I personally think that Mgottlieb's message points to the source of the confusion. Balanced ICs were designed to cover long distances. In recording situations there are sometimes 50 feet or more between even a mic and its pre-amp (this is a signal much weaker than line level). Single ended (RCA) interconnects were designed for under 2 meter runs. Speaker cable was also designed for longer but still relatively short runs, but because of its higher level it can usually take runs up to about 25 feet without much audible effect (providing the cable has good electrical properties at that distance). So if you have balanced (XLR) interconnects, longer ICs (within reason) and shorter speaker cable may work well (though you will need very good ICs). But if you are using single ended ICs they should be as short as possible and speaker cable can be lengthened a bit. All that said if your setup has everything under 2 meters or so there won't be much of an issue either way. Personally I use very short single ended connections to the pre-amp (.5 meter) and a .5 meter digital cable. I use a slightly longer cable to the power amp (1.5 meters) and am forced to use quite long 25' speaker cables. I have very good results with this configuration.
