Long cables - line level vs. speaker???

[whoaru99]

I see that many high-end companies recommend putting the amps close to the speakers and having longer line level cables versus longer speaker cables.

To me, this seems just backwards. Isn't it more likely that a long line level run has the possibility to degrade the signal more than a long speaker run?

For a frame of reference, I'm talking 25-30 ft lengths...

Thanks,
Todd

[Kevin P]

I agree with you. It's better to have short interconnects to the amps, and longer speaker wires, than the other way around. Low level signals are affected more by noise, interference, and cable capacitance than high (speaker) level signals.

You could go the long interconnect/amp near speakers setup but long interconnects of the quality required would be far more expensive than the equivalent length of speaker wire.

[Leef DaLucky]

I'm thinking this may only apply to balanced XLR interconnects?
Many of the reviews seem to indicate they are stabler and shielded a lot better than typical longer rca runs.
I wouldn't want to see the price tag on a good 30 ft run of XLR though.

cheers,
Mikey

[JonMarsh]

I agree with you. It's better to have short interconnects to the amps, and longer speaker wires, than the other way around. Low level signals are affected more by noise, interference, and cable capacitance than high (speaker) level signals.

You could go the long interconnect/amp near speakers setup but long interconnects of the quality required would be far more expensive than the equivalent length of speaker wire.

Hmmmm. I think at best, one has to say, YMMV. For example, I run balanced output from my preamp, and the electronic crossovers which are going back into my system soon are balanced output with low impedance tranformer drive.

Most standard solid state preamps, even CD players, have pretty low impedance outputs (under 50 ohms), and driving 20-30 feet of a good set of interconnects shouldn't be too difficult. Now, my Cardas Golden Reference speaker cables are about as low a signature as I know of (AWG = 5.5; braided construction cuts inductance drastically compared with standard constructions), but the simple COST to buy a 20 foot set would turn what hair I have left white.... an 8 foot set was bad enough...

Then there's the matter of which is easier to route or hide...

Maybe it's a decision that should be considered carefully for each installation and it's requirements...

~Jon

[ThomasW]

I'm an member of the long (fully shielded 2 conductor, but not necessarily fully balanced) interconnect and short speaker wire school of thought. :T

[whoaru99]

Hmmm...

It sounds like a test is in order.

I don't have immediate access to 30-ft interconnects of very high quality. But, for my powered sub, I made an RCA interconnect with Belden 8760 - specs as follows

Nom. Characteristic Impedance 60 Ohms
Nom. Inductance .18 µH/ft
Nom. Capacitance Conductor to Conductor @ 1 KHz 24 pF/ft
Nom. Cap. Cond. to Other Cond. & Shield @ 1 KHz 44 pF/ft
Nom. Conductor DC Resistance @ 20 Deg. C 6.5 Ohms/1000 ft
Max. Operating Voltage - UL 300 V RMS (UL AWM Style 2092)
Max. Recommended Current 5.2 Amps per conductor @ 25°C

I wired the cable using a "balanced" connection scheme (one conductor for center pin / one conductor for ground / shield connected to the ground only at the source end). I do understand that with RCA it's not really a true balanced configuration, but you get the point.

My speaker cables are no-name 12-ga fine strand OFC.

I have enough of the Belden wire to make a second interconnect in short order. Is the quality of the cables described sufficient that I could expect a meaningful result of the test? In other words, sufficient quality to even be worth the effort to test?

Thanks again.
Todd

[JonMarsh]

This Belden is good for making a reasonable basic cable. Without knowing more about your system, it may be all you ever need. The most important point, IMO, is that you're using a dual wire configuartion with shield connected only at one end. This is the best unbalanced configuration, EXCEPT for Video and digital SPDIF signals, where you need a high grade coax with a characteristic impedance.

You might find improvements using a cable with teflon insulated individual wires, and with a heavy braid shield, instead of just metalized plastic (Beldfoil). For a subwoofer application, the dilectric properties of the insulator are not very critical; this seems to become more a factor in the upper frequency ranges.

Remember, the important thing for YOU to determine is what works for you in YOUR system, at the price you're willing to pay. And that's why I started off wtih YMMV....