Any watch outs on XLR IC run of 32 feet?

arthurs · Nov 16, 2010

I have gotten a mixed bag of feedback on whether running a balanced 32' set of IC's from my pre to my amps is a good idea. Some say only ultra low capacitance, some say it will roll off the top end, some say no problem at all if it sounds good do it.

I'm looking to move the front end of my rack up my sidewall and leave my amps near my speakers. I would need 32' to put it in the optimal spot. Pre is VAC Ren Sig MKII with output impedance of <150ohms and amps are VAC Phi 300.1 mono's. Curious what the sage veterans and industry folks here would offer on the subject.

Thanks in advance!

Steve Williams · Nov 16, 2010

Arthur

I have heard exactly the same which when I added my new Lamm gear posed a problem as I am running a 9 meter pair of cables from my Lamm preamp to my Lamm amps without any problem whatsoever. Now here is what is interesting. Vladimir uses XLR terminations BUT these are essentially "pseudobalanced" which means he shorts one of the three pins at each connection thus making the termination essentially "single ended". Before I decided on the positioning I became concerned as you for the exact reasons. When I spoke to Vladimir he reassured me that there would be no problems whatsoever. Now to make it real interesting, when deciding on the cable I wasn't about to break the bank on an uber expensive 9 meter cable so I bought a modestly priced but well built Supra Sword Anniversary cable. I must tell you that I have had zero problems whatsoever

why don't you call Kevin at VAC for suggestions

Of course YMMV

arthurs · Nov 16, 2010

Thanks Steve, I sent the boys at VAC a note and am waiting to hear back from them. The VAC stuff is true balanced so not sure if or how that helps me. I corresponded this morning with one buddy of mine who had a 7m pair of Furutech cables custom made with extra low capacitance for around $1200, so it looks like there are reasonable options out there. It's also reassuring to hear your experience has been positive. Thanks much!

Steve Williams · Nov 16, 2010

true balanced is the way to go

garylkoh · Nov 16, 2010

Arthur,

I've had great success with Mogami Gold Stage microphone wire for true balanced preamp to amp for up to 15m. The other cable that I've used at that length is the FM Acoustics PIT. Slightly shorter at 9m I have a pair of Nordost Valhalla. No problems with roll-off, lack of transparency, etc. for those three. I had a 6m pair of a cable that shall remain un-named that caused oscillation between my preamp and power amp. So, you have to be careful when running such extreme lengths.

brianherlihy · Nov 16, 2010

I am neither sage nor veteran. but i run 5 m balanced ICs and hear no problem. they are Kubala Sosna, Joe came over to set them up and we discussed this very issue. He saw/heard nothing wrong with the set up (now you could say he was biased and wanted to sell long IC, but those who know Joe, know he wouldn't do that, more importantly, if it wasn't long IC then it was going to be longer speaker cables - he wins either way).

arthurs · Nov 16, 2010

Thanks Gary and Brian!

JackD201 · Nov 16, 2010

I'm running 12 meters. Like Steve I run Lamm electronics (output impedance at ~130 ohms) so it's either single ended when I use the RCA run or Pseudo Balanced when I run XLR. I have no problems whatsoever.

When in doubt just think of how long the microphone cables were when the recordings were made

audioguy · Nov 16, 2010

Competently built balanced interconnects at that length will not cause any problems. I have used both expensive and very inexpensive and both worked perfectly. I kept the inexpensive !

Bruce B · Nov 16, 2010

running a couple pair of 10m cables without a problem... just lighter bank account!

also running 100' Mogami Gold DB25 cables between rooms with no problems.

c1ferrari · Nov 17, 2010

Hi Art!

Like Gary, I employ Mogami cable; however, I'm using ~25' of Mogami Gold Studio for Microphones, aka Mogami 2534 "Neglex Quad Mic Cables". My BAT gear features true differential balance circuit topology.

Miss hangin' out with the Dallas/Ft. Worth/Houston crew...we'll do it again, sometime

DonH50 · Nov 20, 2010

32 feet should be no problem with decent (does not need to be super-expensive, just good ProCo or whatever) cables. I have run 100' mic runs without problems in professional systems. And, had horrible problems with 10' runs using bad cables sitting in a channel with power cords and speaker-level runs.

FWIWFM - Don

Avidlistener · Mar 11, 2016

Interesting thread . I recently Went with monoblocks (BHK 300's which I'm now a dealer for) so bought 20 foot Mogami gold balanced cables just as an innexpensive interim cable to get the system running.

This is In true balanced operation coming from the DAC or sometimes preamp, both of which are differential circuits.

I could probably make due with 15 feet.

So is the consensus I will not get a benefit from going with a traditional audiophile (meaning expensive) cable?

I thought of myself as "slumming it" with the Mogami Gold for now, even though the sustem does sound excellent.

Bruce B · Mar 11, 2016

Avidlistener said:
So is the consensus I will not get a benefit from going with a traditional audiophile (meaning expensive) cable?

I thought of myself as "slumming it" with the Mogami Gold for now, even though the sustem does sound excellent.

I have a 10m pair of very expensive cables going from my Pass XP-30 to a pair XA-100.5 amps. I really can't tell the difference. I can fool myself into thinking there is though!

Now, when I was given the option to audition/review a pair of 10m Transparent Opus MM cables, then I could hear the difference. Was it for the better? Not to me.

Speedskater · Mar 11, 2016

Just minutes ago, this same type of question came up in another forum. So I'll just copy my answer:

The classical music recordings made in concert halls, sometimes use XLR cables 100 meters (300 feet) long. So 11 feet is a very short XLR cable. At that short length almost any Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) will do just fine. But for long cables, you need good bulk cable, made by a major cable manufacture. Two such manufactures are Belden and Mogami.

ACHiPo · Mar 11, 2016

arthurs said:
I have gotten a mixed bag of feedback on whether running a balanced 32' set of IC's from my pre to my amps is a good idea. Some say only ultra low capacitance, some say it will roll off the top end, some say no problem at all if it sounds good do it.

I'm looking to move the front end of my rack up my sidewall and leave my amps near my speakers. I would need 32' to put it in the optimal spot. Pre is VAC Ren Sig MKII with output impedance of <150ohms and amps are VAC Phi 300.1 mono's. Curious what the sage veterans and industry folks here would offer on the subject.

Thanks in advance!

I'm running 21' of Darwin Truth balanced ICs (very low capacitance), and they sound fantastic. Any trade-offs from the longer IC run is more than made up from the benefit of getting electronics out from between the speakers. I am currently running a Parasound line stage, but was driving the ICs with a CD player (Oppo 105) with comparable results. The Darwin Truths displaced Mogami Gold balanced ICs. Yes (unfortunately) the Darwin cables sound significantly better than the Mogami Golds.

GaryProtein · Mar 11, 2016

I am running 55 feet of XLR IC's from my preamplifier in the equipment rack, through the floor into the basement, back through the floor to my crossovers and power amplifiers.

It sounds the same as when I had my preamp close to the amplifiers.

JackD201 · Mar 12, 2016

Ran 10m ICs for 5 years and 12m ICs for another 5. No problems here either.

MtnHam · Mar 12, 2016

Long runs are the reason balanced is the standard in pro audio. Just make sure your gear is not designed with fake balanced circuitry. As previously suggested, generic cable such as Belden works well. Super expensive is a waste of money.

Gemini · Mar 12, 2016

I don't want to hi-jack this thread but would be interested in hearing about experiences with longer speaker cables. I am thinking about moving my rack to the side and would prefer to have the amp at the side as well for interior decoration purposes. This would mean 7m long speaker cables, though.

Any watch outs on XLR IC run of 32 feet?

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