@Fil, did you alter your gain stages at all when you switched cables? If you turned down the output in your source device (and any other stages along the way), which meant you had to turn up the volume at your pre-amp in order to get the same amount of sound out of your speakers. By doing this, you are also turning up the noise throughout the system.
If you keep your source levels high, as well as any adjustments along the way, then at the last point--the pre-amp--the volume does not need to be adjusted high for the same volume. This means that the noise in the system (all systems have some amount of noise) is not boosted higher either.
If all of the gain stages before the final pre-amp one are set so high that you can barely turn up the pre-amp volume without blasting your speakers, then you'll need to find some balance by turning down the earlier gain stages. You want to find a sweet spot where none of the gain stages are so extreme it makes other gain stages set at unworkable levels.
Sorry, if this doesn't make a lot of sense. I come from a pro sound reinforcement background where we typically deal with a lot of gain stages before the sound comes out of the speakers. I'm trying to describe it in more layman's terms, instead of the lingo me an my work buddies would use.
If you keep your source levels high, as well as any adjustments along the way, then at the last point--the pre-amp--the volume does not need to be adjusted high for the same volume. This means that the noise in the system (all systems have some amount of noise) is not boosted higher either.
If all of the gain stages before the final pre-amp one are set so high that you can barely turn up the pre-amp volume without blasting your speakers, then you'll need to find some balance by turning down the earlier gain stages. You want to find a sweet spot where none of the gain stages are so extreme it makes other gain stages set at unworkable levels.
Sorry, if this doesn't make a lot of sense. I come from a pro sound reinforcement background where we typically deal with a lot of gain stages before the sound comes out of the speakers. I'm trying to describe it in more layman's terms, instead of the lingo me an my work buddies would use.