Home Theater Cable: Optical Cables For Speakers, Speaker Cables, Coaxial And Other Audio Cables. How To Choose And Connect?

2024 Author: Beatrice Philips | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-18 12:09

A home theater is a great solution for the home, but there are often problems with connecting such equipment. This article covers some of the options for how to select and connect a home theater cable, and what you need to know.

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To connect a home theater, you need 2 main types of cables:

• acoustic;
• fiber optic (optical).

The task of the speaker cable is to bring an undistorted sound to the loudspeaker, because without high-quality components, the sound can be deformed, and as a result, sound with various noise effects is heard at the output.

This option is subdivided into several subspecies:

• symmetric;
• asymmetrical;
• parallel;
• twisted;
• coaxial.

A balanced cable is used for XLR connector and includes negative, positive and ground wires. Such a cable can consist of one or more balanced wires.

Experts also call the asymmetrical version of the cable "ground". To ensure that the quality of the signal transmitted by this cord is not low, you should not use products longer than 3 meters. And also a good transmission is determined by a screen that covers the main core.

The parallel cable consists of 2 parallel wires and a plastic sheath - overall insulation. The design allows you to additionally protect products from possible external damage.

Coiled cables are most commonly used to connect external devices, and home theater systems are no exception . The stranding of conductors used in the construction of such a cable minimizes signal quality loss when laying over long distances, while improving connections and reducing sound loss to zero.

The twisted cable is connected to the connector, which is marked with English letters HDMI . These markings can often be found on the rear panels of home theaters.

The coaxial cable has increased protection due to the fact that it contains insulation (outer polyethylene) and an outer conductor (shield). It is used to connect to the RCA connector (can be used both as a video cable and as an audio cable).

And also an acoustic cable can be multi-core, that is, it contains two or more cores. This option is subdivided into the following categories depending on the design:

• concentric;
• rope;
• bundle-shaped.

The first category of multi-core cables differs in that the cores in them are located longitudinally and in parallel. This allows the signal to maintain the required quality and provide the required cable impedance.

The rope structure is an improved concentric version . Thanks to this structure, this category of cables has a high degree of flexibility, which is so necessary when connecting to a variety of external devices.

The latter option is quite rare, since due to its internal structure, similar to a spider web, such a cable is susceptible to the influence of reflected signals. This leads to its rapid failure with frequent use.

As for the optical (or fiber optic) cable, it is based on a fiberglass element or steel cable, surrounded by optical modules. It is designed to transmit optical signals. Such a cable has several advantages over a copper signal conductor.

• High signal quality due to the data transfer rate - the optics have this indicator at their best.
• There are no extraneous interference and sounds during transmission. This is achieved due to the complete protection of the product from the electromagnetic field.

This cable is classified by application. Distinguish:

• for internal laying;
• for cable ducts - armored and unarmored;
• for laying in the ground;
• suspension;
• with a cable;
• underwater.

Manufacturers

Among the companies producing cable products, there are a number of well-known firms

Acrolink . The company is the only distributor of Mitsubishi Cable Industries, which, in turn, is a global manufacturer of high purity copper conductors.

Analysis-Plus . This American manufacturer surprises with the excellent quality of its products. It is not for nothing that such famous brands as Motorola and NASA, as well as MIS of New York, Bonart Corporation of Taiwan and Stryker Medical trust him.

AudioQuest . The organization is engaged, in addition to the production of speaker cables, also the manufacture of headsets, converters and some accessories for audio and video equipment.

Cold Ray . The company has established production facilities in Latvia. From there, her products are distributed all over the world. Among the many items of the product, it is worth noting not only speaker cables, but also connectors for them. Most of the organization makes cables from copper and silver-plated copper.

Kimber Kable . This American manufacturer makes rather expensive products, which differ from their counterparts by the presence of a unique geometry and the absence of a screen. The internal structure of such a cable is interlaced, which guarantees a high quality product. Despite the high price of the products, the product is loved by those who listen to music.

Klotz . This German brand specializes in the production of professional accessories for audio, video and stereo systems. Its products are used in cinemas, stadiums, radio stations - wherever high-quality sound is required.

Neotech Cable . This company, originally from Taiwan, specializes in the production of cable products that differ from analogues in their patented composition. The fact is that the speaker cable is based on UP-OCC silver and ultrapure oxygen-free copper. The production of such conductors occurs at ultra-high temperatures - this approach makes it possible to obtain long single crystals in conductive elements.

Purist Audio Design . For the manufacture of its products, this company uses not only oxygen-free and monocrystalline high purity copper, but also an alloy of copper, silver and gold. This technology implies the use of cryogenic cable insulation in the production.

It is worth noting other companies that have earned their right to be among the leaders in the production of acoustic cables.

Among this list, it is worth highlighting such companies as The Chord Company, Transparent Audio, Van Den Hul, and WireWorld.

As for the optical cable, it is necessary to indicate two Russian manufacturers who deservedly hit the top manufacturers:

• Samara Optical Cable Company;
• Elix-Cable.

How to choose?

As for acoustic cords, in this case, professionals advise paying attention to the thickness and length of the cable itself: the thicker and shorter it is, the better the sound quality. After all, thin and long analogs have more resistance, which negatively affects the sound quality. For this reason, it is important to place the speakers and amplifier as close to each other as possible, unless, of course, we are talking about a twisted cable. It should be noted that it is unacceptable to leave the cable taut when connecting or, conversely, so that it is rolled up in rings on the floor.

However, this is not the only quality indicator. This parameter is also influenced by the material from which the product is made.

For example, a material such as aluminum is outdated for a long time due to its fragility - it is easy to break it. The most common option is oxygen-free copper. Such copper does not oxidize (unlike the usual variety) and gives a high-quality sound, however, the cost of a product made of this material is almost twice as expensive as that of aluminum.

It is worth noting a number of other materials from which speaker cables can be made:

• graphite;
• tin;
• silver;
• various combinations.

As for home theater, in this case, manufacturers advise using a copper multicore cable with a cross section of 0.5-1.5 square meters. mm.

Do not forget that any cable, no matter how good it is, must be insulated . Not only the durability of the product itself depends on the quality of insulation, but also its protection from external influences. Insulation materials such as Teflon or polypropylene are commonly used. This is due to the fact that such components do not conduct electric current well.

• Color spectrum . This indicator is not so important. However, if you need to slightly embellish the image of your home environment, then you can use a cable of a wide variety of colors.
• Connectors … Clamps can be included. However, cheap cable options are usually sold without one. As for the optical cable, in this case, you should not take such a product with a margin, since with a strong bend, data transmission may stop, and as a result, a person simply will not receive the required signal. For this reason, before purchasing, you need to know the exact length of such a connection cable. With the right choice of the product, there should be a very small margin: 10-15 cm.

Connection methods

Connection using an optical cable should be made to a port with a name that contains the word Optical or the designation SPDIF. And you can also find a port with the name Toslink.

To connect a speaker system, you need to connect one connector with the inscription to the red terminals, and the other (without the inscription) to the black ones. Otherwise, rattling or distorted sound may be heard from the speakers.