Interconnect Inductance vs. Capacitance


How do the inductance and capacitance of ICs impact the sound? I have seen some ICs that have low inductance but high capacitance. On the other hand, some ICs have high inductance but low capacitance. One manufacturer even claims that his higher models have higher capacitance.

So can someone explain to me how they impact the sound?
vett93
Vett93

My higher capacitance Audio Horizons IC's sound better from my Dude pre to Samson amps then the much lower capacitance Blue Jeans IC.

No rolling off of the highs at all with the AH IC's. They are simply more full bodied and refined sounding while retaining all the highs and air in my system.

The Blue Jeans cable only cost $39 and they were still very good indeed. Anyone looking for a great cable for very little money - the Blue Jean is a great choice.

Seems my TRL Dude and Samsons like the AH cables better - at least to my ears. Again, the highs were not rolled off at all.

Bill
"... and I need 10 ft of ICs between preamp and power amp."

So I gotta ask - why do you need 10' between pre-amp and power amp. I think you'd be better off with 2' between your pre-amp and your amp and 10' between your amp and your speakers. Do you have power amps integrated in your speakers?

Agree that if you are stringing your own cable - you gotta think a bit about impedances - resistance, inductance, and capacitance. And the requirements are different on the IC side than the speaker side.

Almarg/Redkiwi - this is a fun thread. I've been reading through Ramos "Fields and Waves in Communication Electronics" - and while it's a great source and touches on basic cable configs (co-ax/parallel) and covers electro-statics, Maxwell equations, impedance calculations, skin effects, and group delays, etc. at low and high frequency - it still doesn't quite make the jump to impacts on sonics. I'm looking for some good references on acoustics (room/speakers/etc.) as well as something that might deal with some more complicated cable geometries like for instance Litz twisted pairs, Litz helicals, or Litz counter helicals. CHELA?. Any info, references. (PS - I only have one BSEE degree - perhaps the emphasis is on the BS end).

Anyone playing with mag wire for ICs or speaker?

BTW - I've got some Neotech 3m NES-3001's and a 1.2m NEDV-1001 on order ( http://www.neotechcable.com/product.htm ). Unheard and unseen - but I'm a little psyc'ed (that in itself will make the cables sound better I'm told!). Will wait to hear before I consider the NEI-1001. System is - Oppo 983H -> CI Audio VDA-2 DAC -> Jeff Rowland Concerto Integrated (Note: No external distance between pre-amp and amp per comment above) -> Dali Euphonia MS-5. I was trying to avoid the cable game and jump from my $0.33/ft Home Depot 12 AWG OFC tri-wire to wire nut to dual 12 AWG to amp speaker cable - all with RS spades(heh - I needed something to hook up to the MS-5s in a pinch) to the end game - something that I'll not be thinking of replacing, if for monetary reasons only. Any thoughts? This is a leap of faith and perhaps a rather expensive gamble.

Gotta share this too - my speakers are tri-wired and the NES-3001 I'm getting is bi-wired (11 AWGx2x2 at speaker end). So I need jumpers for one of the poles. Lots of thoughts on what to do there - I'm leaning toward putting the bi-wire on the Treble/Mid and jumping to the low - better coherency by word of mouth, but nothing to support it given audio frequencies and lumped impedances. You might or might not believe what I'm putting ($) into these DIY jumpers - decided on Furutech FP-218R Spades cold krimped to 18AWG Neotech cryro treaded wire with 10 strands to get 8AWG effective. Why? Because you can for one? And Rhodium sure does look like silver even if it's not. But second, thinking that the NES-3001 is 8 AWG (about 17AWGx8 x2) and if I decide bi-wire is myth - I'm running an 8 AWG cable and just will need two more jumpers for the tri-wire.

Tell me I'm nuts.
Ric
I think you'd be better off with 2' between your pre-amp and your amp and 10' between your amp and your speakers. Do you have power amps integrated in your speakers?
With all due respect, I'd strongly recommend longer ICs with shorter spkr cabling.
The spkrs-wire-amp circuit is tricky enough as is without the added complexity of extra long wires.
Regards
Ric,

I can't really think of any good reference that would bring the scholarship which it sounds like the Ramos book contains to the subject of audio cables. My perception is that unfortunately most of the writing on the subject is in one of two opposing camps, neither of which is helpful. One being the camp which is well schooled in EE theory, but ignorant of high-end audio, and the other being the camp which believes in (or creates or promotes) the nonsense and quack science which pervades much of the cable marketing literature and other writings about high-end cables. Even the appeal of cables which undoubtedly (based on anecdotal indications) are really excellent performers, and worth their high cost, is spoiled for me by distaste for the white papers and other writings that are associated with them, which I am sufficiently schooled to know are nonsense.

If you've never seen it, you'll want to read this paper by Bill Whitlock of Jensen Transformers:

http://wiring.svconline.com/ar/avinstall_designer_cables_critical/index.htm

You won't agree with all of it, and I don't completely agree with everything he says, but he is a noted authority in the field, his products serve both the pro audio and high-end consumer audio markets, and this and some of the other papers on the Jensen site are the closest thing I've seen to writing about cables that is both knowledgeable and balanced (no pun intended).

Re speaker placement/room treatments, etc., Shadorne is very knowledgeable. I suggest that you research his posts in the Speaker category of the forum.

The debate about long/short interconnects/speaker cables is an old one, of course, with many previous threads here presenting differing opinions. My own feeling is that it is probably dependent on the particular components and cables, and on what is most synergistic with the overall sonic character of the system. My initial bias, in most cases, would be to err in the direction of having the speaker cables short, because of the higher currents that are involved and the low impedances that are needed. In my own system, physical placement considerations dictate that both preamp to power amp and power amp to speaker connections be about 6 to 8 feet.

I have no particular thoughts to offer about your cable experiments. Have fun!

And thanks for your good contributions to this thread.

Regards,
-- Al
Hello again. Sorry that I was away with my other new toy...

I was a beta tester for a cable maker and tested about 10 versions of his ICs. This guy is quite interesting. He told me that he would never share any findings from his IC experiments with others. This is similar to a good friend of mine from Kansas. He makes the best BBQ that I have ever had. He told me that his grandpa would not pass the recipe to his own family until he was *very* ill...

My point is that EE courses only teach the basics. A lot of know-hows, tuning, refinement, and/or tweaking are the accumulation of experiences in the said field. Most companies' whitepapers most likely will not reveal their secret ingredients.

Bill, have you had the chance to find out the capacitance of your AH ICs? Note that Bill's configuration needs 5ft of ICs and mine needs 10ft. Bill's power amp is more sensitive and so his Dude preamp needs to have higher attenuations and thus lower output impedance. (Review Al's note about 75/25 vs. 50/50, using Thevenin's Theorem.) Consequently, the requirement for his setup is not as strict as mine.

Thanks all for the contribution.