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Uneven speaker cable lengths and cable termination

Hi,

I'm getting new speakers that are single-wire only. This means I can't use my old MIT Terminator 2 cables, and need something new. My budget is limited as I've just spent all of it on the speakers :)

I'm not sure what the stance on cables is here on audiogon, so I hope I'm not starting a war :)
Anyway, I have some questions:

- Are equal lengths for both channels required? Is it possible to hear a difference? (my amp will be positioned to the left of the left side speaker, so I will need about a 4m run to the rightmost speaker. I was thinking of getting 4m and 2m runs)

- If I buy bare cable, is unsoldered termination helpful? The monster quicklock spades and bananas look really nice, but I wonder if they are worth the cost. (http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=4584)

My speakers are Audio Physic Scorpio II with Krell KAV-400xi btw. General recommendations are welcome.
ahochan
ahochan OP
10 posts
 
Thanks for the response. I think I will try the anti-cable as I will then be able to get pre-terminated cables inside my current limited budget.

If I do get an equal length pair, the cable for a left channel will need to be coiled up. Will coiling up about 3 meter of cable very loosely really form an inductor? Wouldn't you need a longer cable runs for that?

Also, are the anti-cable interconnects also well-regarded? I am in need of a pair of unbalanced interconnects as well, and will save on shipping if I go with anti-cable for those as well.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,428 posts
 
Cable has inductance (0.5uH/ft) even straight one. It is equivalent to 0.375 Ohm of inductive impedance at 20kHz and 6ft. Keep cables always even to preserve imaging. Avoid coiling.

Making cables uneven is a little bit like buying house next to power lines. Very hard to sell later.

As for unterminated wires (bare) - it is the best followed by spades and bananas. Take into consideration that many amps don't accept bananas. My cable is way to complex to use it bare - I crimped spades then soldered them with 4% silver solder (cable originally had bananas).

Why can't you use your old MIT cables?
ahochan OP
10 posts
 
My old MIT 2 Terminator 2 cables are for bi-wiring, new speakers only accepts single wiring.

The MIT cables have a box with some mysterious components in the middle. I think the filter it applies is different for each of the speaker connectors, because each is marked with bass or mid/treble. Besides, they are too short.
audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
>>03-17-09: Kijanki
Keep cables always even to preserve imaging<<

Not necessary. At CES 2008 AJ Conti (Basis Audio) connected one speaker with a 6' length of cable and the other with 75' of cable.

Not a single listener, including other tradespersons and reviewers, could discern a difference. Imaging was unaffected, so pay no attention to that falsehood.

The most important factor in uneven lengths, is resale value.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,428 posts
 
Audiofeil - I don't know what conditions they had at the show to get perfect imaging and how better it could be with even cables. 70ft of the difference is 4.4 Ohm of inductive impedance at 20kHz.

"Not a single listener, including other tradespersons and reviewers, could discern a difference."

How do you know that? Did they run questioner of every single person. Maybe people did not say anything to be polite to host or assumed that imaging was good enough for location/conditions.
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