However...

See [Link: electronicdesign.com], then keep reading.

In MANY but not all cases, short signal runs don't need to have cables of the proper impedance to GET BY. I put that in caps because if you GET BY, then the thing works. That doesn't mean that, for instance (in a transmission line), the maximum amount of power available from the source reaches the load.

A result of that is that a cheap audio cable that might work for three feet cannot be used to make that same signal go fifty feet.


Always have the goal of using the exactly proper equipment for the application. Work to learn what will work properly even though it doesn't meet the specs.