unequal cable lengths

In my experience, I was able to hear the difference between different lengths, especially when the difference was as great as you are talking about.

"adverse" and "different sound" are subjective terms, in my opinion, and better decided by you in your own system.

Always keep the lengths equal

Ditto, keep them equal.

Thanks for the advice, everyone!

Hard to sell them also if you decide to upgrade.

I agree with all of the above. Besides that, i will add that you should NOT coil the excess up. Spread it out as best possible, even if you have to snake it back and forth. Try not to lay it on top of itself either. Sean
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Sean is right, spread em out. In my case, it's even more difficult because I have a 16 foot biwired pair. When I coiled them up to save walking space, the sound just died. Imaging suffered the most. Now I"ve got Analysis Plus Oval 9 tapeworms snaking all over the floor.