Are unequal length speaker cables really bad?

#1 - if the equipment is so sensitive to minute capacitance differences between say an 8 ft. cable and a 15 ft. cable it is very poorly engineered equipment indeed.

#2 - the fact that your head is not locked in a vice when you listen means that the small differences in your position when seated translate into audible differences in your listening experience. Worrying about the difference in a signal traversing an 8 ft. cable vs. a 15 ft. cable is the textbook definition of audiophile nervosa. Get over it.

-RW-

Equal lengths are best since there will be sonic differences. I point this out because some audiophiles claim to hear differences in the terminations alone. YMMV

09-06-13: Sonic_genius
Equal lengths are best since there will be sonic differences.

However, as I indicated in my earlier response, the existence of differences does not necessarily mean that having equal lengths will be better.

When the issue of unequal lengths is being addressed, presumably the length of the longer cable cannot be reduced, or it won't reach the speaker that is farthest from the amplifier. So the question then becomes whether it is better to:

(a)Use an equal length in the other channel, so that the sonic effects of the cables in both channels are the SAME, or

(b)Use a shorter cable in the other channel, so that the sonic effects of that cable are REDUCED.

I see no reason to necessarily expect that (a) will produce better sound quality than (b). Either outcome seems possible, presuming that there is a difference.

As I said in my earlier post, a length disparity could conceivably have audible consequences, NOT due to timing differences, but due to various cable effects that are proportional to length. And,

09-05-13: Almarg
Whether those consequences would result in sound quality that is better or worse than if the shorter cable were lengthened to equal the length of the longer one is speculative, IMO, and most likely system and listener dependent.

Regards,
-- Al