Regarding your general questions, there is no universal answer. It is all highly dependent on the impedance characteristics of the specific components that are being connected, as well as the parameters of the particular cables. See this thread.
In the specific case you are asking about, unless your components or speakers have extremely unusual impedance characteristics it would seem very likely that taking 20 feet off of the speaker cable length, while adding less than 8 feet to the interconnect length, would be the preferable alternative.
Regards,
-- Al
In the specific case you are asking about, unless your components or speakers have extremely unusual impedance characteristics it would seem very likely that taking 20 feet off of the speaker cable length, while adding less than 8 feet to the interconnect length, would be the preferable alternative.
Regards,
-- Al