Magnepan 20.7's & Tube Amp

Congratulations. Your 8’ cables, especially of such high quality should not pose an issue but a pair of ARC 250SEs as compared with an ARC Ref110 may give you different results. I’m sure I’m stating the obvious but you may want to try the larger Magnepans with your amp if the dealer is local. Nothing to lose and just gain a peace of mind.

I Just spoke to Wendell Diller at Magnepan and reducing the speaker cables has zero affect unless your running 15-20ft of cable. I don't know why we get all this misinformation on Maggies.

We've built short speaker cables for a number of our customers who are really happy with the results. I would not want to cut an $8000 cable either!

But the difference was not trivial- shorter cables really help if you are running tube amps.

@kalali,
Funny, but I take the word of manufacturers before practitioners. First, they have more experience. Second, why would they lie?
With regards to speaker cables, it just makes sense that a short run will be better than a long run, when you look at the basic physics of electrical current. There is that nasty thing called Resistance. And, every cable, even $8K ones will be affected by it.
Bob

I have zero quarrel with Ralph and I always read his posts with nothing but respect. The short speaker cable with monoblocks suggestion is also one touted by Mike Sanders of Quicksilver, and Mike Sanders gets widespread respect from all on both sides of the fence as well (needless footnote; aren't we dealing with tri-compartments like our knees-manufacturers, retailers/distributors, and consumers?). But that said, I have come around to viewing speaker cable and IC's as sometimes being necessary evils. Sort of like salt-a necessary spice that can cause harm but can also add much to the pleasure. Sometimes due to the inherent qualities of the components, lack of any cabling renders the sound like an unsalted pretzel. Pure, but not one I care for.