lotaz
Minor Hero
Posts: 70
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Post by lotaz on May 12, 2020 8:57:02 GMT -5
I have seen photos of monoblock set ups and I keep wondering when they put them out by the speakers do they run super short speaker cables? I am considering going the monoblock route with the DR1s and I am looking at everything I need to buy to make this work correctly. Trying to see if I could even have the budget to do so. I would move the rest of my equipment to the side of the room.
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Post by boomzilla on May 12, 2020 9:21:23 GMT -5
I have seen photos of monoblock set ups and I keep wondering when they put them out by the speakers do they run super short speaker cables?.. Normally, yes. There's no reason to have a long speaker cable coiled around when the amp is in close proximity to the speaker. Want a pair of short speaker wires? You pay the shipping and I'll give you a pair. Two, three, or four feet - take your pick. Boom
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novisnick
EmoPhile
CEO Secret Monoblock Society
Posts: 27,223
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Post by novisnick on May 12, 2020 9:22:17 GMT -5
For optimal sound quality the standard today Is to have long interconnects and the shortest possible speaker cable. Speaker cable is more susceptible to picking up noise vs an interconnect.
I’m sure somebody here will give a much more detailed explanation. Monoblocks rule! I’ll prepare the membership paperwork. 😁👍🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
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Post by ttocs on May 12, 2020 9:31:24 GMT -5
^^^^^^ What they said.
Further, for me it's form follows function - up until it's plainly clear that it's no longer enjoyable.
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DYohn
Emo VIPs
Posts: 18,342
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Post by DYohn on May 12, 2020 9:34:56 GMT -5
Long speaker wire or short, it only really matters if it matters to you. Do what you like.
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Post by 405x5 on May 12, 2020 9:35:04 GMT -5
I have seen photos of monoblock set ups and I keep wondering when they put them out by the speakers do they run super short speaker cables? I am considering going the monoblock route with the DR1s and I am looking at everything I need to buy to make this work correctly. Trying to see if I could even have the budget to do so. I would move the rest of my equipment to the side of the room. Most of those pictures out there are typical audiophile eye candy that are a distraction from what’s truly meaningful and useful in audio reproduction. That being said, all that’s needed is stranded speaker wire, of the correct gauge for proper resistance and decent interconnects that are no longer than what’s needed to make the distance. Bill
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Post by creimes on May 12, 2020 9:51:26 GMT -5
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novisnick
EmoPhile
CEO Secret Monoblock Society
Posts: 27,223
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Post by novisnick on May 12, 2020 10:03:28 GMT -5
Let’s talk cable terminations! Bah Ha Ha Ha
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Post by 405x5 on May 12, 2020 10:21:39 GMT -5
Let’s talk cable terminations! Bah Ha Ha Ha Cable termination would be AWESOME 😎 too bad Bluetooth can’t handle the whole smash
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Post by gus4emo on May 12, 2020 12:37:07 GMT -5
I have seen photos of monoblock set ups and I keep wondering when they put them out by the speakers do they run super short speaker cables?.. Normally, yes. There's no reason to have a long speaker cable coiled around when the amp is in close proximity to the speaker. Want a pair of short speaker wires? You pay the shipping and I'll give you a pair. Two, three, or four feet - take your pick. Boom Ok, so, years ago I read that the idea is to keep speakers wires the same length, at least on the front channels, that's how I have it, is that not so a good idea?
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Post by boomzilla on May 12, 2020 12:49:13 GMT -5
No - it's fine - just not an absolute.
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Post by AudioHTIT on May 12, 2020 14:15:35 GMT -5
I'm in the longer interconnects and shorter speaker cable camp too, but only (as creimes points out) if you're using balanced interconnect cables (XLR). If you must use RCA, then it would depend on how long the run is, but I probably wouldn't do it.
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Post by daveczski65 on May 12, 2020 14:48:41 GMT -5
I am running 6ft interconnects and only 3ft speaker wires from my PA-1s
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Post by ttocs on May 12, 2020 14:49:06 GMT -5
I'm in the longer interconnects and shorter speaker cable camp too, but only (as creimes points out) if you're using balanced interconnect cables (XLR). If you must use RCA, then it would depend on how long the run is, but I probably wouldn't do it. Count me in as well. This is why I moved my equipment from 22' away from the screen to where it is now when I started using unbalanced tube monos. Now the tubes are a few inches from the preamp.
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Post by Jean Genie on May 12, 2020 15:43:28 GMT -5
I'm in the longer interconnects and shorter speaker cable camp too, but only (as creimes points out) if you're using balanced interconnect cables (XLR). If you must use RCA, then it would depend on how long the run is, but I probably wouldn't do it. Does it really matter? Not being snide, I am truly curious. I'm running 20 ft. Monoprice 16ga premium RCAs to XLRs (from USP-1 into XPA-2) and 6ft. Blue Jeans 10ga to my Maggie's and it is DEAD QUIET. I mean ear to the (quasi) ribbons quiet. Am I just lucky? (I am a lucky guy)
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Post by AudioHTIT on May 12, 2020 16:06:17 GMT -5
I'm in the longer interconnects and shorter speaker cable camp too, but only (as creimes points out) if you're using balanced interconnect cables (XLR). If you must use RCA, then it would depend on how long the run is, but I probably wouldn't do it. Does it really matter? Not being snide, I am truly curious. I'm running 20 ft. Monoprice 16ga premium RCAs to XLRs (from USP-1 into XPA-2) and 6ft. Blue Jeans 10ga to my Maggie's and it is DEAD QUIET. I mean ear to the (quasi) ribbons quiet. Am I just lucky? (I am a lucky guy) Well yes, you may be lucky 🍀 But as interconnect length increases with unbalanced cables so does your chance of picking up induced noise and hum, so generally I would temper my recommendation for longer interconnects if they involved unbalanced cable (also more likely to hear it in woofers than tweeters). In some unusual combinations of preamps, amps, and cable, length could even cause a slight high end roll off. That said, before I had a preamp with balanced outputs, I also ran 20’ runs with RCA connectors, worked fine. Today, with more and bigger amps, more cables everywhere (power and line), and the increased difficulty to route line and power separately, I try to avoid long RCA’s, currently my Zone 2 feed is my longest at 8’ (I remember Chuck Elliot used to want balanced Zone 2 outputs). To summarize, it’s all good if it works! 🙂
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Post by Casey Leedom on May 12, 2020 18:40:16 GMT -5
I would have thought that the interconnects would be more susceptible to induced noise that the speaker cables because of the level of signals present. XLRs surely help of course, but what's going to induce noise on a speaker cable?
Casey
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Post by AudioHTIT on May 12, 2020 19:59:39 GMT -5
I would have thought that the interconnects would be more susceptible to induced noise that the speaker cables because of the level of signals present. XLRs surely help of course, but what's going to induce noise on a speaker cable? Casey Nothing, but short speaker cables allow the amp to control the speaker better, that part’s not a noise issue.
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Post by Casey Leedom on May 12, 2020 22:33:26 GMT -5
Yeah, I get that the Speaker Cables are an L-C-R System combined with the Speaker’s own Impedance, but decent Speaker Cables shouldn’t seriously add to that in any big way, right? Especially considering how complex the Speaker’s own Impedance curve is ...
Casey
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Post by donh50 on May 12, 2020 22:57:42 GMT -5
RCA interconnects in a consumer installation are not usually an issue. I've run 30' to 50' RCA interconnects with no problems. Unless you are in a high-noise area, either near an AM transmitting tower or have significant EMI in your house (it happens, typically things like HVAC and refrigerators, but another common culprit is a light dimmer), RCA works fine. Where they usually cause problems is not EMI pick-up but introducing a ground loop from an amp plugged in relatively far from, or just on a different circuit than, the preamp. XLR cables and balanced (fully-differential) circuits offer the ability to break a ground loop and better reject common-mode noise.
It may be worth noting that RF systems, my world, manage to capture uV and fV signals spanning many GHz of bandwidth with high fidelity through single-ended coax much like your RCA audio cables. The idea that the physics is different for audio has always baffled me a bit. Actually, it is quite different, and much worse for RF...
Most speakers are designed with the idea that the driving source is near an ideal voltage source, which is approximated by a big amp and short, low-resistance (low-AWG) cables. The idea behind keeping speaker cable impedance low is to keep the effective driving impedance at the speaker low, mainly to deal with whatever the crossover is doing, so the amp+wire combo does not alter the frequency response. That said, most any decent wire of low enough resistance will do fine. I have used silver-plated copper jumper cables (Fulton Gold) and bog-standard stranded 12 AWG house wiring from Home Depot; sounds and measures the same.
FWIWFM - Don
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