Longer Speaker Cable or Longer run to amp?
xsmi
Posts: 1,798
I want to move my components from in between the speakers. However, here’s my dilemma: I’m trying to decide if I should purchase longer speaker cables or longer RCA interconnects to run between my amp and pre? My amp has balanced inputs, but my pre does not.
2-channelBelles 22A Pre, Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2, Marantz SA8005, Pro-Ject RPM-10 Turntable, Pro-Ject Phono Box DS3B, Polk Audio Legend L800's, AudioQuest Cable throughout.
Comments
-
Good question! I’d like to see where people land on this. I would go with short speaker cables and long interconnects. If you can use balanced interconnects, even better.
-
I've always been told, higher the voltage the lower the resistance. If that's true you want to keep your interconnects short.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 -
I'm in the longer interconnect, short speaker wire camp.
-
I'm in the long camp. My RCA to the amp is 3 meters long and my speaker cables are 20' long. The rest of my RCA's are 1 meter.
-
I don't think it really matters much either way for most home audio systems and that's true whether it's XLR or RCA connectors running between components.
My preference is to have longer speaker cables if I don't want to have an audio rack between the speakers. Not because it's better to have longer speaker cables than interconnects but because of the logistics of powering an amp and connecting it to the preamp if it's located away from the rest of the components. There's a chance of picking up a ground loop hum if an amp is plugged into a different household circuit than the rest of the system.
Long speaker cables also tend to be way cheaper than long interconnects if they're of equivalent quality. -
There you have it! Clear as mud. Got any other questions we can confuse you with?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 -
I'm running a 5 meter rca cable from my tube preamp to my solid state amp without any problems.
-
I'm running a 5 meter rca cable from my tube preamp to my solid state amp without any problems.
I'm in the process of building a new rack and moving all my gear to the side of the room, less Ampifiers (Monoblocks) which will remain next to the speakers.
I also have a five meter pair of I/C's (single ended) between the Preamp and Amps. I have noticed zero loss of fidelity in the 'trial' set-up, in fact moving the rack out from between the SDA's has given me a bit of a deeper stage than what I had previously, and vocals are even more pronounced
Looking forward to getting everything done and in it's place
-
It depends on what 'long' means. The signal going to the speaker is much larger/stronger than the signal on interconnects. So, the speaker signal will have less loss over longer speaker cables than the loss over longer interconnect cables.Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
I'm running a pair of sda2a's right now, and I was using the apogee duetta 2's both speakers sound great in my dedicated room. They didn't sound nearly as good in my living room with shorter interconnects and a TV and rack in-between.
-
In addition to the prior points made, the lower voltage of an interconnect run makes it more susceptible to interference. The speaker wires carry a much higher voltage signal, and are far less likely to suffer from any interference."Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow
“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn -
The traditional preference is long balanced interconnects and short speaker cables.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 -
If you believe in (i.e., care about) "damping factor", you'll want to keep the loudspeaker cables short.
If you care about noise rejection, you'll want to keep the "interconnect" (line-level signal) cables short.
In the perfect world, they'll all be short and hard-wired between components (i.e., no plugs, spades, pins, etc.)
In the real world -- well, we do the best we can.
For long "interconnects" -- consider moving to balanced (XLR) line-level inputs and outputs; balanced cables are used in pro applications, largely (not exclusively) so that long cable runs aren't "noisy" (subject to induced noise). -
Does anyone know of a tube pre with balanced outputs?2-channelBelles 22A Pre, Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2, Marantz SA8005, Pro-Ject RPM-10 Turntable, Pro-Ject Phono Box DS3B, Polk Audio Legend L800's, AudioQuest Cable throughout.
-
Almost all of those by Balanced Audio Technology (BAT). Also some by Audio Research.
-
-
Almost all of those by Balanced Audio Technology (BAT). Also some by Audio Research.
BAT is out of my price range.2-channelBelles 22A Pre, Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2, Marantz SA8005, Pro-Ject RPM-10 Turntable, Pro-Ject Phono Box DS3B, Polk Audio Legend L800's, AudioQuest Cable throughout. -
-
Well, that wasn’t supposed to be a comprehensive list. There’s a later model of my beloved Joule Electra with balanced outputs and the Canary above. You might find something on the used market that could fit the budget.
-
There’s the Schiit Freya+ for $949. The “S” version is $599, but solid state.
-
A fully balanced tube preamp new is likely to cost at least several thousand dollars. But there are also tube preamps costing more than $10K that don't have XLR connections at all because they don't need them.
Rogue, Sonic Frontiers (old), PrimaLuna come to mind as offering balanced connections on higher models. Sonic Frontiers products have a habit of breaking and needing to be rebuilt after 20 years or so. Rogue seems to be a solid choice these days for new product. -
There’s the Schiit Freya+ for $949. The “S” version is $599, but solid state.
How would this one compare to my Belles 22a?2-channelBelles 22A Pre, Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2, Marantz SA8005, Pro-Ject RPM-10 Turntable, Pro-Ject Phono Box DS3B, Polk Audio Legend L800's, AudioQuest Cable throughout. -
MHO it don't you have a better pre in the Belles. To better the Belles and it could be a sideways move but the Canary is a VERY nice Pre-amp
@treitz3 chime in here brother. -
Yeah, keep your Belles.
-
Try it (the Belles preamp) with long RCA (unbalanced) "interconnects".
Make a pair with good cable (Mogami has some nice options) and RCA plugs and see if it's satisfactory. -
I would just give it a try with your Belles preamp, before you look for a balanced preamp. If you have problems, then look for a balanced preamp.
-
Does anyone know of a tube pre with balanced outputs?
The Cary tubed pres have them....SLC03 may be in your price range. -
MHO it don't you have a better pre in the Belles. To better the Belles and it could be a sideways move but the Canary is a VERY nice Pre-amp
@treitz3 chime in here brother.
Keep the Belles pre if you can. I would try that first (with a shielded IC) and with the shortest run possible.
The Canary does not have balanced outs, so it would be the same thing to the OP as having the Belles.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
My RCA to the amp is 3 meters long and my speaker cables are 20' long. The rest of my RCA's are 1 meter.
So, wait -- you mix metric and Imperial units in your system?!
Oh, that's bad ju-ju. Like crossing the streams...
-
I have the best of both worlds, long interconnects and long speaker wires.Stan
Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.
HT:
Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60
Other stuff:
Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601
