Balanced lines would certainly equalize the situation, but I think that unless the run was very long, I'd still use longer speaker leads. Of course, if the speakers had very low impedances, that would shift the situation in favor of long interconnects. I have always used bi-amping with speakers without passive crossovers, so this is something I've not had to really think about since the speaker is directly connected to it's power amp. I certainly would not use balanced lines just so that I could run a long interconnect verses speaker lead. Remember that in most instances, there is added circuitry that "balances" the signal, and this added electronics is just more to comprimise the sound.

There is one very good reason that you see a lot of power amps next to the speakers: It looks impressive!. I think this is somewhat of an "audiophile convention".

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The Soundhound Theater


[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited February 18, 2003).]