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Long Cables w/Short Speaker Cable or Vice Versa?

Assuming your equipment (other than power amp) is located a considerable distance from your speakers (15 feet), which is better:

(A) Long Interconnects with a Short Speaker Cable run; OR
(B) Short Interconnects with a Long Speaker Cable run?

Ideally, I want to seperate my McIntosh MC2301 monoblock amps so that they flank both sides of the cabinet built-in's that are on both sides of my fireplace and TV. Even if I put the amps together (in the left-side cabinet built-in), I will have at least a 15 foot run of speaker cable to reach the right speaker.

I have a decision to make on whether I should invest in a long run of interconnect OR speaker cable.

Thoughts?
chadhaas
schipo
1,268 posts
 
shortest possible interconnects, just because they send lower level signals which can be more prone to interference and such.Depending on the speaker load if its an easy one to drive then most times longer cable is best.
alexs's avatar
alexs
46 posts
 
More often than not, speaker cables are more expensive than interconnects. On the other hand, if you are considering long interconnects, your preamp needs to have sufficient gain to handle the long IC's. I've tried both approaches and I favor short IC's and longer speaker cables as long as the speaker cables have low impedance and low capacitance.
xti16
1,525 posts
 
My 2 cents worth. If the IC's are XLR (truly balanced input and out) the long 15' run is not a problem.Then I would pop for a better but short speaker cable.
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
I don't think the reasoning follows from your idea that because speaker cables carry a higher signal level they would be more prone to distortion; I have never heard this idea advanced. In fact any effect will be much more critical at LOWER signal levels because it will take much less to affect the signal. The higher the level of the signal the more it will take to affect it.
knghifi
1,668 posts
 
From my experiences, I STRONGLY DISAGREE with both Schipo and Alexs.
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