Ric,
I can't really think of any good reference that would bring the scholarship which it sounds like the Ramos book contains to the subject of audio cables. My perception is that unfortunately most of the writing on the subject is in one of two opposing camps, neither of which is helpful. One being the camp which is well schooled in EE theory, but ignorant of high-end audio, and the other being the camp which believes in (or creates or promotes) the nonsense and quack science which pervades much of the cable marketing literature and other writings about high-end cables. Even the appeal of cables which undoubtedly (based on anecdotal indications) are really excellent performers, and worth their high cost, is spoiled for me by distaste for the white papers and other writings that are associated with them, which I am sufficiently schooled to know are nonsense.
If you've never seen it, you'll want to read this paper by Bill Whitlock of Jensen Transformers:
http://wiring.svconline.com/ar/avinstall_designer_cables_critical/index.htm
You won't agree with all of it, and I don't completely agree with everything he says, but he is a noted authority in the field, his products serve both the pro audio and high-end consumer audio markets, and this and some of the other papers on the Jensen site are the closest thing I've seen to writing about cables that is both knowledgeable and balanced (no pun intended).
Re speaker placement/room treatments, etc., Shadorne is very knowledgeable. I suggest that you research his posts in the Speaker category of the forum.
The debate about long/short interconnects/speaker cables is an old one, of course, with many previous threads here presenting differing opinions. My own feeling is that it is probably dependent on the particular components and cables, and on what is most synergistic with the overall sonic character of the system. My initial bias, in most cases, would be to err in the direction of having the speaker cables short, because of the higher currents that are involved and the low impedances that are needed. In my own system, physical placement considerations dictate that both preamp to power amp and power amp to speaker connections be about 6 to 8 feet.
I have no particular thoughts to offer about your cable experiments. Have fun!
And thanks for your good contributions to this thread.
Regards,
-- Al
I can't really think of any good reference that would bring the scholarship which it sounds like the Ramos book contains to the subject of audio cables. My perception is that unfortunately most of the writing on the subject is in one of two opposing camps, neither of which is helpful. One being the camp which is well schooled in EE theory, but ignorant of high-end audio, and the other being the camp which believes in (or creates or promotes) the nonsense and quack science which pervades much of the cable marketing literature and other writings about high-end cables. Even the appeal of cables which undoubtedly (based on anecdotal indications) are really excellent performers, and worth their high cost, is spoiled for me by distaste for the white papers and other writings that are associated with them, which I am sufficiently schooled to know are nonsense.
If you've never seen it, you'll want to read this paper by Bill Whitlock of Jensen Transformers:
http://wiring.svconline.com/ar/avinstall_designer_cables_critical/index.htm
You won't agree with all of it, and I don't completely agree with everything he says, but he is a noted authority in the field, his products serve both the pro audio and high-end consumer audio markets, and this and some of the other papers on the Jensen site are the closest thing I've seen to writing about cables that is both knowledgeable and balanced (no pun intended).
Re speaker placement/room treatments, etc., Shadorne is very knowledgeable. I suggest that you research his posts in the Speaker category of the forum.
The debate about long/short interconnects/speaker cables is an old one, of course, with many previous threads here presenting differing opinions. My own feeling is that it is probably dependent on the particular components and cables, and on what is most synergistic with the overall sonic character of the system. My initial bias, in most cases, would be to err in the direction of having the speaker cables short, because of the higher currents that are involved and the low impedances that are needed. In my own system, physical placement considerations dictate that both preamp to power amp and power amp to speaker connections be about 6 to 8 feet.
I have no particular thoughts to offer about your cable experiments. Have fun!
And thanks for your good contributions to this thread.
Regards,
-- Al