CAT5 Cable and Speaker Wire

[jimswinder]

Hey Guys and Gals...

I know it is not a good idea to run your CAT5 cable along with your power, but how about speaker wire? Would there be any problem running speaker wire with CAT5 cable in the same conduit?

And speaking of speakers, I think I remember that every time you hook up more than one speaker to the same line the ohms go down by half , is that correct? (I.E. if one speaker is 8ohms, then having two speakers they go down to 4 ohms each). If this is true, what are the cons to this? The wattage of the speakers I am thinking of using are 25 watts each.

Also...does anyone know how far you can run a USB cable before losing any efficiency? I would need to run one about 50 - 60 feet.

And if I could run one that length, could it be run along with the CAT5 and speaker wire without problems?

Thanks in advance...

[J_Plak]

USB Info: Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.usb.org/about/faq/ans5

In practice, the USB specification limits the length of a cable between full speed devices to 5 meters (a little under 16 feet 5 inches). For a low speed device the limit is 3 meters (9 feet 10 inches).


What is it you need to on the USB cable ?

[jimswinder]

J_Plak wrote:

What is it you need to on the USB cable ?

It is a M-Audio Mobile Pre Amp. Wanting to have a microphone outside and be able to adjust the volume from where the mic is.

You can see it here:

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MobilePreUSB.html

Does it matter that the end going into the pre-amp is one of those square connectors (high speed?) as opposed to the typical flat USB connector?

[J_Plak]

take a look at this
USB Extender over Cat5 Cable 50-meters 150-FT Extension


http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-Extender-over-Cat5-Cable-50-meters-150-FT-Extension_W0QQitemZ380199617668QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5885a9c484

[jimswinder]

J_Plak wrote:

take a look at this
USB Extender over Cat5 Cable 50-meters 150-FT Extension

sounds like that is my answer to the USB question.

THANKS!!!

[Max-Paul]

Actually Jim it is a bit more complicated than what you have posted about speakers and adding more in parallel (verses serial).

What you have posted this far is true, two 8 ohm in parallel is 4 ohms. But thats because both are 8 ohms and there are only 2. What happens when you add a 3rd? the answer then would be 1/3 of 8. But again this is because they are all the same ohmage.

As for the cat5 cable and the speaker cable. That depends on the wattage that is being pumped through the cable. More wattage, the more current flow, the more gauss, the more interference being inducted into neigbhoring wires. What would work for me is if the speaker wires are shielded cable with the shield being well grounded. I would have no problems with it then if it was my set-up and the USB and cat5 would be no problem that I can see. Both are very low voltage / current.

[jimswinder]

Max-Paul wrote:

Actually Jim it is a bit more complicated than what you have posted about speakers and adding more in parallel (verses serial).

So which would be better...in serial or parallel? But I guess it would depend on what I was trying to acheive, huh?

I was just going for more coverage...was thinking of mounting one in each of my mini trees...two left and two right. The trees would be about 8' apart (with a 5th one in the middle, but no speaker) for a total length of about 35' between the two farthest trees.

Was just at Fryes looking at some speakers...and I guess the ones I might be getting are actually rated 20 -200 watts. Don't have a receiver yet, so don't know the wattage output.

Edit:

And I thought if you added a third speaker, it was cut in half again..so down to 2ohms per speaker?

[Frank A.]

Good evening

attached is the system that I have been using

and have had zero issues with ---

Frank A.


Attached files

[JimAndrews]

The problem with adding speakers in parallel is not that it harms the sperkers but rather a question of how much current can the amplifier handle. If you reduce the resistance then the amp with have to put out more current. If you have not gotten your amp yet you might think about one that can run 4 speakers. Or you can get an impeadence maching speaker switch then add several speaker with that. I got a FM transmitter(the EDM LCD and I love it) and a boom box that works great for me.

[jimswinder]

JimAndrews wrote:

I got a FM transmitter(the EDM LCD and I love it) and a boom box that works great for me.

I also have a Ramsey Transmitter and used a boom box last year that worked very well for those that walked to my display...but I was hoping to try something unique this year (don't want to say what it is!! LOL) So having excellent sound outside will be crucial to the display.

I went and listened to some speakers and think I have decided on the Polk Atrium 65SDi Indoor/Outdoor Speaker

They even sounded better than the comparable Bose speakers.

[Max-Paul]

Jim,

The formula for figuring ohms in a parallel circuit is,

RT= 1/ (1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/Rn)

So, you can see if you have multi resistors of the same value, you can simple take the value of the common resistance such as say 100 ohms and divide it by the number of resistors. Lets say you have 4, 100 ohm resistors. With all 4 in parallel the apparent resistance would be 25 ohms. Neat thing about this is that you can add up the wattage. So, if you need a load of 4 watts and each of these resistors are rated at 1 watt each then you just add up the wattage and get 4 watt load. But as pointed out that 2, 8 ohm speakers will look like a 4 ohm load. So now your two speakers will draw twice the current. I suppose depending on the amplifier, some have outputs that can match 4, 8 or 16. I dont think I have ever seen all 3 in one amp but some times I have seen dual ratings.
And then there is the 70V systems. Where there is a transformer on the back of the speakers. Something to look at but might be more than you need for your display.

Hey has anyone thought about these speakers that are wireless per say. But I imagine that you will need to be able to plug it into 120VAC.

[jimswinder]

Max-Paul wrote:

Jim,

The formula for figuring ohms in a parallel circuit is,

RT= 1/ (1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/Rn)

And then there is the 70V systems. Where there is a transformer on the back of the speakers. Something to look at but might be more than you need for your display.

Hey has anyone thought about these speakers that are wireless per say. But I imagine that you will need to be able to plug it into 120VAC.

I did see the 70v ones...but it said they were really for commercial use. Also thought of the wireless, but like you said, you need the power and my outlets will be consumed by my controller power needs...and I don't recall seeing any wireless outdoor ones, tho I am sure they are out there. At least I have plenty of time to find some.

[ryebred]

I found a good selection of speakers at http://www.outdoorspeakerstore.com/

They have wireless there but I liked the sound of, and read good reviews of, the TIC-ASP120 120W Patio speakers which I am thinking about ordering for my display.

http://outdoorspeakerstore.com/TICASP120_120W_Patio_Speakers_w_70V_Transformer_Pair_5_Yr_War_p_16158.html

Amazon sells a lot of these speakers for cheaper though with free shipping as well.

[jimswinder]

ryebred wrote:

They have wireless there but I liked the sound of, and read good reviews of, the TIC-ASP120 120W Patio speakers which I am thinking about ordering for my display.

I might be wrong, because I am no expert, but these are 70 volt speakers and I believe need a special 70 volt amplifier to power them...just in case you did not know that.

[JBullard]

jimswinder wrote:

ryebred wrote:

They have wireless there but I liked the sound of, and read good reviews of, the TIC-ASP120 120W Patio speakers which I am thinking about ordering for my display.

I might be wrong, because I am no expert, but these are 70 volt speakers and I believe need a special 70 volt amplifier to power them...just in case you did not know that.

The speakers the link referenced are either 8 ohm or 70 volt, switchable.

[jimswinder]

JBullard wrote:

The speakers the link referenced are either 8 ohm or 70 volt, switchable.

See...told you I was no expert!!! lol

Thanks John...

[Steven]

If you run long speaker cables, or wire speakers in parallel, then you want 70v speakers. I system that uses 70v speakers is called a constant-voltage-speaker-system (CVSS). I use a home-brew CVSS system, using transformers and a small 3 Watt audio amplifier.

Here's the advantage: I run the audio on one of the unused pairs of the CAT5 cable. My amplifier is inside, and the cat5 cable runs through several LOR controllers, until it gets to the controller mounted on the tree. Then I split the unused pair from the cat5 LOR network cable, run it to a transformer, which connects to an outdoor speaker.

[jimswinder]

Steven wrote:

Here's the advantage: I run the audio on one of the unused pairs of the CAT5 cable.

How does a novice (like me) know which pair is unused?

[Steven]

jimswinder wrote:

How does a novice (like me) know which pair is unused?

If your CAT5 cables are wired in the normal way (568b), then the orange/white pair and the brown/white pair are unused.

If you look at the connector at the end of the cable, there are 8 pins. The 4 in the middle are used.