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Longer speaker cables or interconnects

I have a feeling that this may be a topic that has already been discussed to death, but the only thread I’ve found so far is one at Stereophile.

I will I’ll be moving into my new home with a new semi dedicated semi anechoic listening room, and I am just realizing now that maybe the 25 ft speaker cable runs vs the 3 to 4 ft interconnect runs that I was used to in my old NYC loft for decades is maybe not the optimal ratio.

I presume that that I don’t want a long interconnect between the turntable and the preamp.

I’m looking for various points of views and justifications for them. Remember, one caveat is that I’m the kind of guy who will spend only a moderate amount of dollars for interconnects and speaker cable. Thank you all.
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geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
cd318
It’s not an issue. Even cables running thousands of miles exhibit minimum loss or signal or time distortion as long as there are no breaks.

>>>>>>Strawman argument. The AC power is not the audio signal. The AC signal doesn’t travel all the way from the power company when you turn the ON switch. It’s available instantaneously. The voice signal degrades over distance due to a number of things, repreaters, vibration, etc. The standard for analog signals over transmission lines is lower than the audiophile standard. Bandwidth for voice is very limited, for example. Besides if the voice goes overseas it probably goes over satellite, which would be a 50,000 mile round trip in itself.

cd318
The speed of a signal through a cable is not far off the speed of light.

>>>>>You think you can sneak one by the goalie? 🏒 Vibration is continuous. The only way the audio signal can escape the influence of vibration is to travel instantaneously. Faster than the speed of light. Which photons have not learned to do yet. The audio signal travels very fast yet the song lasts several minutes. It’s a sitting duck. 🦆
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,436 posts
 
I assume your amp is not balanced and you will be using RCA ICs.   If so you are certainly better off with the longer speaker cable runs.  No issue at all for you. Again, gauge matter with these long runs however.   What gauge are your current speakers cables? This is the more important question. 
dill
2,422 posts
 
I have always had the best results using short speaker cable and longer interconnects, balanced or single-ended, especially with tube amps. I would put the amps on a thick wood platform next to the speakers/crossovers and run the interconnects to the preamp.
joecasey
484 posts
 
I have always had the best results using short speaker cable and longer interconnects, balanced or single-ended, especially with tube amps
+1.  I have monos with short speaker cables.

jperry
2,430 posts
 
I don't think you need to use the amp stands I posted, but as @dill recommends you should use some sort of amp stand. A maple platform with feet or something less expensive would be a plus.
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