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Very short speaker cable runs- advice?

VanDerGraaf

VanDerGraaf

pfm Member
I am moving to monoblock use, and of course have seen the opportunity to site the amps close to the speakers. I have wondered about how the "rules" for speaker cable change when only dealing with 1m lengths (which is what I am planning).

Presumably gauge becomes less important, as does higher resistance/capacitance? Tell me if I wrong, or if there is something I am missing in this equation.

I used to use DNM Reson cable many moons ago and unlike most, was quite happy with it. I had this odd notion to try this again (or at least the modern equivalent). Would the very short run mitigate some of its failings?
Mind you, at 2m I can probably afford to try some more expensive options.
 
The shorter the better unless you own one of the few Naim, Exposure or Linn amp that requires 3.5 meters as a minimum to remain stable.
Also, the shorter the less you will have benefits using super high gage or NASA specs cable as a short run means less resistance.
 
VanDerGraaf said:
I am moving to monoblock use, and of course have seen the opportunity to site the amps close to the speakers. I have wondered about how the "rules" for speaker cable change when only dealing with 1m lengths (which is what I am planning).

Presumably gauge becomes less important, as does higher resistance/capacitance? Tell me if I wrong, or if there is something I am missing in this equation.

I used to use DNM Reson cable many moons ago and unlike most, was quite happy with it. I had this odd notion to try this again (or at least the modern equivalent). Would the very short run mitigate some of its failings?
Mind you, at 2m I can probably afford to try some more expensive options.
Click to expand...
No reason not to run short speaker cables and long interconnects with mono block amps, Van Damme make some excellent and dirt cheap signal cables… it’s used in very long runs in studios and in live music venues without issue.
 
Gervais Cote said:
The shorter the better unless you own one of the few Naim, Exposure or Linn amp that requires 3.5 meters as a minimum to remain stable.
Also, the shorter the less you will have benefits using super high gage or NASA specs cable as a short run means less resistance.
Click to expand...
Never heard of any Linn amp having this design limitation, they’re all pretty unfussy about speaker cables.

The reason Linn chose to supply K20 (which was technically identical to NACA4 is because it was a good quality, robust cable, and it was cheap. I remember it being about £4 a meter not too many years ago, in fact it’s only £5 a meter now… anyway I’m digressing. Linn never used to be big on selling foo cables, K20 was picked because it’s cheap and solid, not for its LCR properties. It just happens that Naim did chose it (with a different sheathing colour and labelling) for its LCR properties.
 
linnfomaniac83 said:
Never heard of any Linn amp having this design limitation, they’re all pretty unfussy about speaker cables.

The reason Linn chose to supply K20 (which was technically identical to NACA4 is because it was a good quality, robust cable, and it was cheap. I remember it being about £4 a meter not too many years ago, in fact it’s only £5 a meter now… anyway I’m digressing. Linn never used to be big on selling foo cables, K20 was picked because it’s cheap and solid, not for its LCR properties. It just happens that Naim did chose it (with a different sheathing colour and labelling) for its LCR properties.
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Good to know this is your experience and it's reassuring to me as I run short speaker cables, K400 about 2M from Lk280s to Active Isobariks and its had me wondering if this shortness was making one channel run rather hot. But all the other channels are fine, so I guess it was a long shot. The directionality of Linn speaker cable always makes me laugh... :)
 
i dont understand this approach from point of view of cost. decent interconnects cost far more per metre than typical speaker cable and more vulnerable to damage?
 
linnfomaniac83 said:
No reason not to run short speaker cables and long interconnects with mono block amps, Van Damme make some excellent and dirt cheap signal cables… it’s used in very long runs in studios and in live music venues without issue.
Click to expand...

This is what I thought, but always like to ask in terms of hi-fi. I didn't opt for Van Damme this time, but got Sommer Albedo instead. I love the various Sommer cables I already use, both at home and on stage/recording. I have no doubt that something similarly specced in the hi-fi world would have cost hundreds... :rolleyes:
 
I moved my monoblocks to behind the speakers to try the LS40 cables on tour as the 3m set wouldn't have reached from the previous location of the amps to the speakers, it would have taken a 5m set .
I've left them there as I bought some short lengths of another speaker cable.
I can see how it's a big advantage if you were going to use or try some really heavy , stiff or thick speaker cables from a practical point of view as an interconnect would generally be much easier to run around the perimeter and could make for a much neater installation than a pair of massive speaker cables.
My interconnects are not expensive and terminated in RCAs, I'm led to believe balanced connections would be better on long runs, having said that I have a 1/2m pair and 7m pair, same cable, same plugs, I can detect absolutely no difference in sound when using either pair.
 
nostromo said:
The directionality of Linn speaker cable always makes me laugh... :)
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Recently I realised there are good reasons to have cable direction marked clearly:
- with interconnects it can be useful to have the shield earthed at one or other end
- installing five-way active can get confusing, in a dark amp cupboard, and sometimes different plugs or none are required at one end or other
- it can help an upgrade installer work out where all these bloody wires are going
- I now make sure cable text flows from source to speakers even with 'non-directional' cables.

I very very strongly suspect signal/AC sonic directionality is bollocks, and so does physics.
 
paulfromcamden said:
I've read this before but don't actually understand what it means - can the amp be damaged?
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It won’t damage the amplifier but it won’t work at it’s best. For example, my Naim 110 and 160 sound harsh and run hotter when I use cables that are too short or without the resistance a dog bone cable of proper length. These amps don’t have any inductor coils on their output so they need a bit of restriction from the cables to compensate.
 
paulfromcamden said:
I've read this before but don't actually understand what it means - can the amp be damaged?
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Google Naim and Zobel Network. I believe in extreme cases of a mismatch damage can occur. Basically the speaker cable is used instead of internal components so effectively is part of the amp.
 
linnfomaniac83 said:
No reason not to run short speaker cables and long interconnects with mono block amps, Van Damme make some excellent and dirt cheap signal cables… it’s used in very long runs in studios and in live music venues without issue.
Click to expand...

So on balance would 5 metre long interconnects between pre/mono’s be more beneficial than 5 metre long speaker cables between mono’s and speakers? I’m moving stuff around atm and banking on one much more than the other.
 
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