advertisement


How important are identical length speaker cables?

W

wetenhr

pfm Member
Gradually moving to an active system.

Once I do that I need to shift some of my kit into a cupboard. This means my existing speaker cables are slightly short for one of the speakers.

I have to get two more lengths of cable anyway, but I was wondering if I could get away with running my two existing cables to the nearer speaker, and getting two new lengths for the further speaker.

I would end up with one speaker using cable runs of 17 feet, and the other 15.5 feet. Each run would be driven by a NAP135 so there should be no load issues. But would I be likely to run into any sonic problems in doing this?

Richard
 
Oh good! I was wondering because I'd read in an early Naim manual that they recommended identical length cables on their amps - however, I think that was for their stereo amps (250s, 140s etc) rather than monos. I thought it was something to do with load balancing but couldn't remember.

Thanks for the help - much appreciated.

Richard
 
I would be very careful with differing lengths of speaker cables because the signal at the far end of one cable could be 90 degrees out of phase as a result. The research team at ****onium cables have overcome this potential problem by designing a cable that can be coaxed into extending itself by a few inches if required.

Well, back to the lab.......

Your Pal from the slowly thawing Alberta foothills...

Louballoo
 
louballoo said:
I would be very careful with differing lengths of speaker cables because the signal at the far end of one cable could be 90 degrees out of phase as a result. The research team at ****onium cables...

Louballoo
Click to expand...

Hell, I should have read your name BEFORE reading up to the words "****onium and Cables" with complete "aghastness"...

Nice One.:)
 
Never had any problem with different speaker lead lengths on my active system or on the passive systems, which have used mix of NAP 140, Nap160 and NAP250 s over the years. However - always kept to the minimum length of 3m which Naim recommend to give thier amps some inductance / capacitance to chew on.

Richard
 
packtech said:
I regularly get e-mails quoting how I can make them longer in only a few weeks to impress all my Girlfriends..
Click to expand...

..I know but with cable its reverse psychology. Tiny=good. :)

Ive got monoblocs backed up to floor level speaker terminals, so chord sig jumpers are my speaker cables. Satisfyingly pikey.
 
wetenhr said:
I was wondering because I'd read in an early Naim manual that they recommended identical length cables on their amps - I thought it was something to do with load balancing but couldn't remember.
Click to expand...

Something to do with selling more speaker cable I think is more likely, if we're honest.
 
Unequal lengths are much more difficult to sell on, though. Unless, that is, they're Wanconium cables made by Al Berta, which are made from frozen waste, I gather (cryogenics?).:)
 
Don't tell anyone, but I added a metre to one of my naca4 cables. I only used qed stuff. Will I be sent to the dungeons?
 
My father was using unequal lengths and I happened to have some spare longer lengths (both NACA) so fitted equal lengths and the difference was significantly better - but it could have been lots of things, but we moved back to his cables and heard the same effect so it wasn't contact cleaning. Naim feel you need the same LCR on both channels which sounds logical to me. Have those posters asserting there is no difference actually done a similar experiment, or are some of them guided by faith?

Nic P
 
Nic P said:
My father was using unequal lengths and I happened to have some spare longer lengths (both NACA) so fitted equal lengths and the difference was significantly better - but it could have been lots of things, but we moved back to his cables and heard the same effect so it wasn't contact cleaning. Naim feel you need the same LCR on both channels which sounds logical to me. Have those posters asserting there is no difference actually done a similar experiment, or are some of them guided by faith?Nic P
Click to expand...
Nic, I don't think it's they who are motivated by faith!

Surely the problem is that the treble part of the signal travels along the outside of the wire, and therefore is faster. The bass, being more ponderous, travels along the middle. If you use different lengths, the treble arrives before the bass, causing a tonal imbalance.

Physics, on the other hand, states you'd need a cable several miles long before you'd notice a difference, but, hey, what do physicists know?
 
avole said:
Nic, I don't think it's they who are motivated by faith!

Surely the problem is that the treble part of the signal travels along the outside of the wire, and therefore is faster. The bass, being more ponderous, travels along the middle. If you use different lengths, the treble arrives before the bass, causing a tonal imbalance.

Physics, on the other hand, states you'd need a cable several miles long before you'd notice a difference, but, hey, what do physicists know?
Click to expand...

Punters pay a lot of money for their Naim equipment and then ignore the manufacturer's advice on how to get the best out of it ... duh!! Non-LCR cable effects are argued about but I thought everyone agreed that LCR effects were clearly measurable. I won't comment on physicists but I can speculate on how much you know about the subject.

Nic P
 
If you have a balance control, there is more likely to be a bigger difference from this than the difference of 1 metre in the length of your speaker cables. In practice, a metre or so makes no audible difference IME.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top