Should I Reduce Speaker Cable Length?

Depending on the gauge you are going to use, I don't see a need to move them closer unless you have to. 22 feet for any decent cable is not that far at all. I would also doubt that you will hear much difference by swapping the cables in the first place. Sorry but I'm not one who buy's into the mega price marketing hype that goes with speaker cables.

Blockerbrothers,

Thanks for your encouragement. I have friends who recently bought upgraded Tara Labs cables. We introduced them into my system, with noticable improvement. The cables are about 6 feet long, and I am not sure if the biggest improvement came from the reduced length, or superior cables.

Thanks,

DuffyDawg

I have always heard that you should have a minimum of 8 feet per cable anyway. Bad part is I have no idea if that is true or not. I have a pair of ascent i's coming and due to room constraints I can only place them about 12 feet apart but I have 10 foot speaker cables which gives me the opportunity to go 20 apart (next house maybe). Sorry if this is no help.

I experimented a year or so ago with cutting down the length of an old set of XLO speaker wires I have. There was a noticeable improvement the depth of the stage each time I reduced the cables by 1/2 their length. Because my amps are right next to each speaker I could go as short as 18" and I've been using those ever since. I'm now auditioning new 1 1/2 to 2 meter speaker cables from Purist Audio, Synergistic Research, Wireworld and JPS. All of these cables blow my little shorties away but were talking the difference between $100 cables that are 10 years old and new cable technologies that go for $1500 to $2000. Based on my experience I would agree that the cable quality and synergy in your system makes the most difference. Then perhaps length might play a part. I'll probably stay with 1 1/2 meter length in case I should ever need to sell them. My preference is longer IC's and shorter speaker cables

Marknewbie325

Thanks for the taking the time to share your information. I have been reading that same recommendation also. I believe that the primary advocate is Mapleshades. Most dealers have recommended that I should go shorter on the speakers, and use a longer interconnect. I really want to here the personal experiences of someone who has done that, using the same wires, and could comment on the nature of the changes.

Thanks again,

DuffyDawg

Dan_ed

Thanks for sharing your experience with shortening of cables. This inforation is exactly what I am looking for. With the cost of top quality cables, I don't want to be so set on maintaining my current configuration if I can substantially change the sound quality. Unfortunately, I am running only one amp, and would prefer to keep it off to one side. That would result in a minimum of about a 10 foot cable, but half the length I am currently using.

Thanks,

DuffyDawg

In my case (and a few others') the shortest spkr wires were the better configuration. If you can relaocate yr amp, it's probably best. Spkrs are a complex load & you don't want to add extra complexity (however small) with long wires.

The only question that arises is, does the pre or source have enough energy to drive the now long interconnect wire +load... sometimes, esp. in cases of passive attenuation, there are energy losses involved that make the sound anaemic.
Why not give it a try with 2sets (long & short) of borrowed spkr cables?

Gregm

Thanks for sharing your experience. I have an Ayre K1x as the preamp, and I believe it can handle the longer run of interconnect.

Thanks again,

DuffyDawg