Interconnects over 1 meter

[Kaboomnash]

I am adding a new 2 channel amp and will probably be moving it to an isolation stand/rack at least 2 meters away from my AVR.
I notice that most advertisements for RCA interconnects over 1 meter say "Subwoofer" in the description.
Should I use caution in buying such a long IC. Is there a difference in IC's that say "subwoofer"? Or, is it just common to need that length for sub placement but no difference in sound?

Thanks, Lee

 

[Brian_74]

Lee,
If you're looking at more high end cables, there may actually be a difference in the construction, but for your run-of-the mill big box store stuff it's probably all the same. Notice, most of the more expensive IC's focus on explaining the construction, not designating the application.

Tell us what you're looking at specifically and the real experts might be able to help you more.

More importantly, tell us what 2 channel amp you ended up with!

 

[amey01]

I'd go to a specialist store tell them your predicament. I don't use interconnect over one metre, but I know many people do so you shouldn't have any problem finding stuff. Just make you make your speaker cable commensurately short!

 

[benleeys]

RCA cables tend to pick up hum more easily, especially of longer length. If balanced connections are available, best to use these as they are immune to hum pickup and thus can be used for very long distance connections between components. Also, they carry much higher output signals than RCA connections.

 

[Bernard]

Are we not making this more complicated than necessary? I am using 1.5 meter cables with RCA connectors, and they work just fine. 2 or 3 meters should work just as well. Cardas, maker of the Neutral Reference cables I am using, states that the cables are the same whether they are 1 meter or 30 meters (not that I would believe the 30 meter claim, nor would I use that length).

 

[tonyc]

I have long used interconnects 7-8 meters in length between my preamp and amp so that I could move the equipment stand from between the speakers which greatly helps imaging and soundstaging. I have used both RCA cables and xlr cables of various brands. Any hum or noise always turned out to be a ground loop or faulty component. Most well designed cables can be run in lengths longer than one meter. Some preamp manufacturers (usually tube) recommend short interconnects because of a highish output impedence. Generally speaking the output impedence of the preamp should be much much less than the input impedence of the amp. Most folks recommend that the input impedence of the amp should be about 100 times greater (or more) than the output impedence of the preamp. If this requirement cannot be met you are likely to encounter hum or frequency response aberrations and you should NOT use long cables. If your system does meet this requirement you can probably get by with longer cables. The issue of long interconnects and short speaker cables versus short interconnects and long speaker cables has been a subject of great debate, with proponents and detractors on both sides. I have always used longer interconnects simply because interconnects tend to be cheaper than speaker cable! Recently several golden eared reviewers have advocated using speaker cables which are at least two meters long since most published specs for capacitance and other electrical parameters are standardized for longer runs. Perhaps tonepub or some of our more technically sophisticated members can explain this better than I can!