interconnects and attenuation - simple question (hopefully)

If a system sounds louder with one i/c in place than it does with another, is it fair to assume (simplistically) that there is a difference in resistance between the two?

If that is the case, then what order of difference would be clearly audible.

 

are you meaning one channel sounds louder ? or is this hypothetical.

you should be able to hear around 1db ..... others say more but in general terms thats the ball park figure. To generate a 1db drop would mean a few tens of ohms ...again a ball park figure.

different ic may be affecting other things..... percived loudness is not as straight forward as you might think ...now if you spl meter shows a difference then thats a whole new ball game.

 

The loop resistance variance between interconnects is typically less than 1 ohm and this will not impact loudness in any way.
You need to consider the source and load impedance. The former is typically <100 ohms and the latter >10k ohms. A few ohms loop reistance (and thats extreme) will not alter loudness given those figures.

There are instances where a cable can have extreme L&C and that can alter frequency response or cause ringing with some sources, usually valve valve stages or poor op amp output stages but that is very rare.

 

Both channels, and yes perceived loudness is not the same thing as spl.
I just mean in a simple - I've just changed cable and now I need an extra couple of notches on the volume - way.

What you are saying though, is that to generate a 1db drop would be a difference in cables in the tens of ohms range?

The most sensitive range on my multimeter is 200 ohm, so that kind of difference should show up.

 

Rob - this was between a DAC and a passive pre; (I think) I've seen you say before that inductance (or was it impedance?) is the issue here. The cable pre -> power was constant so just a change on the input side and the DAC is on the low side output wise.

 

wrong thread .....duh


yes I've heard similar ....but normally the other way round ie the addition of a better ic has had the effect of seeming to be at a higher spl..[but is not when checked] it's subjective increase in loudness may be just due to the nicer sound ? and the brain being able to accepts this at a lower subjective level ?

but I'm only guessing .....

rob's right about most ic being almost no ohm's ....

do you have a continuity setting ...on your meter ..this will often read down to a few ohms ...well mine does !

try swapping the various set of ic's and see if the effect is always with the same kit or the same ic ......

 

For an I/C to have an effect on the actual levels then it has to have a resistance in the kilohms range. Which is more wet string than wire. Alternatively it could be faulty and have a partial short circuit between send and return. This would be worth checking with your meter, anything less than infinity is faulty.

Paul