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Where to put the better cable.

Here's the scenario: CD > Preamp > Amp - that's two pairs of interconnects required. One pair is much better quality than the other, so where should the better quality cables go? CD > Preamp or Preamp > Amp ? I'm talking in general here. Of course the best thing to do would be to try it both ways and listen, but there must be a rule of thumb about this.

RLW
phydeaux

Showing 2 responses by subaruguru

subaruguru
1,362 posts
 
Try both ways, but if the lower "quality" (whatever that means) cable is really junk than you're better off NOT using it at all, and at least substituting a known inexpensive reference IC for comparisons. An easy wnner here is the $20 Canare StarQuad mic cable the pro recording engineers use. Try TWO of them, substituting your "better" cable in each place sequentially. Try to have a buddy help you for a single-blind setup, so you don't confuse cost with "quality", as you put it. Cheers.
subaruguru
1,362 posts
 
Timo, S23. Since impedence-matching requirements are probably quite different between the two sets of component interfaces, and the LCR values of the two cables are probably different, it DOES matter where each goes. It is rarely a case the weak link being a constant independent of position....
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