View Full Version : Does having equal length cable make a difference or not?
I have always tried to keep speaker cable length the same for speakers regardless of the distance each one is away from the amp but does it really matter at these short lengths due to the speed which electricity travels, or is there another reason (impedance\resistance etc) for keeping them the same, or do people think it doesn't matter?
You have to get to really long lengths before it is even possible that it could matter. For obsessive audiophile reasons I always like to keep them the same length. Obsessive audiophile reasons always trump reality, as we all know ;)
Sherwood
30-05-2017, 12:09
Go for symmetry if you're OCD about OFC!
Geoff
unless its very high capacitance it shouldnt matter
brian2957
30-05-2017, 12:09
Obsessive audiophile reasons always trump reality, as we all know ;)[/QUOTE]
Amen to that Martin :D
So as I thought, it is just my OCD (and others) then, makes searching for some reasonably priced decent cable on Ebay a bit easier then as my amp is about 2.5 metres closer to the right speaker than the left, thank you.
I had the same problem in my last house. 7m on the right and 2m on the left. Made no difference when compared with equal 7m cables. And better I believe than coiled speaker cable taking up the slack.
walpurgis
30-05-2017, 13:59
I make my cables millimeter close in length. As I can, why not? But I don't reckon even a large discrepancy makes much odds really.
I had the same problem in my last house. 7m on the right and 2m on the left. Made no difference when compared with equal 7m cables. And better I believe than coiled speaker cable taking up the slack.
I think this is what I am going to do now, I do have a rather large "pile" of the current speaker cable for the right speaker stuffed behind the unit the amp is on!
Different lengths of cable DO make a significant difference - in the minds of OCD people.
Different lengths of cable DO make a significant difference - in the minds of OCD people.
LOL!! :)
hifinutt
30-05-2017, 18:15
used 3 m and 6m cables for a good year with no problems !
Different lengths can make a significant difference in resale value. If you ever want to sell or trade it may prove hard to get rid of uneven pairs. Due to OCD and all.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Sherwood
31-05-2017, 08:49
Does it matter if one ear is bigger than the other?
:scratch:
walpurgis
31-05-2017, 08:51
Does it matter if one ear is bigger than the other?
:scratch:
You can compensate by having one speaker bigger than the other.
Sherwood
31-05-2017, 09:05
I am prompted to design, manufacturer, market and sell the "EAR RIGHT".
I see this as being a customised (i.e. more profitable) device to compensate for the devilish problem of ear-asymmetry! It eliminates the need for complex, painful and risky surgical correction of ear-asymmetry.
It comprises a custom-moulded prosthesis using colour matched silicone gel for that natural "I can't believe how not lopsided his ears are!" look. Aside from enhancing your aural pleasure, this device is proven to enhance your bedroom pleasure as this newspaper article confirms!
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/men-who-have-lopsided-ears-might-not-make-the-earth-move-1324258.html
Don't delay! Act now! Get the "EAR RIGHT" and everything will be "ALL RIGHT" baby!
:eyebrows:
Sherwood
31-05-2017, 09:06
You can compensate by having one speaker bigger than the other.
... or sit nearer to one speaker!
jollyfix
31-05-2017, 09:09
I have never noticed any difference. One system i am using 5m, and 7m lengths. The other system using 4.5 equal lengths.
The speed of light is pretty fast...
One instance where I do think it could make a difference is with high capacitance speaker cable, like Goertz, 1m at one side 7m the other, using a cranky amp that is sensitive to such things like NVA, old Exposure or old Naim.
I ran a system where one speaker cable was 14m long, the other was 6m. Can't say I noticed the ~15ns delay, or the < 0.1dB difference in level, and since I use electrostatic speakers, the difference in damping factor was not important.
Now my speaker cables are each <1m in length.
This is actually a very interesting thread imo..
IF one accepts the Engineering theory (fact?) that ONLY resistance is of import in an Speaker (power) cable.
Then Slight variations of Resistance should make differences.
In real Life they clearly do not.. OR more plausibly are below the Hearing/awareness threshold of us Audiphools.
That said... It does cause head scratching as to the often excited conversations re the attributed Goodness of some speaker wires over others ;)
soundsheavenly
30-06-2017, 13:24
Hi everyone,
As a cable manufacturer and supplier, this one is of interest to me! I suspect that many of us worry too much about getting speaker cable lengths exactly matching (myself included!) but some attention to cable lengths can be productive. The golden rule in my view is to keep both speaker cables fairly close in length and as short as reasonably possible, particularly when low impedance speakers are connected.
Traditional "entry-level" 49 strand OFC speaker cable varies in spec, but these cables can have a typical DC resistance of around 1 Ohm for every 10 loop metres (ie. 5m of cable length) so if you have a low impedance speaker of 4 Ohms connected to a 10m long cable, then the cable could be adding 50% (2 Ohms) to the impedance of the speaker as seen by the amplifier. This means that around 33% of the power output of the amplifier could be lost to heat in the cable.
This change in the connected load could affect the linearity of some amplifiers, which could potentially affect bass or treble response in some systems. Good cable and amplifier choice should minimise any impact, but it can be helpful to keep one eye on resistance when planning longer cable runs.
Hope this helps?
Kind regards, Steve.
The cables I used to use (QED 79 strand) had a quoted loop resistance of 16mOhm/metre. Since as a general rule of thumb, the loop resistance of the speaker cable ought to be no more than 5% of the nominal speaker impedance, then for say a speaker impedance of 8Ohm, the cable length should be no more than 25 metres.
The speaker cables will thus introduce a power loss of 5% (0.21dB).
soundsheavenly
30-06-2017, 17:33
Thanks Barry,
It is good to see a more positive calculation to contrast against my rather pessimistic approach! Looking at the combination of our workings-out, I suppose we could say very broadly that in a typical system with reasonably long cable lengths, the speaker cables could contribute to the system loading (and hence potentially influence the sound) by somewhere between 5% to 50%, depending on the quality of the cables and equipment. Admittedly that is a wide range, but I would suggest that speaker cables DO make a difference and in some systems this can be quite a large difference.
By the way, I also use QED 79 strand cable in my main system now, primarily to minimise the cable resistance issues highlighted in my previous post.
Kind regards, Steve.
Thanks Barry,
It is good to see a more positive calculation to contrast against my rather pessimistic approach! Looking at the combination of our workings-out, I suppose we could say very broadly that in a typical system with reasonably long cable lengths, the speaker cables could contribute to the system loading (and hence potentially influence the sound) by somewhere between 5% to 50%, depending on the quality of the cables and equipment. Admittedly that is a wide range, but I would suggest that speaker cables DO make a difference and in some systems this can be quite a large difference.
By the way, I also use QED 79 strand cable in my main system now, primarily to minimise the cable resistance issues highlighted in my previous post.
Kind regards, Steve.
I had completely forgotten about this thread so sorry for the late reply!
Going on what you have said Steve, I have just ordered 10 metres of QED 79 strand and some banana plugs and spades(my old Kef's are pre-banana!). One speaker needs about 4.5 metres and the other about 3 so will will just make up 2 , 5 metre lengths and be done with it and never give my speaker cable another though.
Now I've been looking at the power lead to my NAD C352.............. No I must stop!! lol
Good idea! To 'loose' the 2m length of the cable for one of your speakers, try not to coil it up. It is better to lay it out it as a loose serpentine arrangement.
Good point, will do that!
Thanks
soundsheavenly
13-07-2017, 17:08
Hi Andrew,
Another approach (if you like a tidy room, like I do!) is to coil the excess cable in a figure-of-8 instead of a circular coil. This way, the radiated signals from each loop cancel each other out (If I have remembered my EMI theory from my Electronics degree correctly!)
Kind regards, Steve.
Thanks again Steve, I shall see how much of a pain that will be to do!
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