Pass Labs X260.8

All XLR cables are not the same, all single ended are not the same. Performance of single ended versus XLR are highly dependent on each component. I have owned a lot of the equipment you own or slightly different models. The most important parameter is the sound of the interconnect or cable first… will you hear a sound quality difference between using the XLR and single ended (other than volume… which is not good or bad as it doesn’t change any characteristic in your system), maybe, maybe not. If your going to do a long run… I would use XLR, but it might not sound better… the brand is what is important… how it sounds with your gear.

For forty years I chose single ended. First because it was all there was, later because my other stuff was single ended… but times are moving on. Now I have all XLR… I will buy all XLR in the future. It is figuring out the best brand / model for your system.

So, if in fact, XLR cables all seem to be the same. Where would they fall into range of single ended cables? Are they over all better, average, worse than unbalanced?

@jetter - WRT

he states that there is little difference in sound from one XLR interconnect to another.

He’s probably correct for many commercial products, mainly because they all conform to the more generally accepted cable geometries (i.e. two wires inside a braided neutral and they use similar wire.

However, if you get into DIY you can improve performance over the commercial products by using SOTA wires and insulations and a more unusual cable geometry

Unfortunately many of the DIY designs do not lend themselves to Cables longer than 5-6 ft.

But if that’s all that is required then you can improve perofrmance significantly by using designs like this one

• *HELIX IMAGE Interconnect | My Audio Alchemy (image99.net)
• scroll down towards the end of the page or search for The “HELIX IMAGE Mundorf (XLR)” Interconnect

Cables like these offer superior dynamics, details, clarity and imaging regardless of whether they are single ended or XLR

Of course there is the "Balanced vs. Single ended" debate, but from what I have heard from many others that have compared the single ended Helix DIY to the XLR version - there is little between them - some prefer XLR and some prefer single ended .

So this leads me to believe that it then becomes more a case of, which cable type better suits the connected components.

Regards - Steve

As an aside, there is a very well-respected pre/amp manufacturer on this site, and if I understand correctly, he states that there is little difference in sound from one XLR interconnect to another. As contrasted with RCA interconnects.

Cannot verify this as I only use RCAs.

williewonka, thank you for the info, that is interesting about separating the + and - conductors of my speaker wires. I was using 26' bi-wire Morrow speaker cables, and now changed over the XLRs for the longer run. I have cut the pair of speaker cables into 4 lengths, each length has 8 smaller conductors in parallel. I will experiment with using different configurations, bi-amping, biwire and now biconductor.

@marktheshark - I would definitely go with the amp as close as possible to the speakers and use speaker cables that are as short as possible.

I would also opt for speaker cables with totally separate +ve and -ve wires to reduce noise contamination between +ve and -ve conductors.

Conventional cables (i.e. with both conductors side by side in a single cable) will create noise in the conductors - especially with the PASS amps

There are not many brands out there that will work their best with the Pass amps because of their symmetrical balanced approach, so you might have to resort to making your own (or have them made)

You could use Neotech stranded (or solid) UP-OCC wire to build your own short cables and attach Furuz Silver plated Spades or Bananas that can be attached by solder or even screw termination.like this one

• https://www.avoutlet.com/av-cables-connectors/av-connectors/speaker/furez-sp8-sb60ag/

For the XLR cables, checkout professional grade band gear - there are some very robust and flexible options - like these...

UGREEN XLR Cable XLR Male to Female Balanced 3 PIN XLR Microphone Cable DMX Cable Compatible with Amplifiers, Condenser Microphones, Mixer, Behringer, Preamp, Speakers, Recording and More (3ft) : Amazon.ca: Musical Instruments, Stage & Studio

OR

https://www.amazon.ca/Microphone-Cable-VANDESAIL-Female-Balanced/dp/B08JNYXGGP/ref=sr_1_31?crid=330SFCKOVTDSL&keywords=xlr%2Bcable%2Bscreened&qid=1640622474&sprefix=xlr%2Bcables%2Bscreened%2Caps%2C212&sr=8-31&th=1

Another established brand in the live music world is

Custom Series Microphone Cable | Accessories | D’Addario (daddario.com)

I use all of these cables for band work - in both XLR and single ended designs and their construction is very good and they sound great also + very affordable compared to audiophile grade products

Hope that helps - Steve

I can't afford most of the cables made by Stealth, but they do have a good tech discussion on their website that deals with the decision about longer speaker cables vs. longer interconnects. Stealth strongly supports longer interconnects rather than long speaker cables. Ideally, both should be fairly short IMO, but that isn't always possible in real-life living spaces.

Thanks for the info guys, and Happy New Year !

Yes, using balanced cables allows for longer runs. 24’ speaker cables would be WAY more expensive than interconnects. 

My experience and from knowledgeable folks has always pointed to short as possible speaker cables and longer preamp - amp interconnects. 

Thank you for your advice Geof and Mitch, I always thought of keeping the interconnects as short as possible because they were more critical to the sound of the overall system, rather than speaker cables. Is it because I would be using balanced cables instead of unbalanced?

I am looking at Morrow 8 meter balanced interconnects. I have used shorter cables from Morrow in the past, and they seem like good quality and a good value. Obviously, with my configuration, I am am going to be paying a lot for decent 24’ cables if I move the amps next to the speakers.

Regarding the PASS Labs X260.8 manual. I have not found it specifically online, just more generic .8 manuals. I'm sure something will come with the amps.

I will be very interested in hearing your thoughts on the differences in sound quality between the two amps in your system. I owned Pass designed amps for decades. You will certainly get more slam from the 250. 

Like @geof3 says, long ICs and short SCs, unless you are using a passive preamp in which case you would want to keep the ICs as short as possible for best sound

Longer balanced cables, as short as possible speaker cables. If you take a look at the manual, this is what Pass recommends, and is usually the consensus.