Speaker Cable Lengths?

[tomE]

Hi all,

as the title and description suggests can two speaker cable lengths to my main speakers be of different length.

For instance my setup is such that my amp is closer to my right speaker so this length could be a meter long.

My left is 3.5m away. So do both lengths have to be 3.5m long for balance reasons or can i do 1m and 3.5 lengths

thanks all.

[50mxe20]

My vote would be yes and I'd suggest it is quite common although perhaps not desirable.

Most good AVR's take this into account when one runs Audussey or calibrates the room sound.

[DrP]

I'm sure some purist will wade in and tell you that different length cables will result in the audio out of one speaker being shifted xx milliseconds but the reality is 2m of cable will induce such a piddling difference that you couldn't tell without expensive analytical equipment and even then the solution would be to move your noggin 3mm to the left or right ... and let's face it who listens to a movie with their head in a clamp smack bang in the middle of the room to maximise audio immersion?

ie..

Yes you can.

Edited May 4, 2010 by DrP

[Al Leece]

Yes, mine are, in fact there are different cables from the amp to the LF than from amp to HF. As long as it is not a frayed, rusted piece of coat hanger you are probably fine.

Cheers,

Al.

[tomE]

Thanks for the responses,

you have all put my mind at ease.

[pgdownload]

Electrons travel about 40%-80% the speed of light. Lets go with 50%

SOL (Speed Of Light) = 299 792 458 m/s

Delta Length of cable = 2.5m

DTTTSSTEOEC (Delta time taken to send signal to end of each cable) = 2.5 / 1500000000 = .000000016 seconds

I think the CD you're listening to is probably only accurate to +/- .001 or so.

Regards

Peter Gillespie

Edited May 4, 2010 by pgdownload

[MACCA350]

Yeah, was going to mention the delay difference is not even worth considering.

Years ago the analogy I was given was to think of a pipe full of bearings, push another one in and one falls out the other end. The electrons actually move very slowly and push the next one along and so on, but the resulting domino effect is almost instantaneous between the charge being applied and reaching the end of the cable so a difference of a couple meters is negligible.

From memory the domino effect was just below the speed of light and varied depending on the material, insulation, temperature etc...........though that memory is going back 15 years or so

cheers

[Gior]

Yeah, was going to mention the delay difference is not even worth considering.

Years ago the analogy I was given was to think of a pipe full of bearings, push another one in and one falls out the other end. The electrons actually move very slowly and push the next one along and so on, but the resulting domino effect is almost instantaneous between the charge being applied and reaching the end of the cable so a difference of a couple meters is negligible.

From memory the domino effect was just below the speed of light and varied depending on the material, insulation, temperature etc...........though that memory is going back 15 years or so

cheers

Macca, now I'd like an analogy for DIRECTIONAL speaker cables Especially after 100hrs of burn in aligning up those electrons ok?

[MACCA350]

Macca, now I'd like an analogy for DIRECTIONAL speaker cables Especially after 100hrs of burn in aligning up those electrons ok?

Umm........snake oil

cheers

[DrP]

Naturally. Without proper lubrication the electrons would jam in the wire causing jitter.

[MACCA350]

Naturally. Without proper lubrication the electrons would jam in the wire causing jitter.

nice

cheers

[Zorbaru]

my surround left speaker has about 3m more cable than the surround right because my room only has a wall on one side, so i run the cable for both wires down the same side of the room. makes no difference to my ears.

[Gior]

Naturally. Without proper lubrication the electrons would jam in the wire causing jitter.

But the snake oil works perfectly doesn't it?

[beeblebrox]

Naturally. Without proper lubrication the electrons would jam in the wire causing jitter.

So what I need is speaker cables filled with VB.... that way they'll be properly lubricated!

[Gior]

So what I need is speaker cables filled with VB.... that way they'll be properly lubricated!

Nah, I think DrP reckons natural Snakeoil works better from what I am understanding of this thread.

[betty boop]

come on we all know electrons move around randomly and need some direction !

ps anyways to the op, perhaps worth thinking forward, if not much more in cost get the same length if ever have to relocate with same lengths needed then can re-use the cables also if reselling cables its always easier to sell some equal lengths then all sorts of odd ball lengths as people usually buy as a pair for hifi this being the 2ch sub forum and all

ps one other factor not mentioned, at the end of it two different length cables will have different electrical properties - depending on the kind of cable used ofcourse ! whether this will impact audibly is not a debate I'll bother with

[betty boop]

Nah, I think DrP reckons natural Snakeoil works better from what I am understanding of this thread.

its the grade of snake oil that matters, but I do believe if VB is introduced in the equation it can have quite an impact on the end result

[MACCA350]

But the snake oil works perfectly doesn't it?

Yeah, for lube.............coz da sucker's gonna need it ....................Bwahaha

cheers

[beeblebrox]

now I get it... a while ago I did a job for a customer who had a tube of KY sitting on the coffee table... i thought It was for me when it came to the price of the job but now I understand he must have been trying to get his sound balanced.

Seriously I run 6 sets of speakers off my speaker controller with varying cable runs of up to 30 mtrs and going between rooms and outside where they all are there is no delay or mismtatch..