Speaker Cable Length?

In a few months we are going to be moving permanently to our vacation home in Colorado. In order to set up my 2 channel system, one speaker connection is going to be approximately 4' from the amp. The other speaker connection is going to be approximately 12' from the amp. Is there any significant reason that I should keep both speaker cables nearly the same length? If I do that, I will have to have about 8' of excess length for the right side speaker tucked behind my audio cabinet out of sight. I'd rather have one cable 4' in length and one cable 12' in length. Any recommendations either way?
McIntosh MA252 Integrated Amp, LUMIN D2 Network Music Player, Yamaha Aventage RX-A840 receiver, Emotiva XPA Gen3 2 channel amp, Polk LSiM 703 speakers. Oppo UDP-203 Blu-Ray player, Polk LSiM 705 speakers. Polk Signature S20 speakers.

Comments

  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 9,969
    Depending on what you get, if you need to sell I'm thinking could be difficult to sell different length cables in the future should the need arise, especially 4' and 12'.
  • agfrost
    agfrost Posts: 2,421
    ^^^What both of these guys said! Totally fine to do, compromises resale potential. If that doesn't bother you, feel free to buy single cables of different length.
    Jay
    SDA 2BTL * Musical Fidelity A5cr amp * Oppo BDP-93 * Modded Adcom GDA-600 DAC * Rythmik F8 (x2)
    Micro Seiki DQ-50 * Hagerman Cornet 2 Phono * A hodgepodge of cabling * Belkin PF60
    Preamp rotation: Krell KSL (SCompRacer recapped) * Manley Shrimp * PS Audio 5.0
  • Tbone289
    Tbone289 Posts: 661
    Congrats on the move Mark!!
    2.1: PC>Schiit Gungnir MB>Schiit Freya Noval>NAD C-270>Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1, HSU STF-2 5.1: HDMI Bitstream>Denon AVR-1910>polkaudio RTE55, CS350-LS, RT3, HSU STF-2, Visio M55-F0
  • Tbone289 wrote: »
    Congrats on the move Mark!!

    Thanks! We're at the Colorado house right now. Have to go back to PA next week and then work a few more months. We'll be back here in April again, maybe to stay. If not, we'll be back by the end of the summer...fully retired and living in Colorado! Can't wait!
    McIntosh MA252 Integrated Amp, LUMIN D2 Network Music Player, Yamaha Aventage RX-A840 receiver, Emotiva XPA Gen3 2 channel amp, Polk LSiM 703 speakers. Oppo UDP-203 Blu-Ray player, Polk LSiM 705 speakers. Polk Signature S20 speakers.
  • kevhed72
    kevhed72 Posts: 4,950
    So what we are saying here is the electrical signal is moving sooo quickly, it really doesnt matter if it has to travel an extra 4 ft. ? Im verifying before I cut a new run of raw cable for my 2nd system....
  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,560
    kevhed72 wrote: »
    So what we are saying here is the electrical signal is moving sooo quickly, it really doesnt matter if it has to travel an extra 4 ft. ? Im verifying before I cut a new run of raw cable for my 2nd system....

    "Electricity travels at around 70% the speed of light or 300,000 KM or 186,000 miles per second. This calculates to over 200,000 KM or 130,000 miles per second. Your ears won't notice a delay of 1 mS or 1/1000th of a second so doing the math... keep the difference less than 200 KM or 130 miles and you'll be fine."
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926


    The EMF (electromotive force) travels at or near the speed of light in the transmission medium -- the electron drift velocity in a copper wire, under the influence of that EMF is far, far slower... and, for an AC signal, they really and truly just wiggle back and forth.
    Clipdat wrote: »
    kevhed72 wrote: »
    So what we are saying here is the electrical signal is moving sooo quickly, it really doesnt matter if it has to travel an extra 4 ft. ? Im verifying before I cut a new run of raw cable for my 2nd system....

    "Electricity travels at around 70% the speed of light or 300,000 KM or 186,000 miles per second. This calculates to over 200,000 KM or 130,000 miles per second. Your ears won't notice a delay of 1 mS or 1/1000th of a second so doing the math... keep the difference less than 200 KM or 130 miles and you'll be fine."

    Eh? Where the heck did you find that?
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    ahh, OK -- the quote is referring to the velocity factor, and is about right at 70% of c.
  • kevhed72
    kevhed72 Posts: 4,950
    I am intrigued, yet too lazy to look up the answer on my own. Soo what if the difference between EMF and electron drift velocity? How do electrons "wiggle" within the medium?

  • agfrost
    agfrost Posts: 2,421
    Re wiggling, I suspect Doc H means rather like this gif shows--substitute a driver of your personal choosing instead of a lightbulb. :)

    k3yv8sk1wb6h.gif
    Jay
    SDA 2BTL * Musical Fidelity A5cr amp * Oppo BDP-93 * Modded Adcom GDA-600 DAC * Rythmik F8 (x2)
    Micro Seiki DQ-50 * Hagerman Cornet 2 Phono * A hodgepodge of cabling * Belkin PF60
    Preamp rotation: Krell KSL (SCompRacer recapped) * Manley Shrimp * PS Audio 5.0
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    You could listen to the filament sing in a light bulb if you drive it with an amplifier :)