length of interconnects for passive preamp

@holmz - My experience with passives is pretty limited

• My NAIM 5i MKII had a passive pre, but it was integrated so the complications of an interconenct did not exist
  • However - I purchased it for the natural, uncouloured sound it produced
  • it was incredibly detailed and performance improved as my cables improved
  • hence my statement from my first post about using the very best cable to allow the passive pre to do what it does best
• I also had a friend that had a seperate passive in his system
  • it was not the same brand as his amp
  • he used a high quality 1 meter cable in order to capitilize on the benefits of a passive
    • i.e.to convey the best details possible
  • his cable had "middle of the road" capacitance and inductance, but because of the geometry of the cable and the wires used, his passive sounded amazing.

Granted - using as short a cable as possible will reduce capacitance and inductance

• but opting to use "some 20-28 gauge stranded wire" will NOT achieve the best perofrmance that a a passive pre is capable of.

So I guess my point is

• Passive’s are great for neutrality, details, imaging, dynamics etc, but those attributes can only be achieved by using a well designed cable..
• using any old piece of wire is defeating the purpose of having a passive pre in the first place

Regards - Steve

@williewonka don’t do this:

• using any old piece of wire is defeating the purpose of having a passive pre in the first place

That is a straw man misquoting, as I said I had no opinion on geometry and size.
I also said I only care about “length and specs.”

1. I see no great point for multi stranded wire in the interconnect.
   1. But I suppose if there is some 20-28 gauge stranded wire then why/why not? (I have no opinion on geometry, just length and specs)

Whatever piece of wire the OP uses will result in the tonal quality changing with volume-knob level. It does not matter if it is copper, silver, steel or gold. And it does not matter if it is multi-stranded solid, or whatever.

The higher the capacitance and inductance, and the longer the wire… then the larger the tonal change will be as the volume knob goes to lower and lower volume levels.

Do we agree on the physics (electronic aspects) that the length, capacitance and inductance of the interconnect are important?

Or is your position that the specs do not matter in favour of the materials, constructions and geometry?

My passive sucked the life out of my system when I was using very inefficient speakers and monoblocks, which required  3 meter ICs. I recently switched to very sensitive speakers (horns) and a stereo amp  and the passive sounds great even with the same ICs. the reason for my q was I want to purchase shorter interconnects to get it to sound even better (and the fact that I do not require this length). I will purchase 1 meter or .5 meter ICs - question is what brand - to be honest I do not quite understand the specifics of some of the previous posts but want to express my thanks and appreciation for your contributions. 

My passive sucked the life out of my system when I was using very inefficient speakers and monoblocks, which required  3 meter ICs.

Ideally we change only 1 thing at a time.

I recently switched to very sensitive speakers (horns) and a stereo amp  and the passive sounds great even with the same ICs.

I suspect that the input impedance of the power amps play a role, and the gain of the amplifiers also okay a role.

the reason for my q was I want to purchase shorter interconnects to get it to sound even better (and the fact that I do not require this length). I will purchase 1 meter or .5 meter ICs - question is what brand - to be honest I do not quite understand the specifics of some of the previous posts but want to express my thanks and appreciation for your contributions. 

I would purchase the cheapest Amazon cable, or what you already have in a Red/White/yellow set.
And use that as a baseline in an A/B test.

The Wonka mentioned these earlier 

Personally I would not be using anything that is more $ than that, and they are at my edge of what I can tolerate in terms of marketing foo.

It would be best if you could try them before committing.
And whether you hear a difference or not… it would be good see your feedback.

@holmz - as I said in my previous post

Granted - using as short a cable as possible will reduce capacitance and inductance

So I guess we agree ! - to some extent 🖕

BTW my statement 

• using any old piece of wire is defeating the purpose of having a passive pre in the first place

I was not quoting you,  I was just trying ot highlight the point - my apologies for the mis-use of bolded text

Regards - Steve