Speaker cable length

stereo54,475 posts01-30-2021 9:42amSome of you are delusional.

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And some people use ZIP cord and call it good. That is usually the reason why I can't tell the difference, unless the conductor is to small with zip cord. I can't tell the difference in 1 meter or 10 meters of zip cord.

I haven't used it in 30 years..

BUT if I use some serious cables.. Helix or a really good construct, I know I'm not delusional... 1 meter vs 3 or 4 meters, you'd need a hearing check if you couldn't hear the difference.. BUT then again you got to try it.. I was blown away by some of the helix constructions.. Zip cord vs Helix it's like having ear muffs on.. REALLY..

Great, well designed cables, there is a HUGE difference in SQ vs length.. some of the reasons they sound so good to begin with.. LOW R great constructs, excellent termination, and SHORT. 4 of about a dozen thing you need to think about,  BEFORE calling run of the mill cable good enough..

For some maybe.. for me.. NO.. It's too easy to make a GREAT cable...

Regards

@simao,

let the cables burn in for a few hundred hours (400 is what I have found) before you make a decision. They sound great from day 1 but over time will get even better. I have thundering bass, smooth mids and delicate highs after full break in.

I originally had a 15 foot pair I bought from RAM Labs last year but they no longer offer locking banana plugs. So, I went with Blue Jeans Cable for a single 18 foot Canare cable with locking bananas. No offense to Blue Jeans but the same cable from RAM was finished so much nicer. They used colored heat shrink on the pigtails that go to the locking banana plugs and the plugs themself are much more robust. The Blue Jeans left the pigtails exposed and the plug was not as robust.

I can't agree with the "length makes no difference" crowd.

I'll give you that using one 6-ft. cable and one 12-ft. cable wouldn't be problematic.

But what if the cable length is 1,000 ft.?  Extreme example, but to maintain it still doesn't matter would be be ridiculous.  Obviously speaker cable length makes a difference.  The question is how much?

If my system layout allowed it, I would use equal speaker cable lengths (which I do).  We can't pretend to be able to recognize minor differences, but why not avoid them if we can?

@oldhvymec,

I believe you but I have a 15 foot and 18 foot 4s11 cable in my office system with a Mac MA6600 integrated driving either GE Triton One speakers or JBL L100 Classic speakers. Running a mono signal through them told me there is no difference. Perhaps if the cable was like 50 feet, perhaps I would hear a difference then.

I will say those JBL speakers are breaking in nicely with them playing for 6 weeks. I believe there are about 300 hours on them now and 150 hours on the longer Canare cable.

The point the OP made about not using monoblocks is not a failure of those who are suggesting minimum-length speaker cables.  It is a shortcoming in his system.  We can't be expected to fix his problems.