Monoblock amplifiers with short ~1foot speaker cables
Clipdat
Posts: 12,934
I was doing some reading and a few people mentioned a potential advantage of using monoblock amplifiers, was that you could physically place them closer to each speaker and thus use a shorter length of speaker cable. So instead of a 6-8ft pair you could get away with 1ft or less connecting each amp to it's speaker.
Of course, this would require longer power and RCA cables. But the "idea" was that it's better to have shorter speaker cable runs versus shorter power/RCA.
Has anyone personally had any experience setting up monoblock amplifiers like this? Any thoughts on perceived or actual benefits to super short speaker cable lengths?
It seems like on one hand, a shorter cable length looks desirable due to reducing inductance, resistance, and capacitance. However, other people claim that 6-8 feet is the "sweet spot" regarding length.
Of course, this would require longer power and RCA cables. But the "idea" was that it's better to have shorter speaker cable runs versus shorter power/RCA.
Has anyone personally had any experience setting up monoblock amplifiers like this? Any thoughts on perceived or actual benefits to super short speaker cable lengths?
It seems like on one hand, a shorter cable length looks desirable due to reducing inductance, resistance, and capacitance. However, other people claim that 6-8 feet is the "sweet spot" regarding length.
Comments
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Nice. Well that pretty much answers that.
I knew that balanced cables were recommended for long runs which makes perfect sense due to their construction and intended usage. The example he uses is much longer/different than mine.
I'm guessing for me it wouldn't make a difference either way. I'll just stay with my 8ft SCs. -
Those videos from Paul at PS Audio are very informative. I really enjoy watching them. If you get a chance watch the one about his listening room at PS Audio. Very nice setup.
I have tried to keep both SC and IC as short as logically possible. And to use XLR's when I can. When I say logically possible I mean to have enough to tidy them up a bit. They are not as short as they could be but close, and very careful planning has gone into equipment placement before cables have been ordered. Each piece of equipment on my rack has its designated spot due to cable length.
I have not spent much time with longer than needed cables with my monoblocks but I have found that the degree of channel separation is greatly increased when going to a monoblock design. Some what off topic but something to consider if you are thinking about trying them.2 Channel Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II, 2 REL Carbon Limited, Norma Revo IPA-140B, Lumin U2 Mini, VPI Prime w/SoundSmith Zephyr MIMC, Modwright PH 150, Denon DP-59l w/Denon DL-301MKII, WAY Silver 3 Ana+ Speaker Cables, WAY Silver 4+ Interconnect Cables, AudioQuest Niagara 7000 w/Dragon and Hurricane Power Cables -
It's hard to imagine a speaker cable less than one foot long unless the speaker and the amp were back-to-back of each other.
Maybe I could just remove the passive radiator and place some monoblock amps inside the cabinets right underneath the crossovers. 
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They already have those, they're called powered monitors
Maybe I could just remove the passive radiator and place some monoblock amps inside the cabinets right underneath the crossovers.
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The distance between 1 ft and 8 ft is pretty insignificant with speaker cables. Don't waste your time and efforts.
Comes into play more so on extremely long runs.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
Understood. Thanks guys!The distance between 1 ft and 8 ft is pretty insignificant with speaker cables. Don't waste your time and efforts.
Comes into play more so on extremely long runs.
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The distance between 1 ft and 8 ft is pretty insignificant with speaker cables. Don't waste your time and efforts.
Comes into play more so on extremely long runs.
Well -- I would say so, too -- but there are those who figure every thing that reduces "damping factor"* is anathema.
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* don't get me started...
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actually, I had another comment (perhaps slightly less pointless than the one I just made above!) as to this thread.
The question being asked presents what us science guys like to call a testable hypothesis. In the perfect world* the only variable should be cable length. Two sets of speaker cables, short(er) and long(er). Try 'em both (i.e., short pair "versus" long pair). Go with the ones that sound better to the person who will be using the hifi most. That's scientific enough.
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* Don't worry -- I'm not going down the blind testing road, nor the confirmation bias road nor any of those other alleyways
It's OK to be empirical and just let it be. Still, comparing two things by ear, I think, is always a wee bit better than making a decision a priori.
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LMAO Professor, apparently you flunked out of "short answers 101" back in the day.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
... and the worst part is, unlike Dickens, I never got paid by the word!
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Ask Doc what time it is and he will tell you how to build a watch...
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I have mono's in my main rig. I tried using 2 pair of 30'' Canare bananas and spades bi-wires on each side of my 1.2tl's. While it did sound nice I found out that there's a lot more to speaker wires than keeping them short. I now use 8' MIT Shotgun bi-wires and the Canares are a distant memory. This was an interesting experiment for me and I'm glad I got to hear the differences as I more than likely would not have believed it if I hadn't tried it out for myself.
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ken brydson wrote: »Ask Doc what time it is and he will tell you how to build a watch...
... and you won't ask again, either (for one reason or another)!
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mhardy6647 wrote: »The distance between 1 ft and 8 ft is pretty insignificant with speaker cables. Don't waste your time and efforts.
Comes into play more so on extremely long runs.
Well -- I would say so, too -- but there are those who figure every thing that reduces "damping factor"* is anathema.
__________________
* don't get me started...
What if (inhales deeply off a hand rolled "cigarette") the amp builders factor in an 8ft speaker run when building their amps and an 8ft speaker run is the exact damping required for optimal sound/control and 1ft is too short? (exhales)
Far out, like, far out, man. -
mhardy6647 wrote: »The distance between 1 ft and 8 ft is pretty insignificant with speaker cables. Don't waste your time and efforts.
Comes into play more so on extremely long runs.
Well -- I would say so, too -- but there are those who figure every thing that reduces "damping factor"* is anathema.
__________________
* don't get me started...
What if (inhales deeply off a hand rolled "cigarette") the amp builders factor in an 8ft speaker run when building their amps and an 8ft speaker run is the exact damping required for optimal sound/control and 1ft is too short? (exhales)
Far out, like, far out, man.
I like your thinking....man. lolHT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
motorstereo wrote: »I found out that there's a lot more to speaker wires than keeping them short.
BINGO!!!
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
mhardy6647 wrote: »The distance between 1 ft and 8 ft is pretty insignificant with speaker cables. Don't waste your time and efforts.
Comes into play more so on extremely long runs.
Well -- I would say so, too -- but there are those who figure every thing that reduces "damping factor"* is anathema.
__________________
* don't get me started...
What if (inhales deeply off a hand rolled "cigarette") the amp builders factor in an 8ft speaker run when building their amps and an 8ft speaker run is the exact damping required for optimal sound/control and 1ft is too short? (exhales)
Far out, like, far out, man.
oh, wow....
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Alright, I'm going to go test this short speaker wire theory.
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I like to use two different lengths of speaker wire to equalize things when the amps bias is out of synch...
Gustard X26 Pro DAC
Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)
There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus -
IMO, I rather have a long "high level" cable (speaker wire), than a long low level (IC) which would be far more subject to extraneous noise.Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
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IMO, I rather have a long "high level" cable (speaker wire), than a long low level (IC) which would be far more subject to extraneous noise.
That's my general sense, too (FWIW) -- but the "ultra-high damping factor posse" will disagree (and I guess we could always use balanced "interconnects" if we're really worried about noise).
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mhardy6647 wrote: »IMO, I rather have a long "high level" cable (speaker wire), than a long low level (IC) which would be far more subject to extraneous noise.
That's my general sense, too (FWIW) -- but the "ultra-high damping factor posse" will disagree (and I guess we could always use balanced "interconnects" if we're really worried about noise).
But if you really want that mega damping factor to mean something, you need to get the passive XO out of there by using an active XO into an amp that connects directly to the woofer!
Cheers, JimA day without music is like a day without food. -
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I have thought about this.
Keeping the wire short saves money. But for me, buying a pair of monoblocks is more expensive.Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R -
I get the idea of keeping it short, but how useful is that, really? All your really going to gain is having to find a place for your mono block amplifiers where they will be hidden however the saving money thing also makes sense...
But not really. -
mlistens03 wrote: »I get the idea of keeping it short, but how useful is that, really? All your really going to gain is having to find a place for your mono block amplifiers where they will be hidden however the saving money thing also makes sense...
But not really.
It makes sense when your cords are expensive. The difference is in the thousands which adds upMagico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R -
Oh... I didn’t think about that. I just use monoprice so for me there is no gain, but now I actually understand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5WFZx6-2hA
