He is wrong in his logic, but his overall advice is good.
He said that "for years" he believed long speaker cables were better because an amp is "better at driving a complex load". Which is true, but line level signals are not "complex." In fact, the line level input impedance for damn near every audio component is a flat 10k Ohm, or so, load with resistor like characteristics. It is NOT "complex."
Then he says that interconnects which are long "much be balanced" or else all bets are off and then it is better to go with long speaker cables. This too is hooey!
Speaker cables are connecting amps to extremely complex loads with complex impedance curves and often difficult phase angles, if not extremely difficult to handle phase angles. The ratio of an amp's output impedance to a speaker's typical input impedance, which is near or below 4 ohms at many points, is in the range of 1:50 (or 1:25 for a 4 Ohm speaker). So the LCR (inductance, capacitance, and resistance) characteristics of the cable actually impact the signal even in short speaker cable runs.
Whereas, the ratio of the output impedance of a line level source and the input impedance of a line level amp is in the range of 1:1000, making the LCR characteristics of the cable almost moot. Sure, the cable needs to have low capacitance or you'll get a high frequency roll off, but that is very easy to achieve with low cost cables. The ONLY reason to demand balanced line level cables is when there is a EMF noise issue with the cable, potentially running near RF sources (like a WiFi device) or near AC power cables which can inject a 60Hz hum. A balanced cable will null out those EMF noises if both the output device and the input device both support balanced cables natively. However, if you run a 60 foot unbalanced line level cable and do not experience audible hum or EMF radio noise, then balanced cables are not necessary. In fact, as our brilliant friend Rammisframmis likes to point out, the added circuitry to support balanced interfaces add noise to a circuit, so not using balanced is actually GOOD thing if it is not necessary.
So, Paul is right is suggesting that short speaker cables and long line level cables are better when one or the other is necessary, but he is completely wrong in every way in his reasoning AND in demanding that all long line level cable MUST be balanced or they are inherently bad.
Damn!!!! Why do well educated people promote this BS????
