Short Power Cable (ie, 3 to 6ft)

While this is a very "generic" statement that could change from gear to gear, i ( personally ) would try to avoid long interconnects unless both the preamp and power amps were operating in a TRUE "balanced" mode. I am with Greg in my findings of preferring longer speaker cables with shorter IC's when running single ended. Just keep in mind that because something has "balanced" connectors on it, it doesn't really mean that the circuit was truly designed to operate that way. Sean
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My Avalons are the Eclipse Classic and I am using a Rowland Concentra at the moment. I am planning to change my Rowland and may connect it to Wadia direct. Do you think Rowland 6 is a good choice? Or, do you think the Rowland 8 is better?

What comments on the Rowland 8, 8T, 8Ti and 8TiHC? In view of the savings, the 8T appears to be quite a nice budget option. Is the optional Rowland Battery worth a try?

Regarding the balanced cable, does anybody compared the Tara Lab the One and the Cardas Golden Section to the Van Den Hul MC Silver IT?

The Tara Lab Air One (Over US$1,000 second hand!)is almost 3 times as much as the Cardas Golden Section! If take money into consideration, is the Cardas, Tara Lab Air 3 or Tara Lab Decade worth considering?

vtin: the rowland 8t is a good choice, tho i'd try to a/b one with the model 6's. (the battery makes the noise floor lower but is a pain in the patoot to deal with - newer models are ok altho older ones leaked.) BTW, the tara "air one" is not the same as "the one." the air one is mid-line and costs much less than "the one." "the one," in my system, is vastly better sounding than cardas golden section. i've not tried the van den hul but have been very disappointed with similar "silver" cables. -kelly

I am no expert but I think anytime you can shorten a cable you benefit from it. Shorter interconnects equal less capacitive loading and loss and shorter speaker cables equal higher current capability due to less line loss. Just my humble opinion, take it or leave it. Good luck.

Liguy, your thoughts are right on target from a technical perspective. This is exactly why there are so many questions as to why things "measure well" but do not "sound good".

I would simply add that a well designed preamp should be able to deal with a "reasonable" amount of capacitance. Whether the capacitance is spread out due to line length or "bunched up" due to a short but highly reactive design doesn't really matter. It is the total impedance (interconnect AND the input of the device being driven) that counts.

As to speaker cables and current capacity, using heavy gauge speaker cables will minimize line loss. After all, what do you think is going to "current limit" the system more: the traces on the circuit board from the output devices, the wires from the circuit board to the binding posts, the speaker cable, the crossover circuit inside the speaker or the single strand wire in the voice coils ???

You have to look at it as an entire SYSTEM, not just piece by piece. Sean
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PS... If you ever looked inside of most gear, you could find MILLIONS of ways to "upgrade" or "tweak" it.