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Long interconnect or short Speaker Cables

I have a question regarding length of IC and Speaker Cable

My scenario is I have a pre amp and a pair of monoblocks the speakers are about 12’ and 18’ respectively from the monoblocks.

Now the monoblocks are 2' from the pre amp with an 16’ and 18’ run of signal cable shotgun speaker wire.

Would it be better to place the Monoblocks next to the speakers and use a long IC run and a short speaker run?
What would the advantages and disadvantages be beside cost?
Are ICs more prone to pick up noise?
Will it change the characteristics of the sound?
And is there a budget IC that I should consider?

I say budget as 18-20’ is gonna be rather expensive in IC cables if I do go that route.

Also as one speaker is further away than the other about 6’ should I use the same length cable run for both or can I use one 18’ and one 12’ run

Thanks for any advice
punkuk
Post removed 
sdcampbell
2,136 posts
 
Tvad: Yes, I'm aware that A-C supplies Zobel circuits with their Goertz speaker cables. I still recommend building your own from quality components, as:
1. the resistor and capacitor that A-C supplies are not very good quality;
2. the value of the resistor in A-C's Zobel circuit is not optimal. I base this on several independent reviews of A-C's speaker cables. Here is the link to one review that was published on the Audioholics web site: http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/audioprinciples/interconnects/speakercable2p2.php
sean
6,231 posts
 
I've publicly recommended / been quite vocal about the use of longer speaker cables / shorter interconnects for 10+ years on various internet forums. Glad to see that some of these "expert" cable and equipment manufacturers are finally catching up : )

Having said that, you really have to look at the type of gear being used and the cabling that you have or plan to purchase. In many instances, longer interconnects may be less detrimental to the sound / performance of the system as compared to using longer speaker cabling. This takes into account the average loading characteristics of the equipment being used, the nominal impedances of most of the cabling on the market and the stability of each component being linked together.

Most of this has to do with the fact that most speaker cabling being sold & used is "crapola" due to being less than competently designed and / or improperly implimented. It is for this reason that using a shorter length lessens the detrimental side-effects / minimizes the potential for sonic degradation. If one consistently has to resort to something along this lines, they've obviously got other problems elsewhere and this is "band-aiding" the wound. Sean
>

PS... This takes into account that NONE of the cabling in the system is extremely long. Very long runs of ANY type of cabling can only be considered detrimental and should be avoided whenever possible.
clio09
3,355 posts
 
Not only are the A-C Zobels free, they will integrate them into the cable for you, which is what they did on my MI-2.
jack_dotson
210 posts
 
They included them with my MI-2's and I didn't use them at first and had no problems. After reading of "potential" problems I intserted them just to be safe and they have absolutely no effect on the sound. With these jumpers high capacitance is a non issue.

BTW, I bought this cable after numerous recommendations and couldn't be happier. It really is a great cable.
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