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Long interconnect or short Speaker Cables

I have a question regarding length of IC and Speaker Cable

My scenario is I have a pre amp and a pair of monoblocks the speakers are about 12’ and 18’ respectively from the monoblocks.

Now the monoblocks are 2' from the pre amp with an 16’ and 18’ run of signal cable shotgun speaker wire.

Would it be better to place the Monoblocks next to the speakers and use a long IC run and a short speaker run?
What would the advantages and disadvantages be beside cost?
Are ICs more prone to pick up noise?
Will it change the characteristics of the sound?
And is there a budget IC that I should consider?

I say budget as 18-20’ is gonna be rather expensive in IC cables if I do go that route.

Also as one speaker is further away than the other about 6’ should I use the same length cable run for both or can I use one 18’ and one 12’ run

Thanks for any advice
punkuk

Showing 3 responses by sdcampbell

sdcampbell
2,136 posts
 
You might take a look at Alpha-Core Goertz MI2 speaker cables. I have been using them for about 3 years and been extremely pleased. In your setup, the A-C Goertz speaker cable has two virtues:
1. the cable has very low impedance, so longer runs are not a problem;
2. Alpha-Core states on their web site that you can use uneven lengths of their speaker cable without causing problems.

Alpha-Core offers a 30-day money-back trial if you order from their web site, so you could try them to see if you are satisfied. Here's the link to their web page for the MI series of speaker cables:
http://www.alphacore.com/mispeaker.html
sdcampbell
2,136 posts
 
Mitch 2 is correct in his point that if you get Alpha-Core Goertz speaker cables, you should plan to insert a Zobel network on each speaker terminal. You can buy high quality resistors and capacitors from several online electronic parts retailers and make your own for about $25.
sdcampbell
2,136 posts
 
Tvad: Yes, I'm aware that A-C supplies Zobel circuits with their Goertz speaker cables. I still recommend building your own from quality components, as:
1. the resistor and capacitor that A-C supplies are not very good quality;
2. the value of the resistor in A-C's Zobel circuit is not optimal. I base this on several independent reviews of A-C's speaker cables. Here is the link to one review that was published on the Audioholics web site: http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/audioprinciples/interconnects/speakercable2p2.php
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