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Different lengths of interconnects ??????


Have you ever tried using a pair of interconnects in different lengths to connect preamp and mono block amps? Can it cause one channel delay or any phase problems?

My Preamp is placed on left side behind my active ATC speakers, but I always use a pair of interconnects in same length between my preamp and the built-in power amp of my speakers.

Now I have a chance to buy pair of Valhalla XLR interconnects in different lengths, one 1.7m and another 3.5m, from another city. They are just about the right length from my preamp to left and right channel of my speakers, and price is good. I am not sure if it is OK to use interconnects in this way. Anyone have this experience?

Many thanks!
zdeng

Showing 2 responses by herman

herman
2,284 posts
 
The reason the price is right is because he can't sell this odd pair. When you get ready to move on you'll be stuck with them too.

At the speed of light it would take the signal .000000005 seconds longer to travel down the longer cable. Sound travels about .00000045 inches in that time. However, if you believe that cables affect the sound, and evidently you do or you wouldn't buy such expensive cables, then it seems logical that a cable that is twice as long might sound slightly different than a shorter cable.

Since you will sit there wondering about it and you will be stuck with them I say pass.
herman
2,284 posts
 
Kurk_tank, you are confusing the movement of electrons in the wire with the signal (electromagnetic field) traveling down the wire. They are not the same thing. It is the signal that we are concerned about. The movement of electrons is a side effect caused by the field that is following the wire.

Electromagnetic waves travel fastest in a vacuum, slower in any other medium. Since light is an electromagenetic wave this speed is usually called the speed of light. In a wire it depends on how the wire is constructed and is expressed as the velocity facor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velocity_of_propagation
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