Stoopit question

soundweasel

soundweasel

Super Member
I just switched around the layout of my listening room, with the end result that one of my speaker stacks (left) is closer to my electronics rack than the right hand speaker stack, meaning the speakers on the left can be connected using shorter lengths of speaker wire than the right side speaker stack. (8 feet vs 16 ft for the other stack).

My question: Will using a shorter length of wire for speakers on the left vs longer piece on the right have any audible effect on the sound, eg an imbalance of some sort between left and right? Or am I just being obsessive...again? :scratch2:
 
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That is far from a "stoopit" question. It is in fact a very good one and I wager you will get answers on both sides of the question. I come down on the side of no audible difference. Here is why:

The cabling to your speakers will have some resistance, capacitance, and inductance as well as a length and therefore a propagation time. Since the signal travels the wires at the speed of light, (180,000 miles / sec - about) the extra 8 feet won't be audible from a time standard. Just too short. The other factors will enter into the discussion but in general these short runs will mean the real values in resistance, capacitance and inductance will not be significant. I suspect others may disagree with me but that's my story and sticking to it!
 
I read a thread here once that pretty clearly explained why speaker wire lengths should be the same. I believe it had something to do with the power required from the amplifier(section) being balanced/equal. The person who published the thread led me to believe that any significant difference in length, percentagewise, was not a good thing.

This may turn out to be similar to regular wire vs.Mega Bucks wire. Maybe someone here is knowledgeable enough to answer the length issue.
 
tboat4 said:
I read a thread here once that pretty clearly explained why speaker wire lengths should be the same. I believe it had something to do with the power required from the amplifier(section) being balanced/equal. The person who published the thread led me to believe that any significant difference in length, percentagewise, was not a good thing.

This may turn out to be similar to regular wire vs.Mega Bucks wire. Maybe someone here is knowledgeable enough to answer the length issue.
Click to expand...

In this installation the difference is 8 feet of cable. The power dissipated in such a short length of wire, compared to the power dissipated in the speakers is very small. I truly can't see that making a difference.

Shelly_D
 
shelly_d said:
That is far from a "stoopit" question. It is in fact a very good one and I wager you will get answers on both sides of the question. I come down on the side of no audible difference. Here is why:

The cabling to your speakers will have some resistance, capacitance, and inductance as well as a length and therefore a propagation time. Since the signal travels the wires at the speed of light, (180,000 miles / sec - about) the extra 8 feet won't be audible from a time standard. Just too short. The other factors will enter into the discussion but in general these short runs will mean the real values in resistance, capacitance and inductance will not be significant. I suspect others may disagree with me but that's my story and sticking to it!
Click to expand...

1+

But then again I have talked to people that claim to be able to hear a difference when they shorten/change the wires in the crossovers....and going to the drivers. And running Litz wire in parallel with solid core wire to improve the high frequencies.

There are obviously some quantum physics affects going on here :):):):):)

And I believe the simple answer is....if you had to have both wires 16 ft long this question would not even come up and you would be happy....:):):):):)

So make them the same length and listen to the :music::music::music::music:
 
Changing wire is different from length. You change wire you do a number of things including reflow solder joints which might make a big difference. If you are going to keep them the same length, make sure you do not coil the extra on the short side as it will create a choke that can change the signal significantly. Random pattern for the extra only :)
 
I did say you would see both sides of the argument. If you do go ahead and make both side the same length then I would suggest you keep your significant other happy with the look of the instillation rather then worrying about choke effects from the coil of wire. Since the signal is AC and the two conductors are right next to each other in the wire, the electromagnetic fields generated by the coil of one conductor will be canceled by the electromagnetic fields of the the other.

Always keep the Wife Acceptance Factor (WAF) in mind when setting up your living room.
 
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