Which worse- long I/C of speaker run


Musical Fidelity had their new M250 power block amplifiers. Their pitch goes that the amp is close to the load (speaker) so to "give the amplifier excellent damping".

But this will require long 2-12 foot runs of I/C. So which is worse? Long runs of speaker cable or interconects? Will the delicate low level signal be losing information with a long I/C.

I would think the preamp would require full balanced outputs (preferably all the way through the preamp - Mike Creek was displaying such a preamp) to prevent signal loss.
Any thoughts? Thanks
cdc
George Tice told me to go the long speaker cable way. Shielded if the run was longer than 12 ft, since 60Hz hum can be picked up by the cable. Also to use 8 ga. size in order to keep low impedance.

I figure good amps can drive long speaker runs, good preamps ca drive long interconnect runs, too...
Sean,

Do you know of any low-impedance cables that you have tried and can recommend? I'm currently using a 16 ft run of Kimber 8TC, and always wondered how they might be coloring the sound. My system consists of Electrocompaniet EMC-1, Berning Zh-270 amp & Aerial 7B speakers. I'm running the EMC directly to the Berning using Quattro Fils.

Thanks.
I have done extensive study on this subject, including thousands of SPICE simulations. The conclusion of this study is that optimized systems will have 2-3X longer speaker cables than interconnects. This is independent of price-point and performance. The study results can be found at the Audio FAQ page of:
http://www.empiricalaudio.com

I know, one of you is going to ask "why is -1dB at 20kHz a fail criteria"? Well, this was arbitrary and is subtracted-out when the IC and speaker cable lengths are compared, so it does not change the conclusion.
Kenl, cables of any type are a pretty subjective matter. As such, the results that one achieves ( or should i say perceives ??? ) are due to personal tastes and system synergy. Having said that, i think that Kimber 8TC's are pretty solid cables. This does not mean that i think that they are the "best" ( as if one could quantify such a thing ). Nor are they anywhere near the "worst". Personally, i would rank them as being one of the more desirable cables that i have run across. Obviously, others may agree or disagree.

The results that you get with them ( or any other cable for that matter ) in your system will depend on several different factors. Since speaker cables account for only a small portion of the complex impedance that your amplifier sees and tries to load into, the results of changing cables will vary from system to system and combo to combo. Some systems will show drastic differences from cable to cable whereas others might not even "flinch". The only way to find out if you really like the Kimber's in your system or if your amp / speaker interface is susceptible to sonic variations with speaker cable changes is to try a couple of different designs out and see. As you probably know, i always encourage people to find out for themselves what they think works best. The education and experience that one gains along the way can be a lot of fun and help save you money in the long run.

Having said all of that, try taking a look at the A-gon thread entitled "Cables 101" as it may pertain to your question also. Sean
>
Thanks Sean. Per your suggestion, I read your post on Cables 101 and found it very informative. Comforting to know that you consider my current cables pretty good. I'll try to audition some others soon.