Same length speaker cable, one screwed up, or different lengths with no coiling?

[Zak33]

One speaker right by the amp

One the other side of the room.

Do I CUT cable to length, to prevent coiling, or do I use identical lengths and have loads of spare tucked away?

[Howard]

Don't cut it, one day you'll wanna have a shiftaround and you'll stop and think "oh bollocks, this speaker cable isn't long enough"

[DR]

You can hide away a longer cable, you can't extend a shorter one

[charleski]

Zak's just waiting for someone to tell him that using different lengths will screw up the soundstage by altering the signal propagation delay or that coiling up speaker wire will introduce inductance that will wreck his frequency response.

I'd just cut the wires to length . If you change the placement later and need a longer wire, go and buy soem for a couple of pounds.

[Zak33]

presuming that cost of cable is irrelevent so buying newone day is fine

and that charleski is right on both counts....

i'll just try it coiled in a very random way then cut a short one to compare.

[UltraMagnus]

coiling any kind of cable when on is usually a bad idea, i have had laptop PSUs be unreliable because of inductance. i would imagine that the problem would be much more pronounced on high quality audio cable

[Howard]

Don't coil it, snake it in a big figure of 8-shaped loop, if you get me. Lengths won't make a difference though, bearing in mind how fast those electrons travel down cabling

[kushtibari]

Yep, another in the "don't cut it". You never know when you might need a bit of extra length, so to speak. You won't notice any difference in the sound.

Theres too much ****e talked about speaker cables ime.

I've noticed far more difference in interconnects, although thats as contentious an issue. Gotham interconnects on ebay - £12 and as good as owt when it comes to bass.

[Howard]

Interconnects IMO make more of a difference (don't get met wrong, it's still negligible ) because it's low level, and therefore far more sensitive (it gets amplified!)


You'll notice more of a difference in the sound moving the direction of the speakers half a centimetre than you will with different/shorter/fatter/more expensive cables

[UltraMagnus]

so, you dont buy solid silver cables then? *shakes head*

[kushtibari]

You'll notice more of a difference in the sound moving the direction of the speakers half a centimetre than you will with different/shorter/fatter/more expensive cables

I'll go with that. Although some QED stuff I had was quite expensive and sounded terrible.

And I have to add that I've got silver interconnects - home made (build quality is as good as owt) and a gift when I bought my (second hand) CD player.

[Stoo]

bearing in mind how fast those electrons travel down cabling

<QI>*Big hooter noise* Actually, electrons travel very slowly, at about 4mm/h, but electrical current is much quicker - at around 75% of the speed of light..</QI>

[Howard]

Do you want a slap?

[Stoo]

Only if you're Kristin Kreuk and you're wearing nothing but a playful smile

[charleski]

<QI>*Big hooter noise* Actually, electrons travel very slowly, at about 4mm/h, but electrical current is much quicker - at around 75% of the speed of light..</QI>

This is why you need to leave your equipment on to warm up for a couple of days before doing any serious listening. No point spending lots of money on a fancy amp if you don't give the expensive high-quality electrons from the amp the time they need to get down to your speakers.

[UltraMagnus]

<QI>*Big hooter noise* Actually, electrons travel very slowly, at about 4mm/h, but electrical current is much quicker - at around 75% of the speed of light..</QI>

speed of light in a vacuum or speed of light in the medium?