Interconnect cable for Polk SDA II

I am making new speaker cables for my Polk SDA II's and wondered what is the optimum length interconnect cable if the speaker cables are 9.5' long? I would think you would want the interconnect cable length as close to the speaker cable length as possible. I have never seen the factory cables for these speakers so I don't even know what length they were.

Comments

  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,704
    The original SDA cables were a minimum of 20 feet long, some longer. However, there is no optimum length, so make them as long you need them to be.
    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

  • Scott99
    Scott99 Posts: 33
    I would think excessive changes to the length of the interconnects and speaker cables could affect timing of the SDA. If the original interconnect cable was a minimum of 20'. What was the length of the speaker cables that came with the SDA's? Assuming they came with the speakers.
  • ken brydson
    ken brydson Posts: 8,638
    Speakers never come with cables unless we're talking HTIB...
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,704
    It came that length in a cover all bases way. 20 feet is way more than most people would require.
    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

  • Scott99
    Scott99 Posts: 33
    Ok, thanks. I will stick with my theory that the interconnects should be as close as possible to the length of the speaker cables just in case it makes a difference. Thanks again guys for the information!
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,704
    The length doesn’t make a difference. The quality of the cable used does.
    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

  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,474
    F1nut wrote: »
    The length doesn’t make a difference. The quality of the cable used does.

    ^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^
  • FestYboy
    FestYboy Posts: 3,861
    Remember, the signal is traveling the speed of light... 2.036494e−8 of a sec for those 20ft
  • FestYboy
    FestYboy Posts: 3,861
    ^ for those not familiar with scientific notation, that number reads 0.00000002036494 sec.
  • Viking64
    Viking64 Posts: 6,646
    FestYboy wrote: »
    ^ for those not familiar with scientific notation, that number reads 0.00000002036494 sec.

    Well, that clears things up a whole bunch. :o:p

    56h2f6s0682z.jpg
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    edited August 2018
    In most cables electrical signals travel at about 2/3 the speed of light. The electrons inside the metal move at a snail's pace called the drift velocity. They don't have to move very far until they bump into another electron, which in turn bumps against another electron. Kind of like a line of tumbling dominoes.
  • FestYboy
    FestYboy Posts: 3,861
    Ok, so that makes it: C=y+(.5y)

    3.054741e-8 seconds.

    Point being: you can't detect the difference, even at 10 times that length.
  • Scott99
    Scott99 Posts: 33
    Well there are several other things to consider. You would not make your left speaker wire 5' long and your right 20' long. The longer cable would have added resistance, more length to be exposed to different types of interference, difference in capacitance, etc. Especially when lower quality materials are used to make the cables the less of it you want in the signal path. Most of us take great care to make sure all our speaker drivers are getting the same quality signal. Why would we not want to make the same considerations with our SDA drivers?
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,704
    We have been talking about cables of equal side to side length.

    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

  • Scott99
    Scott99 Posts: 33
    My original question was asking "What is the optimum length interconnect cable if the speaker cables are 9.5' long?" The way I understand it. If you have 9 foot speaker cables and a 20 foot interconnect cable. Your SDA drivers have the equivalent of 29 foot speaker cables and your other drivers have 9 foot speaker cables powering them. I would think we would want to try and make the interconnect cable as short as possible to try and get the same quality audio signal to all drivers.
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,704
    You're over thinking it. The difference between 9.5 and 20 feet is not going to affect the sound, the distances are too short. Therefore, the optimum length is whatever you need it to be.
    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

  • FestYboy
    FestYboy Posts: 3,861
    See my post on August 3rd.
  • dc270
    dc270 Posts: 1
    Could a replacement cable be made up from coax cable, high grade solid silver center conductor type used in head end work??
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,704
    Hell NO!!!
    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

  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    F1nut wrote: »
    Hell NO!!!

    Don't worry, others will opine. That's just Jesse's way of saying "Welcome to Club Polk!" :smile:
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
    Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
    Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
    Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
    Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
    Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD.
  • audioluvr
    audioluvr Posts: 5,420
    dc270 wrote: »
    Could a replacement cable be made up from coax cable, high grade solid silver center conductor type used in head end work??

    I suppose you could make one out of rebar too but why?
    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
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,474
    audioluvr wrote: »
    dc270 wrote: »
    Could a replacement cable be made up from coax cable, high grade solid silver center conductor type used in head end work??

    I suppose you could make one out of rebar too but why?

    Geesh don't give'em any idea'rs