will different lengths affect sound

I do enjoy cable threads, don't they just pull us all together into one happy family :-)..

Al, again, has clarified the situation regarding speaker cable length, and with reference to the OP and real life situations, a few feet of the same cable won't be audible. How many of us place our head in a 'brace', precisely measured from each drive unit/panel or whatever? The time the wave takes from the transducer to our ears will have more impact in what we hear and when.

The interesting part of the AJ Conti / Basis thing is that no one perceived any difference in the 12 fold increase to one speaker of the inductance and capacitance values of the speaker cable, also the resistance, but if the gauge was large enough and volume not too high this may not have been an issue anyway. So, as Al correctly pointed out the length would not be audible, but the characteristic impedance difference maybe? Also, how was that 75' length laid out? in a coil? That should have made some audible channel imbalance i would have thought?

Regarding interconnects, as the signal is so small, doubling the capacitance and it's effect's may well be audible, ie 1m to 2m. I know that using a longer single ended cables, 5m + is definitely degrading, so 1-2m will also, just proportionately less.
Regards,
Ps

PS68, thanks very much. I should further clarify my earlier comment, however. As it appears you realize but others may not, I was not saying that the effects of a considerable difference in speaker cable lengths will necessarily be inaudible. I was saying two things:

1)There will be no audible effects AS A RESULT OF the difference between the two channels in propagation delay/arrival time.

2)If the longer cable is chosen such that it behaves in an essentially neutral manner with the particular speaker and amplifier, the shorter one will also behave in a neutral manner, and therefore they will perform identically.

As you realize, for item (2) to occur the resistance and inductance (actually, inductive reactance) of the longer cable have to be insignificant in relation to speaker impedance at all frequencies that matter, and capacitance has to not be excessively high (in which case it might affect the behavior of the amplifier). Also, it is conceivable that under some circumstances the amplifier may be sensitive to rfi (radio frequency interference) that may be picked up by the cables and enter its feedback loop, if it has one. That pickup would figure to be length sensitive, although of course with essentially no predictability.

Other less readily explainable effects may come into play, as well.

So while I would approach claims of audible effects due to speaker cable length differences with a good deal of skepticism, I would not completely rule out the possibility that they may be perceivable under some circumstances. Especially if the cables are not chosen such that their parameters result in neutral or near-neutral behavior in the particular application.

Best regards,
-- Al

Rok2id, this is not an evasion; I have many times wanted to post extended discussion of my philosophy of testing and thoughts about blind testing. I have been writing about this for years but have not posted my thoughts here.
For now, in response to your question (and more than a bit of skepticism) I was changing cables on a system I had been using when I noticed the distinction in sound between the shorter and longer ICs. If that is not good enough for you, then so be it. Feel free to discount my observation.

Inna, like a medical test I try to ensure the testing equipment (stereo) be sensitive enough (the rig have enough definition/detail) to avoid false negatives (to avoid non-detection of differences).

>>12-09-11: Douglas_schroeder
Bill, you are telling me that what I can do on a regular basis is impossible<<

You can't do it.

But neither can anybody else so don't feel bad.

However, an alien abduction story like "Cocoon" would be more believable. Got one of those?

Bill, When you have something of value to contribute I'll be willing to hear it. I'm not interested in speaking with you if all you can do is mock and insult. Find someone else on that level to converse with.

BTW, I believe sufficient microbiologic and probibilistic evidence has been shown to preclude the existence of Aliens in the universe. If you wish to rest your faith on such things you'll have to turn elsewhere. :)