Thoughts on interconnect vs. speaker cable length.


I wish to plae my amp closer to the speakers and away from the front end rack.

My system consists of Esoteric MG10s, Bel 1001MKV, Audible Illusions 3a, PS DLIII DAC, M2Tech USB/SPdif. Mac Mini, Arcam DV137, Sonograph Turntable.
mesch

Showing 1 response by almarg

There is no universal answer, as it depends on various technical characteristics of the particular components, as well as on the characteristics of the cables, and the preferences of the listener. Those are among the reasons that opinions and reported experiences on this question tend to diverge.

In your particular case I don't think that the answer is predictable. The 3.8 ohm minimum impedance of your speakers, as reported here, works in the direction of favoring short speaker cables. The very high 1800 ohm or so output impedance of the preamp, as reported here, works in favor of short interconnects. The fact that the interconnects are unbalanced works in favor of short interconnects. Other factors that are sensitive to the length of unbalanced interconnects, such as susceptibility to emi/rfi pickup and susceptibility of the components to ground loop effects, are essentially unpredictable.

And then, of course, there is the question of listener preference, which may or may not favor the most neutral behavior of the cables.

The bottom line: You'll have to try it for yourself, as Elizabeth said.

In trying the long interconnect approach, I would suggest choosing cables having low capacitance per unit length (e.g., 25 pf/foot or less, the lower the better), to minimize upper treble rolloff and slowed transient response that may otherwise result from the interaction between cable capacitance and the high output impedance of the preamp.

Regards,
-- Al