I just went from 2 channel amp to mono blocks. Is it important that I stop using 4 meter audio quest rocket 88 and downsize to 6 ft? Will there be an audible improvement?
The improvement will be huge. But not because of the shorter length, but only if you use this as an opportunity to upgrade to better cables. That will be huge.
Right. If all you do is cut one down I doubt you'll hear any difference. Or put it this way, what little there is will pale to nothing compared to the amp. Whereas you could easily upgrade the cable enough to be an obviously greater improvement than the amp. It all depends on the cable. The biggest impact of length by far is that the longer the more it costs and so the less quality you can afford.
If you cut them in half, you will have half the inductance, resistance and capacitance. However, I doubt whether the difference would be audible to you. However, if you are running single wires and use the opportunity to double up and biwire, then you might hear something. Also, if you use the opportunity to upgrade your speaker cables since shorter cables typically cost less, that may also provide an audible improvement as discussed by @millercarbon . I typically use 1M long speaker cables with my monoblocks.
Just to be clear steven0713 when saying you will definitely hear worthwhile improvement with quality cable I mean quality cable, not that 4s11 stuff. You can spend a lot and still have crap if you're not careful.
I use Audioquest GO-4's for my Vandy Treo's and Ayre monoblocks. The length is 6 feet. My dealer, John Rutan, swears by short speaker lengths (As does Ralph Karsten (atmasphere). Anything longer introduces/enhances cable artifacts. I don't know what your system is besides the AQ cables, but if you have 'good' equipment, and some disposable income, I would suggest buying a pair of AQ William Tell cables. I heard them at Audioconnection and the difference between the GO-4 and William Tell was amazing- and I am not a cable nut. They were truly cleaner/clearer. Even the bass was enhanced. Like I said, I am not a cable enthusiast, but those cables were absolutely amazing. Yes, not inexpensive, but, in my mind, worth the cost. Bob
Just to be clear steven0713 when saying you will definitely hear worthwhile improvement with quality cable I mean quality cable, not that 4s11 stuff. You can spend a lot and still have crap if you're not careful.
The Canare 4s11 is worth trying out. The poster quoted above is known to be a fanboy of certain brands (only those he owns) and has difficutly seeing beyond them. When he mentions spending a lot, that is true, if you consider spending $81 dollars for a pair of terminated 6' Canare 4s11 from Blue Jeans Cable a lot.
As said by @jjss49 , shorter is better, all other things being equal. It means less R, L, C to interact with the speakers. So, I suggest you try to borrow a shorter set of cables or buy them with right of return.
Many who go to monoblocks use very short cables, a meter or less. Possible in your case (at least for comparison)?
Both parts of "audible improvement" are hard to predict in someone else’s system; i.e., whether the difference will be audible to you, and whether you will think it an improvement. Not all differences make the sound better or worse.
One of the benefits of switching to mono blocks is the ability to use shorter runs of cable. It is not imperative that you take advantage of this opportunity, but why wouldn’t you? This is an excellent time to upgrade, If you are going to use the the same AQ cables in a shorter length, you will probably not notice a difference. Use the shortest length of upgraded cable possible; it will look neater, impress your friends, and sound better. While you’re at it, replace those standard power cords with some better ones. Enjoy!
For whatever it is worth, my speakers' instruction manual says to use as short of a cable as possible. I doubt the difference in you cutting yours in half would be audible, but less mess cannot hurt.
careful with the mono block argument for shorter speaker cables... unless you are moving the speakers closer together you are replacing the span with interconnects to the mono blocks - that may well be a losing trade... making a smaller signal travel farther
balanced ic’s often a solution in this case, but then you get into whether the equipment is truly balanced or just having xlr plugs instead of rca
as usual, all else equal is the key phrase... it rarely is...
The shorter the better but with wires thicker than about 10 awg, noone will be able to tell the difference, unless you are a superhuman spectrum analyzer.
Well, here's a marker. My cable run is 30' with Transient cables and their booster at the termination to the speaker. I must be such a cave dweller! They sound good to me.
I switched to 0000 AWG welding cables. Biggest improvement for $$ spent I’ve ever had!! Not even rebuilding my entire listening room resulted in such a night and day difference!! Made from 36 AWG strands, in an 8-fold double helix within a helix configuration. Gold plated silver connectors. Silver welded to the helix cable. Amazing!!
I’d sell your AQ Rocket 88’s, but I strongly suggest not cutting them, especially because they were already terminated by AQ. I’m sure there’s someone out there looking for that exact cable in that exact length. For what you can get for selling a 4 meter pair, you could most likely find an equally good quality 1-2 meter pair of new or even used cables depending on how close you’re putting each amp to each speaker.
Good luck @steven0713 regardless of what you decide to do!
@steven0713 Check out Transparent High Performance 10-2 with The Brick. They will cut to your size or go with their 10 foot length and have extra to neatly run from your amps to your speakers.
Went from Morrow 6’s to Cerious Graphene, like an upgraded component even without any breakin. Was a wow moment and all connections were and are cleaned and treated with stabilant.
Went from Morrow 6’s to Cerious Graphene matrix, like an upgraded component even without any breakin. Was a wow moment and all connections were and are cleaned and treated with stabilant.
Hi Steve 0713. In general, speaker cables are more critical than interconnects. So, if you can, put the monoblocks very close to the speakers and use long interconnects to feed signal to them. You can easily make good interconnects using Belden microphone wire. You should hear a noticable improvement in addition to the serious improvement the new amps will make. Keep Smiling.
Shorter interconnects and speaker cables are theoretically better sounding than longer ones, and longer power cables are better than shorter ones (just don't makes loops out of excess cord - it creates a magnetic field). Also, don't run the cords close and in parallel to each other, try to have them cross, if unavoidable, at 90 degrees.
Whether or not you can hear the difference (all other things being equal) may be questionable, but doesn't this business rely on the theoretical, specifications, etc.?
Psychoacoustics - if you think it sounds better, it does.
Morrow is the best I've seen. Very good prices, usually there is a sale, or a 40% discount if you upgrade from any cable. They have a very long break-in period so be prepared.
I had mono blocks & went to used Anthoney Gallo 3.1 Speakers with 8 foot high end Silver Plated O2 Free Twisted 12 Gauge Copper Cables (Cables came with the speakers). I was underwhelmed with the highs, especially Cymbal Sheen.
Later, I built 3 foot long, 5 Strand Pure Silver, (Just under 12 Gauge Total) Teflon coated Speaker Wires & connected them directly to the Mono Blocks.
WOW did the highs ever Jump out & Cymbals had that Sheen, just as in real life.
I do not know if it was the Length or Silver, but the combination was spectacular!.
Have QS mono block 60 watt tube amps with 97.5 dB efficient Speakers tried combination of long IC & short SC & different brands of cables the best I found were boutique cables Zenwave alloy( gold & Silver etc) & Wywire , I ended up with Wywire all copper Both IC 2 meter 3 meter Speaker cables ( although tried Mogami 1meter self terminated cables ) I don’t like cables that seem to be used as tone control that is what I found with Silver ( bright) or silver gold alloy . The Wywire are very neutral you hardly know they are their in your system
Why change your cables? With the length you have, you could cut those down probably to where you could use a whole cable per binding post - twisting the amp ends together may be a challenge, but I would use as much of your existing cable cut down to short little bundles as possible. Whatever you could fit in the spade to crimp. You won’t regret that and would make your Rocket sound like some of the bigger AQ models, and better. There will not only be a difference going shorter, but an improvement!
Don't forget to factor in the cost of longer power cords if you are moving your power amps close to your speakers. Going cheap on longer power cords could be a big mistake. In fact, going cheap on any power cords is a big mistake.
Well, I run 20’ Vandenhul bi wire cables from my CJ Premier 12 mono blocks to Vandersteen Quattros. I don’t have much choice due to living room layout and wife’s preference.
Responding to ""
a_shah's post above, specifically ""I don’t like cables that seem to be used as tone control that is what I found with Silver ( bright) or silver gold alloy"". Ask yourself ""Are the Speaker Cables somehow changing the Frequency & Sheen of the sound, or just Passing Along ""the Frequency & Sheen of the sound"", that is presented to them from your upstream electronics?
I say the latter is likely the truth, think about it.
All Low Fidelity systems that I have heard lack the Sheen presented by Cymbals; with many exaggerating the Bass through tone controls.
Another Canare 4S11 fan here, if you can run them bare or terminate them yourself they are only $1.28 per foot from Redco definitely worth a try. I'm not sure if they offer termination service but check their website.
steven0713, First of all, the quote from Richard Vandersteen is absolutely correct. This is my experience. I went from 15' to 8' of the same Rocket 88 speaker cable and found a slight, but noticeable difference in details against a black background. Psychoacoustics? Possibly... But the real change came from replacing Rocket 88 and moving up to William Tell ZERO in 8' length. That opened everything up, considerably. eagleeye7 describes it exactly correct, just above. It's an expensive upgrade, but if you are placing plenty of your money into mono block amplifiers than don't stop there. Feed them the signal that will yield the best results. This also includes high quality power cables, if you don't already have them. Note; William Tell ZERO is a full-range speaker cable. If you are running bi-wire than you would need to buy the bi-wire combo setup. It's very expensive. I went with the full-range William Tell ZERO after coming from my bi-wire Rocket 88. Man, it is awesome! Best to you.
@mammothguy54, +1 Though the OP doesn't have to go as far up the AQ chain to achieve higher resolution, I would personally opt for the William Tell's, as it would be the end of a chase. Don't believe me? PM ctsooner, or audioconnection (John Rutan)- the latter can give you the best info on cables-PERIOD Bob
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