I'm running 20' RCA cables and it didn't make a difference in sound when I used a 3' RCA cable, I compared them in the same room with the same equipment. I'm not saying your balanced output may not sound better, but I don't think that going from 15' to 25' with RCA is going to make any difference, unless you are picking up noise on your RCA cables.
Need 25 foot interconnects
I just moved around my equipment so that the rack with the preamp and digital sources is on the left side of the room and the monoblock amps are just behind the left speaker on a short platform on the floor. I’m using a 15’ RCA interconnect right now, but want to move each monoblock to just behind each speaker — which means I need a longer cable. The monoblocks are unbalanced RCA input only but my preamp can do balanced XLR or unbalanced RCA out. Would a balanced XLR cable plus an XLR to RCA adapter work for this setup and be my best option? Or should I just get a Belden (or similar) 25’ unbalanced RCA interconnect? Or is there a better option?
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- 51 posts total
I dunno @nymarty - I would do the XLRs either yourself or from some place like BlueJeans with a star quad shielded wire and the XLRs. Then just use the Neutrix to XLR jobs which are $10-$15 each. Basically it’s a couple of baby steps.
Yep you lose the balanced with the floating ground
I would do that before going to a high $ single ended cable, as it has a much higher probability of mitigating hum and noise… having Star-quad balanced + shield + isolator is close to bullet proof. |
^Entirely likely as well.^ If that doesn’t work, then desolder and go to balanced. Maybe you could try one amp (then the other) using an RCA double end male to hook your two shorter cables together…?? |
I have been presented with this issue a number of times. You are doing a split in the right place. I have done both RCA and XLR. I would recommend the highest quality of RCA you can afford. I know this is painful. I do not recommend adding any converters. Native single ended is very very likely to sound the best, certainly at 25’. Your system is going to sound much better getting the chest out from in between your speakers. I suspect if you hang a really thick rug below the windows, that will greatly improve imaging. Tube traps in the corners would probably also significantly improve the sound. An area rug in front of speakers until nearly your listening chair. Little corner traps (cheap and innocuous. Also, this gives you the option of using super short speaker cables… this is reported to me by some folks I really respect to slow a really big jump in performance. You have to use a really short, high quality speaker cable… 1.5’ or maybe two feet. It is supposed to really improve the presence of the system. Something I have wanted to try, but never have been able to. |
- 51 posts total