Speaker cable length.
I have a small weekend cabin in the country. I have a modest system there consisting of a set of Polk Audio Monitor 7 tower speakers, an NAD C316 BEE integrated, Schiit Modi 2 DAC and a Denon radio receiver. Sounds much better than you might expect.
Anyway, we recently got a fireplace installed. This means that there will be a speaker on each side of the fireplace with the components on the right side of the fireplace. That means the right speaker is within 2-3 feet of the amp/components. The cable for the left speaker will run under the house from the amp and then back into the house on the left of the fireplace because I don't want it on the floor in front of the hearth. This will require about 16’ of speaker cable.
Will the difference (16’ of cable to the left speaker vs maybe 4’ to the right one) make a difference on a modest system like this? If so, what to do about it? I certainly don’t want 16’ of cable piled on the floor on the right.
Thanks for any input.
P.S.: I have good quality bulk speaker cable from Transparent if that makes any difference.
I would keep the speaker cable lengths as close to equal as possible. As it is under the floor, you could add some hooks to keep it off the floor- but, don't coil it as you might introduce some electromagnetic anomalies. Much depends upon your cable and it's design. If it is something like zip cord, then you will probably have issues. If it something using more advanced design, say shielding and dielectric boxes, the results might be more subtle. Bob |
@n80 , Differing lengths will have slight impedance differences -probably not that much but it can affect the sound balance/quality. It also might affect the amplifier. I forgot the right side would have all the extra cabling, not the one under the floor. You could just drill another hole or two and put the extra cable under the floor in order to hide it, or just casually drape it somewhere unnoticed. I would tend to agree with the other posters that you probably won't hear a great difference, but why take chances? If I did try two unequal lengths, I would have a backup plan in case it didn't work out- Like budgeting for another set of cables. Something like AQ GO-4's which are relatively inexpensive (and will probably be an upgrade). A lot of this is system dependent, so what might work for one guy might not work on another guy's system. B |
