Speaker cable length.

@gdnrbob Can you tell me why I should keep them at equal lengths? What will I notice if they aren't? What should I look for?

If the electricity moves at 1/2 the speed of light (up to 90% according to some sources), the difference in transmission time would be somewhere around 750 millionths of a second (according to my possibly very flawed math). Is that perceptible? Does it cause other issues?

The speaker cable on the right side does not need to go under the floor so if it needs to be the same length, 16' of it it is going to have to go somewhere in the room.

As mentioned, speaker cable is made by Transparent but it is bulk cable. No bricks etc. It looks to be 10 AWG but might be 12.

Thanks guys. Makes sense. I already ran the cable since the contractor had to run electrical underneath for the same reason.  The holes were there so it was simple. Haven't cut anything to length yet.

@carlsbad2 I think many audiophiles would say they could hear the difference between 16' and 4' at 0.5c no problem. Especially if the cable cost less and $100 a foot. ;-)

@hsounds No internet or wireless down at the cabin! I can stream Qobuz over my cellphone. Sometimes.

I'm happy with the system the way it is. I mostly play music off of an old laptop via the Schiit DAC.

The whole system cost less than $500 and I wish some audiophiles could hear it. Even though I have a nice high end system and a semi high end system at home I have yet to be dissatisfied with the sound of this modest system at the cabin.

@quadgar The cable is running through the holes along with nomex wiring. I can't believe I didn't think of that. Now, they are not touching. At least 1/2 inch apart and only that close for a few inches. I might have to drill separate holes. Crap. I did not want to do that. I wonder if there is a simple way to shield the cable for that short distance....even for placebo effect?

@erik_squires The cable is at least 12. Maybe 10 AWG. I'll check this weekend.

@tunehead I think you're probably right but there is just enough audiophile in me to worry about little crap like this even when I don't believe I'll hear anything. But, I got all the wood chopped and its already getting warm down here.

Several folks have mentioned A-B testing. That will be simple to do. Will probably do it just to make myself feel better.......or a lot worse.

Sometimes I HATE being an audiophile.

I will play around with it. I'll try to get the longer cable as short as possible and the shorter cable at 5-6 feet. That way I might get the disparity down to 6' vs 12'.

I do want to get the speaker cable off the nomex wiring. Will the nomex  interfere just being close or would they have to be touching to cause an issue.

@pmiller115 The cable runs under the house in the crawl space right along the sill plate. So it won't be exposed to wet or sunlight or even extreme temps.

I checked and the cable is 12 awg with good quality insulation around the outside of the 2 wires which also have good thick insulation on them. Where the cable goes down through the floor there is nomex. The speaker cable is only close to the nomex for a few inches and I put a plastic divider between it and the speaker cable.

I cut the short cable at about 4' and the long cable is probably 11'.

I cannot tell any difference in sound quality and did not feel the need to A-B test so I can't say for sure if there is any difference at all. I can say that there is no difference in the level of listening enjoyment............which would probably be a better measure of audio quality than many of the other nuances and descriptors we audiophiles try to convince ourselves are actually objective.