Speaker cable -no shorter than 8FT? T or F

Audioengr:

Sorry I lost track of this thread.

The technical basis was simply that Pierre did not like the sound of his stock cables (most applications) in lengths much longer than what he had spec'd for them. Seems reasonable enough as he basically talked me out of using his product in stock form unless I could shorten the length of the speaker cable runs (think I needed a minimum of 21' then if both runs were to be of equal length).

He mentioned that the 21' runs would work if they did not manufacture my cable in twisted pairs, granted that I both separated the single runs and installed them propely. This was regarding the Double Helix cable they were producing 3-4 years ago. Not certain if this is the same as their current offering.

We did not go into detail as to what he felt were the negative aspects of using his stock product in such long runs.

My current speaker cable which is probaly of a much thinner overall gauge than that of the Double Helix does not perform well in longer runs either. Odd thing is that per feedback from another user of this product the negatives he experienced, with longer runs, were different from those that I experiencd. He had a major drop in volume level where as I only had the HF's roll off a slight bit.

My speakers are approx. double the impedence (16 ohm) and 7 dB more efficient than his. I don't know how to compare our amps to one another as I do not know the spec's for my Bottlehead kit amps.

Anyway, it would seem that the speakers/amp/source output, etc., have some bearing on what does and what does not work well.

Funny thing is that while I was busy routing out more of the subfloor/installing additional wooden channel boxes in our apartment, in order to biamp, my wife walked in and suggested that we just move the electronics to the hallway closet (the closet is located directly behind the speaker wall:-). This is exactly what I ended up doing and it is why we probably need more women in the design/manufacturing part of our hobby. LOL!

Mapleshade also sells tilted speaker stands that they claim will time align your speakers. That's just false advertising, as well as ignorant. Take all their claims with that in mind, even if not all their products stink.

Maybe the powered speakers have a bunch of wire INSIDE the cabinet. Y'know, like our heads store all our hair, and when we get old enough we just run out?

Eldartford,
You're right. 1 meter does have a better sound than 3 feet four inches. ;-)

Dekay - what technical basis is there for the Mapleshade limit?

Mapleshade's claims are/were based on the specific design of their cables (I have discussed this with Pierre @ Mapleshade).

To make use of longer lengths the cables can be ordered untwisted (@ least they could be 3 years ago) and in this application the (+/-) on each speaker is separated from one another along the length of the run by approx. 6". The left/right runs should also be separated from one another (6" - 8"). However, there was still a recommeded maximun length with this configuration.

Have not read any recent info @ their site, but when I looked into it the length guidelines pertained to "their" cables and were not a general rule of thumb.

I passed as I could not easily come up with a 24" wide channel in which to run the cables (my cables @ that time ran through wooden boxes installed in the sub floor).

Any of you old silver backs, like me, remember Bob Fulton and his Fulton Gold cables? All the rage in the '70s. These cables were 2 gauge (!) and Bob only sold them in specific lengths. I had a pair of his 57" on my subwoofers for years. Bob claimed that 57" was the correct length, not 5'.

There is no technical reason for this. With all cables, shorter is better with perhaps one exception.

With transports that have slow signal risetimes, in order to avoid reflections that can cause edge jitter, it is prudent to use S/SDIF cables that are at least 1.5m long.

Keep this in mind on the Mapleshade comment,amplified
loudspeakers must have very short runs inside the cabinet.

Year after year, there are many new components.. pre-amps, power amps..etc. that rave on about how they have shortened the single path and length of internal wire.

Listen to them...the shorter the interconnects and speaker wire..the better.

As far as speaker cables needing to be at least 8ft. I don't know?? I haven't heard many monoblock users buying 8ft cables. I actually hear some audiophiles wire directly from amps to the speaker internal wires,eliminating speaker terminals.
I would assume this is as short a path as you can make.So what does that tell you?
Some of his ideas sound reasonable but others not.

Seandtaylor99, you're a pip! You cracked me up with your second post! Thanks for the laugh!

Perhaps Mapleshade have their speakers more than 8ft from the amp, in which case having a speaker cable of less than 8ft would most certainly compromise the sound.

Just an aside; from personal experience, I tend to buy speaker cables 1/2 meter LONGER than I actually need! This can be very helpful should you decide to move your equipment slightly, or if you buy new speakers with terminals in a different location. Nothing like having to buy a new set of cables, because you're short by just 1 foot after moving some of your gear! My personal belief is that a 2 meter run will be easiest to sell on the used market, not too long...not too short!

Most "Knowledgable" audiophiles, manufacturers and/or reviewers say the shorter the speaker cable the better. Use longer interconnects if necessary but shorter speaker cables. It has been contended that this will impart less of the wires sound and/or other attributes on the reproduced signal. The speaker cables must carry higher current and voltage than interconnects. (Another reason for biwiring)
I personally keep ALL cables as short as possible. With all this said, I have found that longer interconnects seem to muck up sound worse than longer speaker cables. I'm sure this would be somewhat system dependent(amp). However, since the interconnect carries very small signals, I could see a good reason, with consideration to impedance and capacitance, to keep them short and out of harms way, so to speak.
This Mapleshade guy is either after publicity or he is a true visionary. Guess everyone will have to make up their own minds on that point. I do find his speaker and chair placement ideas questionable. It sure doesn't work in my room.

people say the same thing about cables longer than 8 ft too. Take everything you read with a grain of salt, I guess.

IMHO the shorter the better for speaker cable, UNLESS the amplifier output stage requires a certain amount of inductance for stability (e.g. NAIM).

For best results speaker cables should be measured in meters, not feet.