Hi guys

I was just wondering what the maximum length of RCA / phono hifi interconnects is?

All mine are Cambridge Audio Pacific 1m long, but I was wondering if there are any longer available?


Basically I want to hook my mixer (Pioneer DJM600) up to my surround sound receiver that's the other side of the room.

If there is a max limit on the length that these cables can be without significant quality loss, is there a way of converting the phono lead into say digital optical/coax for the length round the room, then back to phono at the other end?

Although I guess if it's converted to digi optical / coax then I can just use a digi socket on the back of my receiver.

What's the maximum length of digi optical / coax cable I can get? I assume 10-20m would be ok for both of those.
Anyone know of any sites I can look at some longer hifi cables?


Thanks

Ben

Depending upon conditions, 50 feet is not too uncommon for regular interconnects. 'Conditions' are things such as near-by power lines (especially if running in parallel), other sources of electronic noise, and how good the cable shielding. Several hundred feet for balanced connections is not all that unusual.

There are definite length limits for S/PDIF in coax or toslink. These are shorter than analogue interconnects, I believe, but I''ve had no reason to memorize them. Some other digital format can go longer, but those are not common in home audio equipment.

Making your own long analogue interconnects is sure to be less expensive than buying long cables.

50 feet is a bit long for an unbalanced connection. However you shouldn't really have any problems with running up to about 5 meter unbalanced connection between your mixer and your amp as long as you keep the cable away from power cables. It does depend on how hostile the environment is though, if you've got overhead power lines near by you might have problems.

You could make your own but it's just as easy to buy ready made up leads from somewhere like www.studiospares.com, a 5m lead with decent connectors on it is £8.99 inc VAT, obviously you'll need two for stereo.

The maximum lenth depends on the impedance of the output stage. The lower it is, the longer the connection may be.
Balanced connections usually are 600 Ohm. While the balanced transmission has the most positive effect on noise cancelling, the low impedance also makes them less sensitive to electric and magnetic fields.

Hi everyone

Thanks for all the info on this.

I think probably a 10-20 metre phono cable would be the one. I think I should be ok with regards to interference as well. For only £20 it's worth a go though.


I'm still intrigued about the possibility of doing this digitally though.

What different cable connection technologies are out there to enable me to go longer - can I use ethernet for something like this? Obviously with some kind of adaptor at either end to convert the signal.

Or are there other fibre-optic / digital options that exist?

Just out of curiosity really and to look at new gadget stuff like that!
I'm a bloke, and therefore like gadgets - what more can I say