_wp.html
Start with:
http://www.jensen-transformers.com/an/generic seminar.pdf
Also do a web-search as he has written countless articles.

Jim Brown, Audio Systems Group
http://www.audiosystemsgroup.com/publish.htm

Henry W. Ott
http://www.hottconsultants.com/
It's hard to find much of his writings on the web or in libraries.

From the above list you can find 100 hours or way more of reading materiel.

 

[Jimna]

thanks for the links.