[geeks] T-3 Coax as Audio Cable

[Francois Dion]

On 10/4/07, Sridhar Ayengar <ploopster at gmail.com> wrote:
> I have two 50-ft lengths of Belden 734A coax cable.
[...]
> Too much interference from such a long run of line-level?

That's not a very long run. 734A coax is not that well suited for this
imho, not because of transmission or interference/length, but it's big
and not flexible enough for my taste. But since you already have the
cable, it's basically free, right? Use it.

I'm assuming RCA at each end, just use decent rca connectors that hold
well. Of course it's not like a BNC, but some will tolerate a tug here
and there.

If I had to buy cable:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=100-282

I've used low noise microphone cables before to do 50ft rca runs. And
patch cables. Average price, but work like a champ. It's still a bit
on the big side, but it is very flexible.

Another option is mini coax, if you can find it for less than 35 cents
a foot. I had a source for some, I dont remember if it was mini rg8,
mini rg59 or what, but I was paying like 18 cent a foot, so 18$ for a
100ft run insulated audio line level than you can actually hide and
snake around stuff, hard to beat.

All in all, there are plenty of choices for less than $40 for 2x50ft.
Anything more is really overkill.

I personally prefer to have a multiamp setup centralised, and run
speaker wires directly, it is much less messy (and you need 110v
everywhere etc).

Finally, since we are talking speakers, I've bought 12 gauge speaker
cable at walmart of all places. Very flexible, good quality
multistrand OFC. I dont remember the brand, not scosche, much cheaper.
They dont have them on their web site (I only see scosche, which is
high) but they have that in store. It was less than $10 a spool. It
was a no brainer, basically 12 gauge speaker indexed wire for the
price of 22 gauge unindexed appliance wire. Overkill in term of gauge,
but easier to work with, IMHO.