Long ICs / Short Speaker cables project

[VanDaRo]

A while back, I started a thread concerning this forums thoughts on cables and speaker wires. The age old debate was which is better: long speaker cable/short ICs or vice versa. There didn't seem to be a real concensus, so I went ahead with my plan.

Phase 2 of my listening room meant buying some long ICs, moving the amps to be very close to the speakers, and cutting down a nice set of speaker cables so that I could bi-wire the Sequel IIs (they have always been bi-wired).

Enter Zebra cables and their ZC-INTC interconnects and locking Vampire Wire RCA plugs. Although I had to wait quite a while to get these 16' long cables, they have proven to be very good. Their construction is first-rate, look like much more expensive cables, and sound extremely good.

Now all that is left of Phase 2 is to take delivery of my granite slabs that will be placed under the amps, and work on hiding the wires a bit better. This arrangement of long ICs/short speaker runs is really working out for me. It has allowed me to pull the speakers closer together and at least another 6" out into the room --

...AND IT SOUNDS LIKE A MILLION BUCKS !!! Sound stage depth is 30% deeper, and bass response is snappier and more solid at the same time.

Anyway... Phase 3 is adding room treatments to the back walls and replacing the CD player with a really, really good one.

PIX (quality stinks -- sorry) !!

 

[VanDaRo]

One more, a closer look. Those big honkin' cables are the HDMI feeds to the plasma, not the ICs from Zebra -- Those were routed under the fireplace.

 

[nsgarch]

Debate?

What debate! I never knew there was a debate on this subject. New audiophiles always ask the question, of course -- and that will continue. And those of us more experienced and informed should take the time to explain why it's best done one way over any other.

Every consideration, be it electrical engineering, cost effectiveness, or even room and equipment layout, lead to the same conclusion.

 

[VanDaRo]

nsgarch,

The thread that I was referring to is here: http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6424

~VDR

 

[nsgarch]

nsgarch, The thread that I was referring to is here: http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6424
~VDR

VDR, I'll allow my wording was imprecise. Sure, you can always find a debate over just about any aspect of audio, so I guess it was a mistake for me to say, "I never knew there was a debate on this subject." Of course there is!! I should have said, ". . . . . . . this question leaves nothing to debate." There's a proper way do it, for a lot of excellent reasons, and that's it.

There may be situations that force one to deviate from the optimum, and still the sound might not suffer, but something will suffer, for instance the total cost of the speaker cables + IC's could quadruple! And with HT setups, it's close to impossible to locate amplifiers at side/rear speaker locations -- no big deal.

 

[Rich]

What debate! I never knew there was a debate on this subject. New audiophiles always ask the question, of course -- and that will continue. And those of us more experienced and informed should take the time to explain why it's best done one way over any other.

Every consideration, be it electrical engineering, cost effectiveness, or even room and equipment layout, lead to the same conclusion.

Please, Neil. Save your haughtiness and condescension for some EE geekfest. On this board, it just makes you look like an arse. Like every topic in the land of audiophilia, there is of course strong debate over this subject. Please don't act like you know it all and that everyone who disagrees with your conclusions is either a newbie or uninformed. Every situation is different and the best way to do it, like many things in this hobby, will depend in large part on the circumstances and preferences of the individual.

If you have some rational arguments to support one side or the other, then please lay them out for the benefit of everyone who might be slightly interested in your opinion. Otherwise, your trash talk is just a waste of space.

 

[Gordon Gray]

Thank you Rich.

I guess, per Neil's statements, that I must be a new audiophile since I wasn't aware of the fact that there was / is no debate.

Maybe next year, once I receive my 34th year audiophile pin, I can graduate from the newbie club.

GG