2. amps-preamps
  3. 181936-11372

Cables from amp to preamp or longer speaker cables…

So today I was in the room that I’m setting up for dedicated listening. Speakers will be at the front of the room and sofa will be at the other end. I dug out a pair of expensive speaker cables I had from many years ago and discovered they are only about six feet long. This would be ok if I had my rig set up behind the speakers but I want to sit on that sofa at the far end of the room (12 feet away) and have my Benchmark DAC 3 HGC beside me so I can plug headphones in occasionally……do I buy long speaker cables (probably expensive), or would I place my amp behind the speakers and run long cable from that to the preamp beside the sofa and if so would this long cable create any issues?

thomastrouble
thomastrouble OP
239 posts
 

Thanks so far guys - I’ll have to check my Benchmark amp and preamp to see what kind of connections are on there as I’m sure I have some balanced cables laying around.

erik_squires
15,620 posts
 

Try it! :)

But XLR with true balanced inputs (not the whole thing truly balanced) are your best bet for low noise.

Otherwise, go by what is convenient.  How are you going to turn those amps on and off?

thomastrouble OP
239 posts
 

Hi Erik, the amp I’ll just walk to turn it off, the preamp I can just reach over from the sofa or use the remote. Still ugly thick cables from the amp to the preamp is something I guess I’ll be stuck with.

im completely clueless with cables - can I just use cheap XLRs from, say Guitar Center - would this make a difference?

Also, bit confused at what you mean by “not the whole thing truly balanced”

 

Ag insider logo xs@2x
highend64
245 posts
 

I would suggest using XLR cables if applicable. 

thomastrouble OP
239 posts
 

Apparently it’s important to use quality speaker cables - I was a bit skeptical about this and thought it was all sales BS until I read a thread on the “cables” forum where everybody was in agreement that quality speaker cables are very important…..is this the case also with the XLRs?

More to discover