Topic: interconnect placement in system

[scb]

i've found some killer deals on interconnects from audiogon in the past year.  I think I paid a total of like 30% of the retail price for the following (in order from lowest to highest in terms of quality):

2 pairs audio magic excalibur II 1 meter rcas
1 pair audio magic spellcaster 1 meter rcas (better)
1 pair audio magic sorcerer 1 meter rcas

anyway, I'm wondering where to put these cables in the system.  here's the basic setup:

player, dac, preamp, power amp.  i need a set of rcas from dac > pre, from pre > power amp, and since my speakers will be bi-amped, from 2 channels of the power amp out to 2 more channels of the power amp (it's a 7 channel amp)

so, i know that the best cable should be used from the pre to the amp, since that will ALWAYS be involved.  so the sorcerers will go from pre > amp. that i'm sure of.

should the next best pair go from channels 1/2 of the amp out and back in to 3/4?  i realize that this will also always be in use in the chain, but it'd be for the highs only.  when i think of cable impact, i mostly think of bass.  bass is not a factor for the amp channels driving the highs.  should i put the spellcasters from amp > amp too and put the excaliburs from the dac to the pre?  or should I put the spellcasters from dac > pre since that's getting the full range analog signal (bass and all) and probably wants a sweet cable too (the best i can giv it)?

hope i'm making sense

[scb]

>>Nor am I familiar with multi-channel systems.<<

right now it's still just a 2 channel (2 speaker) system.  i'm just using 4 channels to power the 2 speakers (a channel for each high and low for each speaker)

i will be moving stuff around, but i think i'll start with the best cable from pre to amp, second best from source to pre, and then the lowest ones (which are still very nice) from amp back to amp for the highs

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

In general, you should put the best or most transparent cable where the signal is the weakest, between the preamp and amp.  The line level signal is higher and will be less influenced by the cable between the source and the preamp.

Assuming that you have cables A that are better than cables B that are better than cables C:  

If you have 2 A cables and one B cable, I would put 1 A cable between the source and preamp and one A cable on the high/mid leg between the preamp and amp.  Put the B cable on the bass leg between the amp and the preamp.

If you have one A cable and two B cables, then put the A cable between your preamp and amp on the high/mid leg and use the B cables for the bass leg and source lines.

I am a little confused about how you are biamping.  Are you running a pair of amps with active cross overs between the preamp and pair of amps or are you running the full range signal into both amps?  

If you have crossovers ahead of your amps and have 2 A cables, then I would put both A cables in the high/mid leg and use B or C cables for the bass leg with at least a B cable between the source and the preamp.

[carlbeck]

There are plenty of folks who feel the best cable should be conected to your source. I run my best cable to the amp personally then my next "best" cable to the source.

[Nick's Picks]

i'm of the best cable to the source team.
I'd put my best cables between source > DAC > preamp.
next best from preamp to power amp.

Like Moke, this is why I went w/a semi integrated setup.  i only have to worry about one IC these days, and a quality cable certainly made a big difference.

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

i'm of the best cable to the source team.
I'd put my best cables between source > DAC > preamp.
next best from preamp to power amp.

I'm interested in why you did it like this and if you tried it both ways and heard a difference?


I went with best cable between the pre and amp because I had a MUCH better cable and putting it between the amp and pre kept it in circuit regardless of source since I use analog monitoring taps on all my digital sources.

[Nick's Picks]

i did it that way (when I used to have all those componants..which I no longer do) because I subscribe to the "crap in, crap out" rule, and wanted to keep the signal at  its best starting from the top and working down.

I could not hear a difference, and I only had two typs of cables.  I also am a believer in using all the same analog cables in your system, and this is what I had w/the exception of one cable being a "notch up" from the others.  I ran that one from DAC > preamp.