How long should speaker cables be?


My cables are 12 feet long but with my current setup 6 feet would be more than enough. I recall reading somewhere that connectors should be short and speaker cables should be long. Does anyone have an opinion on this?

128x128fosolitude

Actually, I think the reverse is truer, that is; longer (balanced) interconnects and shorter speaker cables.

ozzy

How long should speaker cables be? To paraphrase Abe Lincoln, long enough to reach the amplifiers.

+1 ozzy. 

This is “one” of the reasons monoblocks are made, to have very short speaker cables. Preferably 8’ or less. RCA should be 1M or less optimally, no more than 1.5-2M. Balanced XLRs can be run long. 

12 ft is not that long, but there is a relationship to length and wire gauge. Lengths should be equal regardless of distance from R & L. What kind of speaker cable is it?