Can you carry a line level audio over network cable?

[Chris]

Got a question for anyone who knows anything about audio....

I'm moving into a new house, and I have my living room wired for surround sound with 16 ga. speaker wire.  I'll be getting a home theatre receiver to connect to it.

Next to where my home theatre receiver will be is a network jack, and there is an extra network jack next to my MAME cabinet/jukebox in the rec room.  What I'd like to do is patch that extra jack over to the jack next to the home theatre system, and use that to carry the unamplified Line Out signal from the jukebox over to the home theatre system, so I can either fill the house with that jukebox sound or allow everyone in the house to enjoy my game of Space Invaders vicariously.  

The question is, can I send an umamplified audio signal this way, or am I trying to send it too far and/or over too small a wire?

Thanks!

--Chris

[OSCAR]

I have never tried this myself, but my initial inclination would be "Yes".  The wire used in telephone/CAT5 is the purest form of copper you can find commercially, something like 99.99% because it is intended to carry very low voltage signals over long distances.

[MameFan]

I would not do this.  Why?  You will be introducing a signal that is not meant to be on the wires and not meant to be carried on twised pairs.

Network cable is specificially engineered for the frequencies and usuages of each wire in each twisted pair combination. Running additional signals may cause unwanted interference on both network AND audio lines and degrade the signal on both.

You are welcome to try, but I would not suggest doing it.

[Chris]

Network cable is specificially engineered for the frequencies and usuages of each wire in each twisted pair combination. Running additional signals may cause unwanted interference on both network AND audio lines and degrade the signal on both.

Well, I wasn't planning to carry network traffic and audio on the same cable... I was planning to twist the ends of each pair together, essentially creating a four-conductor cable.

--Chris

[GearHead]

Actually you can send audio and video over CAT5 - up to 300 meters using a device called a balun.

wwww.etslan.com has a few models.  I have a PV901 that I use to run audio and video from my living room to my bedroom.  With a wireless remote repeater I have full access to my Tivo and living room stereo. Looks and sounds great.  My network wiring is right next to the line I'm using for sending A/V.

The ETS also has an audio only model - the PA807.  Essentially they're just transformers that let you send a balanced signal over CAT5.  This reduces noise over the line and increases the length you can send the signal.

You'll need one at both ends for a total of 2. They don't have prices listed on their rather ugly site so you're going to have to call them.  There are plenty of other places to get them too. Not exactly an inexpensive solution but a proven one.  Just make sure you don't try to run the signal through your network hub/switch




GearHead

[crsdawg]

a friend of mine did this very thing in his house without any extra electronics. he ran the signal in the opposite direction you are tho. he wanted to play mp3's, from his computer that was on the other side of the hous, through his receiver. he had an extra network jack so he gave it a shot. from what i understand you want to use your reciever as a source for your jukebox. shouldn't make any difference tho. if he would have asked me before he did it i would have told him the line length would be to far, and maybe to much for his sound card to handle(read damage), but it worked, and sounds pretty good. i'm not so much endorsing this, just giving you my real world experience on the topic. ymmv.

it also sounds like your going to have a longer run, since you will have to patch the to lines together. it's worth a shot, i guess. just be careful. if you find that the signal strength is weak you might be able use some sort of line driver to boost it. i'm sure the device that gearhead was talking about is similar to this.

good luck

[Wienerdog]

from what i understand you want to use your reciever as a source for your jukebox.

No, the goal is Jukebox/Arcade to Home Theater amp to house speakers.  When the family is in bed at midnight, he doesn't want them to miss out on his game of space invaders.

[neuromancer]

Got a question for anyone who knows anything about audio....

How many feet is the cable run? Measure from the box to the patch bay back to the other box? CAT 5 doesn't really have shielding, so you'll probably pick up really bad hum. The ethernet cables probably run together with the electric.

How hard would it be to pull "real" audio cable?

I don't think you'll hurt anything by trying it out (but I don't know for sure!)> If I were going to do it, I would leave the existing system as is, and buy a patch cable to sacrifice. Cut it in half and attach the RCA plugs to the cut ends.

My computer is about 20' from my stereo, and when I want to connect them, which isn't very often, I drag a 30' patch cord I bought at Radio Shack between them.

Bob

[Chris]

How many feet is the cable run?

Let's see... about 25' for the first run and about 40' for the second run, so about 65' total.

CAT 5 doesn't really have shielding, so you'll probably pick up really bad hum. The ethernet cables probably run together with the electric. How hard would it be to pull "real" audio cable?

Well, when I ran the cables, I made sure that the network crossed the electric at right angles wherever possible.  That was before the drywall went up, though; based on the way the rooms are laid out, it'll be practically impossible to run audio wire over there now...

I don't think you'll hurt anything by trying it out (but I don't know for sure!)> If I were going to do it, I would leave the existing system as is, and buy a patch cable to sacrifice. Cut it in half and attach the RCA plugs to the cut ends.

I think that's what I'm going to try... thank you for your help!

--Chris