What are "subwoofer cables" and how are they different?
 

What are "subwoofer cables" and how are they different?
Subwoofer cables in both XLR and RCA are sold by audioquest in multiple tiers and nordost makes one in green. Wireworld makes some in their lowest tiers and only RCA. Shunyata doesn't offer one.

When my home theater system was installed my salesman hooked up my system for free, and brought plenty of mid quality cables with him. I have a giant bin of low to low-mid quality cables and he didn't have a "subwoofer cable" which made him passive aggressive when I offered my old RCA cables to use. He said they're different with solid core or something I didn't understand. We ended up finding a subwoofer rca cable in my bin, but my sales guy was frustrated it wasn't a better one.

I've learned that cables matter, but if a subwoofer cable mattered wouldn't Shunyata make them?

Great point.....probably not a big enough market for subwoofer cabling.

fretting over a sub cable being of 'high enough quality' on an HT set up borders on insanity IMO.

Mouse , I'm sure what you have is plenty good enough to produce all the explosions and any other sonic treats your movies throw at them !

With a balanced cable mayby not an issue but with a rca type cable of low quality you might experience hum.
Also a Sub is many times a longer cable run and more prone to problems stemming from that.
Balanced not as much.

Don't sweat over subwoofer cables. I've used these as well as others in my dual JL Audio/Sonus Faber 2 channel and HT environment with excellent results. Blue Jeans Cables offer a no nonsense, solid value cables. "

Single Channels:For individual, single-channel cables, our principal offerings are Belden 1800F, a highly flexible, low-capacitance AES/EBU cable suitable both for digital and analog use, and Canare L-4E6S, a "star quad" cable suitable for analog usage only, with higher capacitance but also higher common-mode noise rejection."

Snake Cables: We carry four and eight-channel snake cables in three different forms. First, there are Belden 1803F and 1805F, which are AES/EBU snakes composed of cables very like the 1800F individual cable but having foil shields instead of "french braid" shields. Second, there are Belden 1904A and 1908A; these are analog-only stage snakes, highly flexible, with individual french braid shields, which give them high durability for applications where the cable will be repeatedly handled. Third, we carry the more economical Gepco GA72404GFC and GA72408GFC analog-only snakes, which have foil shields instead of braid. The 1803F and 1805F have purple outer jackets, while the other snakes have black outer jackets



bluejeanscable.com/store/balancedaudio/index

It isn't a dedicated HT BTW, I just want to know what's the difference? And how important is it?
Seems like not very important so far. The next sub I buy I'm planning on getting XLR inputs.

At the most basic level, a subwoofer cable is identical to any rca or xlr terminated interconnect that you would connect components with.

But as with design differences in interconnects, manufacturers alter the design for the specific purpose as a subwoofer cable as they see fit, with things like shielding, wire gauge, winding, and material, etc.

The biggest difference I noticed when I've used a subwoofer and have had different cables to try has been in perception of tightness and clarity of bass frequencies. Differences that were enough to persuade me to purchase a cable specifically made for that purpose even if it cost a bit more than a standard interconnect cable.

Agreed.

And how would variations of these parameters make a subwoofer cable different? My main channel interconnects are the same length as my subwoofer interconnects.

That's a baited question...

I think that's up to the specific manufacturer to decide if certain parameters or design differences make their subwoofer cable better suited to be used for that purpose as opposed to their interconnect cables.

I wouldn't hesitate to use the interconnect cables in my 2-channel system as a subwoofer cable, if I had a subwoofer.

My experience using a "subwoofer" cable was in a decidedly low end, low priced system, but of which I was very happy with the sound. But the low priced subwoofer cable seemed better than the similar model interconnect in that purpose for whatever reason. As I recall, lower capacitance, and different insulation were spec differences that were advertised versus that same brands interconnects. All that says I preferred cable A to cable B, at the time, and in that system.

I'm offering that if the original poster is purchasing from a brand that offers a subwoofer specific cable, which differs in some way, it may be worth an audition if they're so inclined and if such a comparison is possible.

Yup.

And I am asking what they could possibly do to accomplish this (other than just change the label).