Which cable do you think is most important?

so the signal coming to the pre,#1your pre takes, what its been fed,prepares it,and off it goes to be amplified.the cable from the pre#2.The signal from your source and its quality or lack of, Will soon reveal itself to you .speaker cable#3 i use a pass/pre.I found in the 4 pre,s I tried,the sound was muddled,there was something missing in the sound,or adding to its performance.#4 power cables.the info used in the design of the high end cables, ,Its not a mystery.easy enough to DIY.Buy quality parts.Its all important .given,your source is where it begins.Where it ends,in your speakers,should be the best you can afford,IMHO.i now know there is some great audio gear,and it doesnt cost a fortune. Gotta know what to look for.Good Luck

I don't think it's possible to provide a better answer to which cable is more important than "it depends." For instance, considering just interconnects the following four variables are potentially significant:

1)Length: Obviously the longer the cable, the more pronounced its effects will be.

2)Signal level: The lower the signal level, the more important the cable is likely to be, everything else being equal. Keep in mind that the signal level from source to preamp may or may not be less than the level from preamp to power amp. For instance, a cdp with 2-volt output in a system with a sensitive power amp and speakers may result in the volume control being set very low (say 9 or 10 a.m.), which corresponds to a lower signal level coming out of the preamp than going into it.

3)Component output impedance: Higher output impedance of the component driving the cable will increase some cable effects.

4)Interconnect importance is affected by the ac power distribution scheme: If the interconnects are unbalanced (rca connectors), and the connected components are plugged into separate dedicated ac lines, or separate outlets, or separately filtered outputs of a power conditioner, low shield resistance in the interconnect assumes increased importance, in order to minimize the likelihood of ground loop issues. With balanced (xlr) interconnects, this is unlikely to be an issue.

Obviously there are many other variables that enter into the picture with respect to speaker cables and power cords.

Keep in mind, also, that "more important" does not necessarily mean that a more expensive cable will be better at that location. For instance, some very expensive interconnects have high capacitance, which is a poor match for components with high output impedance.

Good luck!
-- Al

Ihcho, confused about the answer to your question? Most of the answers in this thread are all over the place. It's difficult to be sure what the right answers are when you're building a system. It's what I dislike about this "hobby." I thought for a while that power cords were most important. I have been in the "power cord jungle." I'm no longer sure of that since a new pair of speaker cables have improved my sound noticeably. I begin to think that the answer to the most important cable can only be revealed by your trial and error with various cables, not through the advice of other audiophiles.

Your source, from there the next in line receives the signal.How that signal is received will only get there by the cables,that are plugged into your source.all the other factors talked about(length,imped.color,arrow's for sig.flow,best plugs)there are many choices,but few correct paths,choose wisely my friend.I choose poorly often.Its all important I have learned.IMHO it wouldn,t matter what cable you have coming out the back.The quality& integrity or degradation of the signal has to start there:your source cabling is a good place to begin.Have a great day & enjoy some music.

One problem with sound is that it is "in the eyes of the listener". One can change speakers, change cables, change the room and all, to some extent, change the sound that you hear. For the better or not is up to the listener and there is, and can not be, any standard.

Remember that unless you are listening to music played acoustically, you are listening to processed sound and you are adjusting the sound engineer's perception to your perception. It's a losing battle.....and unless you have a different sound system for each sound engineer, what sounds good for one may sound lousy for another mix.

Now if you tune your system for acoustic instruments, you may find that anything that's been processed sounds thin or too much bass or whatever. Also, keep in mind that very very few singers are recorded pure...they are almost always processed in some way.

If you accept the above, you will not spend a great deal of time and money looking for the "perfect" cable.