speaker cable lenght

olilugo

Hi all, I would like to know your opinion on cable lenght. basically as you know the amp or receiver usually sit closer to one speaker than another specially the front speakers.

The question is if my left speaker could easily be connected with a 6 ft cable but my right speaker needs a 10 ft cable. should I just use two 10 ft cable or can I just use a 6 and a 10 ft cable?

Thanks

treitz3

!0 ft. cable will be fine.

lightman1

Yep. At that distance, there won't be any difference in resistance to each channel. 10ft. with proper terminations.

lightman1

Keiko wrote: »

X3... ^ What they said. ^

Hey Mike. Don't tell anybody that I offered audio related help....Just between you and me, buddy.;) Dig it?

lightman1

Keiko wrote: »

Where's my Ahi beyotch?

I eat it up an it wuz guud! On a cracker.....with fried Spam....
No Ahi on the East Coast! They've been banned! Court order!
Fook Off Now!!

Kex

lightman1 wrote: »

I eat it up an it wuz guud! On a cracker.....with fried Spam....
No Ahi on the East Coast! They've been banned! Court order!
Fook Off Now!!

Look who's back, frightening all the local population!

By the way, just checking, but did everyone who already replied notice that he wants to use different lengths, and was asking if using 10' on one speaker, while using only 6' on the other speaker, was acceptable or not? It wasn't obvious to me from the responses.

IMO, there's no problem whatsoever, but I don't turn the lights on, or live in Hawaii, so maybe somebody else should confirm for him, just to be sure ...

lightman1

Pay attention feeb-o!
At such a short distance AND depending on quality of said cables and terminations, there won't be any noticeable difference in sound.
Thus, two 10' lenghts will be just peachy-keen.
Post #3

Kex

lightman1 wrote: »

... Thus, two 10' lenghts will be just peachy-keen. ...

I get that part, but I think the OP wants to know if he can use one 10' length, and one 6' length, not two 10' lengths?

Now who's not paying attention?! Did one of them fish jump out o' the water and smack you on the side of the head or somethin'? Welcome back BTW, some of us missed you ...

lightman1

Well, what if he bought two factory 10' lenghts? Cables don't make a difference anyway. So there!!:rolleyes:

hearingimpared

I would use the same length of wire for each speaker. 10' on both.

comfortablycurt

Using different lengths shouldn't make a difference with most cables. I prefer to use the same lengths though anyway.

obieone

Make the cable lengths equal now, or the government will tell you to later!:D

lightman1

hearingimpared wrote: »

I would use the same length of wire for each speaker. 10' on both.

Thank you...Now tell Mike he's an idiot for me.....:D

lightman1

Keiko wrote: »

Russ,

Length matters not. Girth does, you idiot!

....and I have neither....:( Woe is me.

lightman1

Throw in a couple slices of pie and you have a deal!

olilugo

Kex wrote: »

Look who's back, frightening all the local population!

By the way, just checking, but did everyone who already replied notice that he wants to use different lengths, and was asking if using 10' on one speaker, while using only 6' on the other speaker, was acceptable or not? It wasn't obvious to me from the responses.

IMO, there's no problem whatsoever, but I don't turn the lights on, or live in Hawaii, so maybe somebody else should confirm for him, just to be sure ...

Hi all, Kex, was right on the money.
Some speaker cables go up in price as the lenght increases for example signal cables the silver revolution is 30$ per foot. so given that I will need three cables: one pair for mains and one for center, I can use the pair of 10 feet cables for one of my mains and he center, and use the 6 ft one for the other main speaker.
If I use audioquest, MIT or others the price really goes up so I am trying to save if I can.

McLoki

To the op - if you are trying to make due with what you have - you will be fine with a 6' run and a 10' run.

If you are purchasing cable - It will be much easier to resell an equal length pair so I would go ahead and just get a 10' pair of cables. Not for the sound difference, but rather for the ease of resell if you decide to upgrade again at some point in the future.

Michael

gdb

McLoki wrote: »

To the op - if you are trying to make due with what you have - you will be fine with a 6' run and a 10' run.

If you are purchasing cable - It will be much easier to resell an equal length pair so I would go ahead and just get a 10' pair of cables. Not for the sound difference, but rather for the ease of resell if you decide to upgrade again at some point in the future.

Michael

+1 Also you might rearrange things later and wish both were 10 footers.
FYI, many people endorse the Signal Cables for both price and high quality, they will also make up any length in any configuration you specify.
Good Luck:) Link below:

http://signalcable.com/classicspeaker.html

danz1906

The same length cables is the best way to go.

olilugo

Thanks GDB, I am familiar with signal cables, I own their analog II interconnect and I am very happy with them.

Thanks Mcloki, selling is also something to consider, after all as we refine our systems we will try differente components and buy and sell until we find what we feel we can live with.

Again Thanks all.

gavn8r

I'd go with two cables of equal length. You may not hear the difference in your system, but if you go with two different lengths with typical cable your system will be ever so slightly (miniscule-ly... is that a word?) out of phase. Not to mention your cables' value will drop drastically if the lengths don't match. That only matters when you go to sell them. But if you choose the right cables, why would you ever sell them?

madmax

gavn8r wrote: »

I'd go with two cables of equal length. You may not hear the difference in your system, but if you go with two different lengths with typical cable your system will be ever so slightly (miniscule-ly... is that a word?) out of phase. Not to mention your cables' value will drop drastically if the lengths don't match. That only matters when you go to sell them. But if you choose the right cables, why would you ever sell them?

+1
madmax

BlueFox

Mapleshade recommneds to never use a cable less than 8' feet in length. Generally speaking, I have found their products, which I have purchased, actually work as claimed.

"NEVER use speaker cables shorter than 8'. Amazingly, 4' sounds much worse than 8'. Contrary to common belief, shorter interconnects (2 m or less) and longer speaker cables sound WAY BETTER than the opposite—based on extensive head-to-head tests. "

http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/audioproducts/freeaudiotips.php

Knucklehead

BlueFox wrote: »

Mapleshade recommneds to never use a cable less than 8' feet in length. Generally speaking, I have found their products, which I have purchased, actually work as claimed.

"NEVER use speaker cables shorter than 8'. Amazingly, 4' sounds much worse than 8'. Contrary to common belief, shorter interconnects (2 m or less) and longer speaker cables sound WAY BETTER than the opposite—based on extensive head-to-head tests. "

http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/audioproducts/freeaudiotips.php

Let me get this straight.....I currently use a 4ft length of 14ga Monoprice speaRker cable for my center channel, if I switch to a 8ft lenght of cable my center will sound better?

gavn8r

BlueFox wrote: »

"NEVER use speaker cables shorter than 8'. Amazingly, 4' sounds much worse than 8'. Contrary to common belief, shorter interconnects (2 m or less) and longer speaker cables sound WAY BETTER than the opposite—based on extensive head-to-head tests."

There are many out there who recommend the opposite: long interconnects and short speaker cables. I half-way agree with Mapleshade here.

I don't believe that a 4 foot speaker cable sounds worse than an 8 foot one. However, it is a good practice to use short interconnects and long speaker cables. This is due to the antenna effect interconnects have because of the low amount of energy being transported through them. They tend to pick up more noise the longer they get. Speaker cables, however, are always "full on." This makes them less susceptible to field coupled noise.

CoolJazz

Interconnects are limited by high frequency roll off more than anything. Don't get stupid length's and your not likely to have a problem.

On the other hand, speaker cable length effects dampening factor. This can be a good thing, loosening up the currently fashionable overly tight bass. But length and guage will play with dampening. But another highly undervalued issue is the back emf from a cone driver and its effects going back into the typical amplifier thats been choked down with feedback. Also don't overlook the metal to metal connections at higher current and how they sound too. Also...the fact that RFI is a much bigger problem in the interface between the amp and speaker than it typically is for line level.

Cut off or add a couple of feed to an interconnect and its highly unlikely to have a major impact. Change from an 8 foot speaker cable to a four foot and its certain to have impact!

CoolJazz

Gaara

Ugh Mapleshade. Same guys who say you shouldn't listen with tweeters at ear level, and to place your seating position against the wall for the best sound.

P.S I subscribe to the shorter interconnect side of things, mainly because of capacitance issues w/ my TVC. Part of the reason I use 89259 interconnects, very low capacitance. All though I have 6ft interconnects from pre to amp and only 2ft speaker wire...just the way things ended up.

gavn8r

CoolJazz wrote: »

But another highly undervalued issue is the back emf from a cone driver and its effects going back into the typical amplifier thats been choked down with feedback.

This is actually the exact issue that the input coupler on MIT Cables controls. Reflected energy is trapped and bled off as heat at the input. Great point.