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[Car audio] Where to get better quality car audio cables?

JollyJamma

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Hi all
I'm looking to install my speakers and all in my car and I would like better cable quality than the cheap AIO packs you can get.
I found this car audio pack I like - Sounds Limited - 4GA Wiring Kit Premier [SL4GA] - R395.00

[Yes, I did email them to say that they are using 8GE cables in a 4GE cable kit and to update the listing]

Thoughts? Should I just get a regular car audio cable pack and be done with it?
 
Stinger makes made cables but I think the rule of diminishing returns applies here, I went for stinga and its works great.
Runs my 75rms Boston accoutics sr55 in doors, polk audio 8inch mm and boston accountics gta 704 amp perfectly.
 
I've contacted the guys who did my original sound install for a quote http://journeycaraudio.co.za/
  • Silver Fiber Stereo RCA Signal Cable 5m (2 of them)
  • 4ga Fuse Holder with 100 Amp fuse
  • Power cable 4AGW
  • Speaker cable
  • Connectors

They were happy to put a package together for me and I'll get a price back soon.
 
What are you hoping to gain with ‘better’ quality cables?
 
I reckon you hit diminishing returns quickly on cables. You need the right gauge for the power you plan to push through to the amp [unless you want to burn down your car :D ]
Beyond that, proper shielded RCA is a must. I rate decent installation will make a bigger difference than super expensive cables. Routing your RCA away form the power cables, antenna filter, alternator filter etc.

Which speaker setup are you going for? You must make a build thread :cool:
 
What are you hoping to gain with ‘better’ quality cables?

Better conductivity = less heat and more accurate signal. My dads old sound system had speaker cables to his Hi-Fi speakers at R5 000.00 a meter to ensure better quality of sound. His CD players were R35 000.000, each. I'm also looking to get sound matt for the doors to stop vibrations and sound insulation tape to isolate the pressures on either side of the speakers.

You can get pure copper cables but they are insanely expensive. I'm settling for good quality non 100% copper speakers rather than unknown quality, cheap kits.

I reckon you hit diminishing returns quickly on cables. You need the right gauge for the power you plan to push through to the amp [unless you want to burn down your car :D ]
Beyond that, proper shielded RCA is a must. I rate decent installation will make a bigger difference than super expensive cables. Routing your RCA away form the power cables, antenna filter, alternator filter etc.

Which speaker setup are you going for? You must make a build thread :cool:

The power cable is 4 gauge. The speaker cable will be 14 or 16 gauge, depending. I agree with you on pushing too much power through the cable and creating a fire hazard. The recommended cable for my amp is 6 gauge but I'm going one step up to be safe.

The speakers are Polk DXi 6501

I tried to explain why separating the power cables and sound cables is a good idea to a mate of mine and he just retorted with 'that sounds like a lot more work'. It is but it'll help a ton.
 
Nice! Looks like you are sorted for some sweet tunes soon.
I sadly drive a xhosa lite... So the best quality I get out of my system, is quantity/volume to kill the road and rattle noises :LOL:

Edit: Can also checkout AutoStyle and SoundMatch for different kits and pricing.
 
You're going to be wasting your money.

Firstly this is a car and not a house, the noise level when driving is going to ruin any possible, subtle and slight differences more expensive cables might make. Not to mention you are running Polk Audio drivers, not exactly high end.

Then another thing to consider is the length of the cable and the actual average RMS power you are feeding the drivers, considering the Polk's are 92db 1w/1m and in a car you sit pretty close to the speakers, 1W to 8W of power will be pretty loud and bring up the level to around 100dB.
Far louder than the average listening level - even taking road noise into consideration.

If you are perhaps going to consider entering SQ competitions, maybe but then you'd be forking out a whole lot more money on your car sound in general.


Rather get some door pods made for your speakers or upgrade to better drivers. Goto Zak speed and buy some 3mm monster cable if you're concerned about power (which you shouldn't be, I have a calibrated measurement mic we can use to see your average listening level - or connect a DMM and calculate the average power getting pushed to the speakers).

My 2c
 
Hi all
I'm looking to install my speakers and all in my car and I would like better cable quality than the cheap AIO packs you can get.
I found this car audio pack I like - Sounds Limited - 4GA Wiring Kit Premier [SL4GA] - R395.00

[Yes, I did email them to say that they are using 8GE cables in a 4GE cable kit and to update the listing]

Thoughts? Should I just get a regular car audio cable pack and be done with it?

Check with Car Hi-Fi center in Diepriver 021 706 6954, chat to Shafiek, tell him cuzzin told you to call.



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A quick one with RCA cables, if you really want to spend some money on good RCA cables - make some yourself or get someone to make for you.
Get some Belden 1505F coax cable and some RCA connectors (The amphenol ones are really awesome quality and what I'd consider cheap for RCA connectors).

I have some of this Belden cable which I am going to be using for my home setup, very popular and sold as extremely high end RCA cable all over the place. Including Blue Jeans and various other stores. Flexibility is great too for a coax cable.

I think I misread or misunderstood your initial posts, this is a brand new install? So there isn't any aftermarket cable runs, just the stock cable?
4ga kit I reckon is fine, as long as it is proper 4ga. Even CCA shouldn't be to much of an issue if 4ga copper cables are too pricey.
I have yet to try the "monster" cable from Zak Speed but have heard their cable is surprisingly decent - heard this from many local Hi-Fi DIYers who use their cables. Consider getting some braided sleeving if you want to make it look nice and soldering the ends to help prevent oxidation.

If you do go ahead with trying to deaden your doors, use proper deadener, not the cheaper no name brands.
Stick to the better quality stuff, I have found STP to be a well priced quality product. The iSilver and Aero Gold pads.
 
As long as your speakers are getting enough power, a cable will make 0 to no difference. :)

As Psy said, good rca cables you can make yourself. But in the end, a R100 and a R1000 cable is going to sound the same.

Ask any audio guy who went down that route, cable do not matter. Get a decent power cable to your amps, get proper guage wire to your sub. The rest really do not matter. :)

A little skit we like to throw around on the audiophile platforms:
 
I got the quote for the cables and connectors and it's R1005.00 for 6 meters of 4 gauge copper amp power cable, 20 meters of 16 gauge speaker cable, 2 ANL connectors, 2 ANL fuses, 2 ring terminals and 2 door spacers for the speakers.

RCA cables are R370 each.

I'll probably order the basic cables as that's my splurge budget for the month gone and then look at RCA cables later on. I may just make my own RCA cables, as you said. Where can I buy the cable for it?
 
My experience with car audio - just decent cables will do. I tend to spend a bit on the RCA cables. The power and speaker cables not so much...
 
if you got good sound equipment - the I would get decent cable - nothing overboard and invest more into sound deadening.

If you gona be running basic sony/pioneer - done waste your time but sound deadening will still make a difference.

Now when you start buy higher end equipment, you will tend to want to hear the speakers/sound in the best possible way - that's where things get expensive. sound deadening to seal a door can get expensive but u can hear change in sound. Then the boot/hatch to stop rattle and floor/roof for road noise and under arches - and when you whip your eyes you have done your whole car -lol.

I guess we have all gone down this rabbit hole - you need to decide where to draw the line as its your money.
 
My plan is to get good cable for now and install better speakers and a better amp later on.
The DIY RCA cable is looking possible, if I can get the Belden 1505F cable P/M instead of a single roll at R23 000.00.

I'll keep looking, thanks guys.
 
New world in menlyn has decent speaker cable and priced at a very good rate.

Tbh, I have played around with speaker wire for years. On speakers running from say a 2/4-channel amp, normal wiring will do the job. Expensive wiring on a speaker that maybe does 60w rms is not worth it imho.

On things like subwoofers,yes. It does make a difference in how the frequency is kept throughout the range and the woofers has a much more "stable" sound to them. I used to run 4 guage connecting the coils inside and then 8 guage from box to amp.
 
So I've just realised that I have stock audio cable at home for Hifi's.
I also don't need speaker spacers as the speakers will fit my car fine.

That means that the cost of the kit will be R485 excluding the RCA cables which I'll make myself. Do I need speaker spacers or not?

Edit: I don't think I'll need speaker spacers - they could be required if I want to remove vibrations against the panel but I can't see that being a problem.
As for the sound deadening material, I do want to get some and I will. I had it installed in my old car and it made a world of difference. It's basically a no brainer with older cars too which have parts that rattle a lot.

Edit Edit: I've contacted a family friend who is in the SQ audio field and might just have the best of the best cables for me at stupidly low prices. He'll also point me in the direction of getting great RCA cables. He sells high end audio where his entry level CD player for a Hifi would be ~R30 000. His iPhone earbuds are R6000 a pop. He doesn't mess around. I'm sure he can help.
 
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if you got good sound equipment - the I would get decent cable - nothing overboard and invest more into sound deadening.
@PsyCLown

Guys, I got 2 times 5 meters of Mogami W2947 coaxial cable for the aux. R230 each including gold plated banana plugs from Mars Music in Cape Town.
 
@PsyCLown

Guys, I got 2 times 5 meters of Mogami W2947 coaxial cable for the aux. R230 each including gold plated banana plugs from Mars Music in Cape Town.
That will work - not sure what you would need banana plugs for in a car? Generally banana plugs are used for home audio when connecting the power to the speakers. RCA is most likely what you meant or what you need.

BTW I got my Belden 1505F cable from Jaycor, they sell it per meter as well - just over R50 per meter though.
Amphenol make some really decent, cheap RCA connectors. They are on the tighter fitting side, but nothing wrong with that IMO.


As for a speaker spacer, well, I assume that is basically like a plastic baffle of sorts? I'd rather look at getting some MDF baffles made and use that rather.
With regards to "sound deadening", generally people just use bitumen rubber based sheets which work great to add weigh to lower the resonant frequency of the door panels and such, if you want to try reduce noise from outside the car then you'd want to look at something like a MLV (Mass Loaded Vinyl), which I have had issues sourcing locally. The few places which do sell it, it is not cheap at all.
 
They aren't Banana plugs (Edit: I googled banana plug and I saw waht you meant)

I wanted that Belkin cable but it was too expensive and not readily available. I just wanted your opinion on the cable but it’s a bit late since I’ve had it made up already and paid for it.

The guy who made them for me gave me a guarantee that they will sound great.

Now all I need is a new head unit since my current one just died. It was 12 years old so yeah, in need of replacing anyway.




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Looks like I've found my next headunit

JVC KD-X350BTS
  • built-in MOSFET amplifier (22 watts RMS/50 peak x 4 channels)
  • built-in Bluetooth for audio streaming and hands-free calling (mic included)
  • plays MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, and FLAC files through USB
  • 24-bit digital-to-analog converter
  • high-and low-pass filters
  • sound-shaping tools get more out of your digital music library
  • 13-band EQ
  • Volume Link EQ boosts specific frequencies to compensate for road noise
  • K2 technology improves the digital sound for all music sources
JVC KD-X350BTS

R1500 locally from Hi-fi Corporation
 
I think the most noticeable difference you will get from the Monami cable and the Belkin cable, would be less noise - provided there is something causing a noise issue and it is being introduced via the RCA's. I am not talking about noise from the headunit to the amps via the RCA, more like from power cables, RF or similar.
 
I think the most noticeable difference you will get from the Monami cable and the Belkin cable, would be less noise - provided there is something causing a noise issue and it is being introduced via the RCA's. I am not talking about noise from the headunit to the amps via the RCA, more like from power cables, RF or similar.
Thanks for the feedback. I intend on keeping the power and audio very separated. I also intend on insulating the audio cables where possible with aluminium tape.

In addition, you were correct - they aren't banana plugs.

PsyCLown What head unit would you purchase?
 
Thanks for the feedback. I intend on keeping the power and audio very separated. I also intend on insulating the audio cables where possible with aluminium tape.

In addition, you were correct - they aren't banana plugs.

PsyCLown What head unit would you purchase?

For the price, that JVC sounds decent on paper. Worth giving it a try I reckon, can always upgrade later on if you really need the best of the best in terms of sound. A car moves and therefore has lots of road noise and that affects the sound greatly.
I quite like the Pioneer headunits and Alpine have some great units as well, however price for the same features will be a lot higher.

After reading the specs and prices, I took a look at their double din offerings as I would like to get a headunit again sometime (mine has been dead for the past 2 years or so, music been playing off my phone via USB to a device which then outputs the digital audio signal via spdif to my MiniDSP), I dislike the fact that the JVC double dins are resistive touch panels - come on. Reminds me back in the day when I had an HTC Touch Diamond which ran Windows Mobile. Larger capacitive screens have become relatively cheap now.
 
Thank you.

I think I’ll get the JVC unit in time. If you want same specs from Alpine, get a kidney ready.


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Hi all

So I got the JVC unit. I can’t say I’m impressed by the build quality but then again, it was cheap.

What I’m more annoyed by is that anyone who wants to take an OEM headunit and plug it into a separate equalizer is stuck with 2 options: absolute turds at R350.00-R750.00 or overkill SQ at R6500.00.

Been looking at importing a Clarion EQ from the states and it’s R1450 inc all fees (I’ll post a link).

It’s a really good EQ and it will work so nicely for most people. Great reviews all round.

Why can’t we have nice things?

Here

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Hey man. Did u get the clarion eq yet?

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Hi all

So I got the JVC unit. I can’t say I’m impressed by the build quality but then again, it was cheap.

What I’m more annoyed by is that anyone who wants to take an OEM headunit and plug it into a separate equalizer is stuck with 2 options: absolute turds at R350.00-R750.00 or overkill SQ at R6500.00.

Been looking at importing a Clarion EQ from the states and it’s R1450 inc all fees (I’ll post a link).

It’s a really good EQ and it will work so nicely for most people. Great reviews all round.

Why can’t we have nice things?

Here

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Is this just EQ or xover as well?

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