Balanced XLR cables/Long Run/Audiophile Grade - but not priced as such

cjf

Well-Known Member
Nov 19, 2012
452
101
948
Hello,

I am about to undergo the daunting task of reconfiguring my listening space. The idea to do this was brought on by a separate project (new hardwood going down) which will require me to disrupt the whole listening space anyway so I figured why not take advantage of the opportunity and move things around a bit that I know are not in their ideal locations today.

The goal is to relocate my speakers to a more ideal location without reinventing the wheel and/or losing my shirt too badly with my current investment in interconnects.

The way I see it, I only have one option and that is to relocate my speakers and amplifier together and leave the rest of the equipment in its current location. In doing so, I will be able to retain my pricey speaker cables and only need to replace one pair of pricey balanced cables that run between my Preamp and Amp.

I consider myself as one of those believers in cables making a difference in an audio system so I am struggling with the thought of needing to re-purchase a balanced cable of the same caliber I use today for a much longer twin brother of the same brand. By my calculations I will need a set of balanced cables approx 12 meters long. If I bought a longer cable of the same brand/model I use today that 12 meter run would cost me $15k..:eek:
For this project I would prefer to keep costs well under $1K if possible

So my question is for those folks who also use a similar long run of balanced cable to their amplifier but were forced to purchase a cheaper model given the cost prohibitive nature of purchasing an "audiophile" grade cable to cover great distances. What cable did you go with? Did you suffer a loss in SQ worth mentioning? Did you pick up any noise or other ugliness in doing so as compared to a previous cable run that was much shorter?

My Preamp is states to have an output Impedance of 55 ohms per phase according to the manufacturer. My understanding is that this is sufficiently low enough to not have to worry issues using a longer balanced cable but please correct me if I am mistaken.

My current setup is as follows:

Ayre QB-9 DAC
Ayre K5-xeMP Preamp
PASS Labs X250 Amp
B&W 803 Diamond Loudspeakers
2 X Ridge Street Audio Poiema R-v3 Balanced Cable runs (1.5meters each)
Acoustic Zen Satori Speaker Wire

Thanks for any info you can provide
 

audioarcher

Well-Known Member
May 6, 2012
1,396
51
970
Seattle area
Audioquest Diamondback is worth a shot. It should come in at under 1K at long lengths. They might be too bright in the wrong setting. Might be worth it to borrow some shorter one's from the Cable Company to see if they fit your needs.
 

Bruce B

WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Apr 25, 2010
7,006
512
1,740
Snohomish, WA
www.pugetsoundstudios.com
So my question is for those folks who also use a similar long run of balanced cable to their amplifier but were forced to purchase a cheaper model given the cost prohibitive nature of purchasing an "audiophile" grade cable to cover great distances. What cable did you go with? Did you suffer a loss in SQ worth mentioning? Did you pick up any noise or other ugliness in doing so as compared to a previous cable run that was much shorter?

My Preamp is states to have an output Impedance of 55 ohms per phase according to the manufacturer. My understanding is that this is sufficiently low enough to not have to worry issues using a longer balanced cable but please correct me if I am mistaken.

My current setup is as follows:

The biggest bang for the buck cable I've found is Mogami Gold. I have a 9m pair of JPS Aluminata$$$... Don't know if I could blindly tell them apart!
 

audioarcher

Well-Known Member
May 6, 2012
1,396
51
970
Seattle area
The biggest bang for the buck cable I've found is Mogami Gold. I have a 9m pair of JPS Aluminata$$$... Don't know if I could blindly tell them apart!

I've never tried the Mogami. Certainly cost effective and your not out much if you don't like them.
 

DonH50

Member Sponsor & WBF Technical Expert
Jun 22, 2010
3,947
306
1,670
Monument, CO
Professional installations run much (much!) longer balanced runs all the time. The output impedance of your preamp seems fine. I would go with any of the pro audio cables, but I am not a strong believer in high-priced cables so any pro cables I'd suggest would be way below your price range... What I would do is to get a spool of bulk cable (100 m or so for a stereo run, and pull 4 runs to have spares). I would choose the kind with 100% foil shield instead of braided shield, since road use and continuous flexing is not an issue, then run in conduit just to further protect it and make life easy. Remember to include a pull-string for future use.

Bruce's Mogami suggestion sounds good to me if you want "audiophile" cables.

FWIWFM - Don
 

GaryProtein

VIP/Donor
Jul 25, 2012
2,542
31
385
NY
If you want a name brand and not "recording studio" (ordinary generic) balanced cables, definitely get the Mogami.

I also agree with DonH about getting a bulk spool and soldering your own connectors.

As Speedskater said, Belden and Canare are also good. There are some cable companies that take Belden cable, put fancy looking connectors on them and wads of that plastic web over the whole thing and sell it for a fortune.

Solidly constructed, well shielded, excellent quality cables can be had for NOT a lot of money.

People often use cables to "tune" their system. What I don't understand is, if they are used as a tuning device for their components and room, why is it that the highest priced cable from any manufacturer is always thought to be best and sought after for every situation. No one ever gets WireWorld Platinum Eclipse and trades down to Luna 6 because their system sounds better with it.

Go Figure.
 
Last edited:

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
5,599
225
1,190
Seattle, WA
www.genesisloudspeakers.com
I've recommended Mogami Gold Stage Microphone for exactly this purpose on this forum quite a number of times already. Here is the actual one I use:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--MOGGSTA

In longer runs, I've found them to be better than some $$$$$$ cables. Once I ran a 10m pair at CES, and the cable company that loaned me the rest of the cables was incensed! But it was much better than the long XLR pair that they loaned me.
 

audioarcher

Well-Known Member
May 6, 2012
1,396
51
970
Seattle area
I've recommended Mogami Gold Stage Microphone for exactly this purpose on this forum quite a number of times already. Here is the actual one I use:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--MOGGSTA

In longer runs, I've found them to be better than some $$$$$$ cables. Once I ran a 10m pair at CES, and the cable company that loaned me the rest of the cables was incensed! But it was much better than the long XLR pair that they loaned me.

Hi Gary,

That's an interesting report. I don't have much experience cable swapping long runs. My longest run is a 6m xlr pair. Do you also find the short Mogami to be better than some other cables as well or does it depend on length? Also exactly how were they better? Was it frequency response or something else?
 

Bruce B

WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Apr 25, 2010
7,006
512
1,740
Snohomish, WA
www.pugetsoundstudios.com
Hi Gary,

That's an interesting report. I don't have much experience cable swapping long runs. My longest run is a 6m xlr pair. Do you also find the short Mogami to be better than some other cables as well or does it depend on length? Also exactly how were they better? Was it frequency response or something else?

I've got .5 and 1m pairs of Mogami Gold I use all the time for patching tape machines, EQ's, Comps and other equipment. I haven't noticed a difference in length from 9m to 18". Sounds the same to me. I mostly use it because most of my other $$ cable is stiff as hell and I'm afraid if I keep bending it and switching it around, something will break. That's why I use the Mogami on things I know I'll be connecting/disconnecting many times.
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
5,599
225
1,190
Seattle, WA
www.genesisloudspeakers.com
I've got .5 and 1m pairs of Mogami Gold I use all the time for patching tape machines, EQ's, Comps and other equipment. I haven't noticed a difference in length from 9m to 18". Sounds the same to me. I mostly use it because most of my other $$ cable is stiff as hell and I'm afraid if I keep bending it and switching it around, something will break. That's why I use the Mogami on things I know I'll be connecting/disconnecting many times.

+1

The good thing with the Mogami is that different lengths seem to sound the same. With some $$$ cables, different lengths sound different.
 

Speedskater

Well-Known Member
Sep 30, 2010
941
15
368
Cleveland Ohio
Remember that "microphone" cables are optimized for flexibility, ruggedness and low handling noise. So you pay extra for these features that are not needed for (more or less) permanent interconnects.
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
5,599
225
1,190
Seattle, WA
www.genesisloudspeakers.com
Remember that "microphone" cables are optimized for flexibility, ruggedness and low handling noise. So you pay extra for these features that are not needed for (more or less) permanent interconnects.

Yes, but I find that the Mogami Gold microphone cable sounds better than the more expensive Mogami Gold Studio Neglex.
 

audioarcher

Well-Known Member
May 6, 2012
1,396
51
970
Seattle area
Thanks guys. I have some 2m Belkin xlr's and I don't really care for them. They are less open sounding than my other cables. I'm guessing that is due to frequency response. That could in part be due to component interaction as some others have eluded to.

I may give the Mogami a try next time I need a cable.
 

audioarcher

Well-Known Member
May 6, 2012
1,396
51
970
Seattle area
Belden, not Belkin... Belden makes many types and grades of cable so just the name is not enough.

Right. That's true. I did not build them Roger Sanders did. So I don't know off hand exactly which cable in their line was used. I assume he used the best cable for the job. It probably says on the jacket what it is though.
 
Last edited:

microstrip

VIP/Donor
May 30, 2010
20,806
4,698
2,790
Portugal
I've recommended Mogami Gold Stage Microphone for exactly this purpose on this forum quite a number of times already. Here is the actual one I use:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--MOGGSTA

In longer runs, I've found them to be better than some $$$$$$ cables. Once I ran a 10m pair at CES, and the cable company that loaned me the rest of the cables was incensed! But it was much better than the long XLR pair that they loaned me.

Gary,
A naive (and may be stupid) question, but I hope worth your answer. You design state of the art XLR cable. If you connect your 1m XLR cables in series with a 10m XLR's Mogami Gold Stage Microphone, do you get something similar to the sound of your own cables?
 

audioarcher

Well-Known Member
May 6, 2012
1,396
51
970
Seattle area
Belden, not Belkin... Belden makes many types and grades of cable so just the name is not enough.

In the interest of clarity it is Belden Brilliance 1800f 110 ohm aes/ebu digital audio shielded cable. It's been a while since I've used them but sibilance was a little harsh and they seemed rolled off above that. No Idea if they would behave the same in another system.
 
Last edited:

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
5,599
225
1,190
Seattle, WA
www.genesisloudspeakers.com
Gary,
A naive (and may be stupid) question, but I hope worth your answer. You design state of the art XLR cable. If you connect your 1m XLR cables in series with a 10m XLR's Mogami Gold Stage Microphone, do you get something similar to the sound of your own cables?

No easy answer to this..... I try to make my cables as balanced as possible and without a sound. I hear the Mogami (and also other brands) more than I hear mine. Unfortunately, I've found that the order of the cable also makes a difference. I prefer Mogami first and then mine from preamp to power amp than mine first then Mogami. But that's also component dependent.

Even when connecting two of my cables in series (when one isn't long enough) the order (longer/shorter) makes a difference. I prefer longer first, then shorter. Then again, it's usually a longer Mogami. So, it may be because I prefer longer first then shorter. I haven't tried a longer one of my cable, and a shorter Mogami because most of my Mogami cables are 20ft or longer.
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing