Power cable, speaker cable and RCA together?

[Sig.Rossi]

Hi,

I thought about using a pair of Neumann KH 80 as left and right instead of my passive speakers, because I already use a KH 80 as center.

Problem:

There would be several cables together in a channel: loudspeaker cables for the rear speakers and power cables and
RCA -XLR adapter cables for the KH 80s.

Especially there is a door step in the way which would not allow seperation of the cables.

Am I guessing right, that this is a problem?

Should I better skip the idea?

I would need power cables and RCA-XLR for approximately 6 meters in a white color which could not be too thick to cross the doorstep. So that would also decrease the availability of cables I guess.

 

[Roland68]

Hi,

I thought about using a pair of Neumann KH 80 as left and right instead of my passive speakers, because I already use a KH 80 as center.

Problem:

There would be several cables together in a channel: loudspeaker cables for the rear speakers and power cables and
RCA -XLR adapter cables for the KH 80s.

Especially there is a door step in the way which would not allow seperation of the cables.

Am I guessing right, that this is a problem?

Should I better skip the idea?

I would need power cables and RCA-XLR for approximately 6 meters in a white color which could not be too thick to cross the doorstep. So that would also decrease the availability of cables I guess.

I would make sure that all cables, especially power cables, are well shielded. You can get shielded power cables from Lapp by the meter for around €3-8/$100 per meter. In my opinion, the best and thinnest is the Robust series, but it is also a bit stiffer.
You can forget about white, but there are cheap shrink tubing or fabric tubing.

 

[Sig.Rossi]

Thanks a lot for your help.

Not sure if I would get along with the thickness and stiffness. I would have to go up in a wall corner 90 degrees.

And I would have to solder the plugs and buy a hot air gun for the shrink tubes?

 

[Sokel]

Thanks a lot for your help.

Not sure if I would get along with the thickness and stiffness. I would have to go up in a wall corner 90 degrees.

And I would have to solder the plugs and buy a hot air gun for the shrink tubes?

Most of the power plugs needs only screwing and tubes only need a hair dryer.
But you have to make sure you know what you're doing with power cables.

 

[Sig.Rossi]

"But you have to make sure you know what you're doing with power cables."

Well, that is something I would have to avoid, to be honest.

But a shielded power cable would solve the problem?

Just googled for an assembled one in a white colour, but didn't find one so far.

Any ideas?

 

[Roland68]

"But you have to make sure you know what you're doing with power cables."

Well, that is something I would have to avoid, to be honest.

But a shielded power cable would solve the problem?

Just googled for an assembled one in a white colour, but didn't find one so far.

Any ideas?

Shielded cables would minimize potential problems.

Basically, only crimping and screwing is done, not soldering.
An electrician can assemble the cables for you, but there are also companies that do that. But it's not difficult, you just have to handle it responsibly.

I didn't say forget white for nothing.
White fabric hose would be the easiest, it comes in all sizes and you could put all the cables in it. No tools required.
The closest thing to white would be the light gray Supra power cables, but the ones sold by the meter are more expensive and the assembled ones, well.

The Lapp Robust is the thinnest shielded cable that I know of (be careful, it also comes without shielding) and laying it at 90 degrees is no problem.

 

[Sig.Rossi]

LAPP ÖLFLEX® ROBUST 210 Steuerleitung 2 x 1 mm² Schwarz 21913/1 Meterware kaufen

Schnelle Lieferung ✓ Große Auswahl an %brandid% Produkten » Jetzt einfach bestellen: LAPP ÖLFLEX® ROBUST 210 Steuerleitung 2 x 1 mm² Schwarz 21913/1 Meterware

www.conrad.de

This one?

 

[Roland68]

LAPP ÖLFLEX® ROBUST 210 Steuerleitung 2 x 1 mm² Schwarz 21913/1 Meterware kaufen

Schnelle Lieferung ✓ Große Auswahl an %brandid% Produkten » Jetzt einfach bestellen: LAPP ÖLFLEX® ROBUST 210 Steuerleitung 2 x 1 mm² Schwarz 21913/1 Meterware

www.conrad.de

This one?

No, you need ÖLFLEX® ROBUST 215C. It's best to look on eBay or ask at your local electrical store (not a hardware store). Some retailers sell 10-meter rings much cheaper.
Depending on what you're wiring with it, 3G1.0mm², 3G1.5mm² or 3G2.5mm².
3G1.0mm² for devices, 3G1.5mm² and 3G2.5mm² for amplifiers and active speakers, depending on the power and cable length.
3G is important because only that is approved.

If you have devices that only have a 2-pin connection, i.e. are definitely not grounded, then you also need the ÖLFLEX® ROBUST 215C, but not as 3Gxxxx, but as 2x1.0mm², 2x1.5mm² or 2x2.5mm².
However, the plug for the socket must still be earthed because the shielding is connected to it.

Addendum: I just saw that Conrad now also stocks the ÖLFLEX® ROBUST 215C. You can also look at Völkner.

 

[Speedskater]

There is a research lab wire expert, he is/was responsible for over 250,000 kilometers of wires and cables.
He posts on some audio forums as "jneutron". When he was a Saturday night DJ, His setup had AC, interconnects and speaker cables all on the same reel.

If your interconnects have a braided shield and the speaker cables are a twisted pair, there won't be any problems.

 

[dfiler]

Agreed. You may not need a shielded power cable. It's worth trying if later changes aren't too problematic. Shielded XLR might be enough. Twisted speaker wire could also help.

I have about 2.5 meters of many of analog, power and speaker cables running together in parallel and had to take no special measures. Shielded RCA->XLR cables were apparently enough. Your run is longer but might also be ok.

 

[Sig.Rossi]

Hm, my speaker cables are not twisted.
I only found this RCA-XLR in a white colour. No shielding apparantly.https://www.thomann.de/de/cordial_cfu_6_mc_snow.htm

Actually, I would rather have a simple and safe solution before I buy more KH80s. Later changes are a problem.

 

[DVDdoug]

In reality it's probably not going to be a problem. You can't pick-up enough noise-energy to drive a passive speaker, and line-level, balanced, shielded cables are highly immune to noise.

Especially there is a door step in the way which would not allow separation of the cables.

If it's only for a short distance that will also help.

 

[Vincent Kars]

No shielding apparantly

Really?
RCA (it is of course a single ended cable, not a balanced one) without shielding is rare, very rare.
As far as I could judge, It is simply 2 coax cables and both of them are shielded

The bulk cable with a conductor area of 0.22 mm² and spiral shielding ensures an undistorted sound experience in the rehearsal room, studio or on stage.

CFU MC-SNOW

www.cordial-cables.com

If the RCA connection fails you, you might consider converting it to balanced at the source: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/unbalanced-to-balanced-conversion.46305/

 

[Speedskater]

About the CFU MC-SNOW RCA cable:
A braided shield is better than a spiral shield. Central conductor area doesn't matter. But if it is too small it might break.

 

[unpluggged]

Am I guessing right, that this is a problem?

No, there is no problem. Mains frequencies do not induce interference, contrary to what some salesmen might tell you.

 

[LTig]

In our company we have powered speakers with 20 m mains power and XLR cables bundled together like in posting #9, and there is no problem with hum or noise.