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Length of IC's?

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Posted on January 20, 2015 at 22:48:17
Brian McGowan
Audiophile

Posts: 1635
Location: Wisconsin
Joined: December 16, 2004
 Too my understanding the shortest IC you can find to do the job without straining the ends is usually always the best!Would most of you agree with this or not? What about being able to have the same brand and length for all your IC's in your Setup? Would that help improve the over all balance of the sound between the separate components if one was louder then the other? Any thoughts on this?

 

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RE: Length of IC's?, posted on January 21, 2015 at 04:22:47
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15524
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 Yes, this is a safe practice. Short speaker cables too.

 

RE: Length of IC's?, posted on January 21, 2015 at 09:03:13
rick_m
Audiophile

Posts: 6230
Location: Oregon
Joined: August 11, 2005
 "Too my understanding the shortest IC you can find to do the job without straining the ends is usually always the best!"

Typically, yes.

"What about being able to have the same brand and length for all your IC's in your Setup? "

The length normally should be minimized, but the same brand, maybe...

"Would that help improve the over all balance of the sound between the separate components if one was louder then the other?"

Interconnects don't usually do that sort of thing.

The deal is that there are a lot of factors including the design of the gear at both ends.

I've done a lot of messing with interconnects and there simply isn't a singular solution, too many things in play including...

Your EM environment.
Your equipment implementation and sensitivities.
The topology of your system.
Your sensitivity to particular problems.

Seems like a lot of stuff, doesn't it? And it sort of is. More than anything else I think what you need is patience! I ended up building most of mine which gives one the most latitude but isn't for everybody. Here is what I'd look for in commercial interconnects...

-low capacitance.
-small connectors. (no idea why, but it does seem to matter)
-low dielectric absorption insulation.
-thin, insulated conductors. ("Litz wire")
-low cost.

One factor that seems to complicate things is reflections. If the cable is mismatched at both ends and the dielectric has low loss then energy can bounce back and forth virtually forever. Ironically reducing the dielectric absorption makes the RF ringing worse because that's the main loss factor without terminations. It can come from numerous places either locally or airborne but the chunk that hangs around is stuff where the electrical cable length is a 1/4 wavelength multiple. Both ends can be sensitive to this RF energy and detect it for you, not good. Resistive loss is your friend. From my limited experience if things sound sort of shrill that's the first thing to consider.

I didn't believe that interconnects were very important until my dealer sent me home with a handful to try. Turned out he was right. And to me anyway it wasn't something that was huge and jumped right out, and yet the change in enjoyment was quite dramatic. Most telling is that after getting the cables "right" I essentially quite buying new gear. I think it was one of those "final straw" things but on the good side!

Good luck, I hope the journey brings you as much satisfaction as I've had.

Regards, Rick

 

Thank You!!!Just the honest type of information I was looking for! nt., posted on January 21, 2015 at 10:32:43
Brian McGowan
Audiophile

Posts: 1635
Location: Wisconsin
Joined: December 16, 2004
 nt.

 

"Shortest length" IC can be enticing, until a year or two later is is too d*mn short!!, posted on January 21, 2015 at 12:26:18
Nuit
 SO yeah you buy some good cables and make certain they are all as short as possible. And then, say a year or two later you are cussing because you then have a few several inches too short to work.
Typical.
I used to make IC the exact length I needed. Then I realized it was a trap and a PITA to do so.
Now I buy standard 1 meter, and a few 1.5 meter or two meter as a matter of course. Always.

As an aside: You never really know what a wire 'sounds' like until you hear it in a five or six or seven meter length. The long cable really gives you a taste of what the wire does to the sound. For some cables, it is just wayyyy too much. Turning a 'good thing' into a over the top POS.

 

Great post! nt., posted on January 22, 2015 at 06:48:13
jea48
Audiophile

Posts: 6770
Joined: January 5, 2005
 >>

 

RE: "Shortest length" IC can be enticing, until a year or two later is is too d*mn short!!, posted on January 22, 2015 at 07:26:18
Brian McGowan
Audiophile

Posts: 1635
Location: Wisconsin
Joined: December 16, 2004
 Thank's for the Smart advice,as I would not want to go down that same road as well!

 

RE: Length of IC's?, posted on January 22, 2015 at 17:40:59
Duster
Manufacturer

Posts: 17117
Location: Pacific Northwest
Joined: August 25, 2002
 As to the same manufacturer of all cabling, there are many diverse cables from various brands that may provide unique synergy with particular make/model gear. I don't wish to be limited to a single brand's offerings that might not shine when it comes to a specific type of cable mated with a multitude of different manufacture's component products. The notion of the same brand for all cabling is even less convincing than saying the power amplifier, preamplifier, and DAC in a system should be from the same brand. As for the shortest length possible, practicality should still be considered when it comes to optimizing cable lengths. Like other inmates said, it's a tragic state of affairs when fine sounding cables have to be ditched if a new system configuration requires a longer length for the task...

 

THANK YOU ALL SO FAR FOR YOUR ADVICE !! NT., posted on January 23, 2015 at 20:44:18
Brian McGowan
Audiophile

Posts: 1635
Location: Wisconsin
Joined: December 16, 2004
 NT.

 

RE: Length of IC's?, posted on January 30, 2015 at 14:04:59
thebordas
 Shorter IC 's and 8ft or longer spkr cables are best...too short is no good on the spkr end! Mix n match can be useful if done properly as well.

 

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