Audiophiles in - Must speaker cables be the same length?

[autopilot]

I hear audiophiles say that speaker cables should be exactly the same lenth for each speaker. But this causes me to have a huge amount of spare cable length on one side which is very messy as the amp is much closer to one of the speakers than the other. Would having about 5 meters one one side and 1 meter on the other make much difference?

I also hear that coiled up cables can cause can cause interference/feedback. So whats it to be; same lengths and messy - or different lengths and tidy?

By the way, I have quite a nice system now; Mission 701's, Cambridge Audio Azur 640a AMP and good panasonic CD/DVD player. All of which are WhatHiFi Five star rated.

Cheers.

[oyster]

Why don't you try it with the ideal lengths of cables? Then if it sounds fine, you're sorted.

Or you could buy a really expensive, calibrated micrometer and ensure that the cables are the same length to within a few microns and persuade yourself that it sounds better that way. Then you would be well on the way to becoming an audiophile yourself!

[schmunk]

Cut your cable. I will bet you a notional £1,000,000 that you won't be able to hear any difference whatsoever.

However, some of these will make ALL the difference...

[Zathras]

Well, the idea with equal length cables is to make sure the capacitance, signal loss etc is identical across both speakers. You won't notice any difference in timing though, despite what some snake-oil peddlars may say; after all, how fast does electricity travel? I shouldn't think you'd notice any difference whatsoever with even reference hifi equipment.

[Capt Doufos]

Even if you did notice a difference most amp have settings to allow you to compensate. Also bare in mind cables the same length are ideally suited to you sitting smack bang in the centre of all the speakers.

[Rave]

I guess if you ran one speaker through 1m of decent cable and the other through 100m of bell wire you might be able to notice the difference, but for a difference of a couple of meters on any normal cable- no way will you notice.

All of which are WhatHiFi Five star rated.

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=18031

Rich :¬)

[Zedmeister]

Ooooo he mentioned the "W" word!!! And rave remained calm! Amazing!!!

[Zathras]

Doufus, the amp settings are to compensate for where you're sat in relation to the speakers, not how long the cables are. You're also assuming you've got the amp central between the two speakers and inline with your listening position. Many people don't have this.

[Sk!mD4Rk]

However, some of these will make ALL the difference...

MY GOD!1!1! I can't believe someone would PAY $485 for a beech control knob, i'd want a bloody gold one for that

[Zak33]

they're great (tm) aren't they ? I have those on my kitchen cabinets

[Zedmeister]

That site looks so dodgy. The stuff they "Sell" looks like a cheap 4.99 market job. As for sending them money and your hi-fi components for "Upgrading", hmmmmmm....

[Howard]

It won't make a blind bit of difference.

[autopilot]

MY GOD!1!1! I can't believe someone would PAY $485 for a beech control knob, i'd want a bloody gold one for that

That is just a joke really. Someone is having a laugh

[oyster]

Cut your cable. I will bet you a notional £1,000,000 that you won't be able to hear any difference whatsoever.

I cut my speakers cables and the difference is incredible - no sound at all through the cut cable. Do I qualify for the notional £1,000,000? Although I'd really prefer just a normal cash-in-the-hand million, if poss.

[Rave]

ROFL

[Zak33]

I cut my speakers cables and the difference is incredible - no sound at all through the cut cable.

that deserves a good pat on the back....

funniest damn thing I'veread for days