Opinions on shortening speaker cable.

Shortening speakers cables made a big difference in my system, but only if I halved the original length. However, the effect dimished at about two feet. 1.5 meters for interconnects is the optimum length for my system. However, shorter than 1.5 meters was better than longer.

There are two issues of which I am aware with regard
to cable length. One is loss of signal. Although, it is
a good principle to try to minimize cable lengths, an
extra foot or two of speaker cable shouldn't make a difference with regard to signal loss, especially if you're already talking about short runs. The more important issue is what you do with the slack. Eliminate the slack and you eliminate any problems that go along with it. That would be my reason for snipping another foot or two off the end of an already short run.

One more point:

To defray the cost of shortening your speaker
cables by one meter -- have the one meter length
terminated at both ends and sell it. There are
people who would appreciate the opportunity
to buy a one meter length of speaker cable.