Long or Short Speaker/interconnects?

[Nopiano]

Thanks for all your suggestions. I make my own speaker and interconnect cables. Because of room logistics ( did the move today) I have ended up with short speaker cables and long intreconnects, though the cable I use is quad screened, two braids and two foil. In fact it look as though one intercoonect will end up being twice the length as the other 

Only you will know if that’s means it’ll be just fine, or if you’ll always think the channels aren’t quite balanced!  

 

[mr.me]

Only you will know if that’s means it’ll be just fine, or if you’ll always think the channels aren’t quite balanced!  

I'm deaf anyway 

 

[ogie]

I'm guessing each system requires experimentation. I agree the interference pickup is a concern and each room and corresponding environment is different.

The last thing the signal sees coming out of a component is also very different. Big fat output tranies on tube monoblockls versus a cheapo circuit board of a midfi preamp would be wildly different in the execution of pushinhg the signal a relatively long distance.

No one mentioned the difference in sending a small signal (interconnect) and the larger signal (speaker wire) long distance. Common sense says the bigger signal will travel better.

Having said all that, I still want try long interconnects because it would be cool to look at mono-blocks next to my speaker. 

 

[mr.me]

Yes, thats the arrangement I have ended up with, each amp alongside its respective speaker. Still got to make up the interconnects though.

 

[bigrod]

Just think how much quicker one speaker is getting the signal than the other

And over a length of say 1m difference and the signal travels at 200,000,000 m  a second .what s the timing difference

Kindest regards Julian 

 

[brystonian]

Put the amps where they look nice or were it's most convenient. Unless your listening room is an auditorium, I think you'll be okay either way.

 

[Nearly bewildered]

Both speaker cable and interconnects as short as is practically possible..

 

[rabski]

And over a length of say 1m difference and the signal travels at 200,000,000 m  a second .what s the timing difference

Kindest regards Julian 

Night and day mate. Like a veil being lifted. Even my wife can hear that sort of difference :rofl:

 

[TheFlash]

Night and day mate. Like a veil being lifted. Even my wife can hear that sort of difference :rofl:

... from the other room.

 

[Tristan]

Single ended RCA interconnects. Probably talking about 6m

Up to 10m is fine, anything over that you'll be wanting balance cables ;-)  

The important thing to consider though, is will cable lifters make a difference?

 

[J Edgar Dyson]

Can you explain why? I'd like to see hard evidence for that.

Evidence is already apparent. The shorter the cable the lower the resistance.

 

[MF 1000]

Both speaker cable and interconnects as short as is practically possible..

Why ??

 

[Nearly bewildered]

Why ??

It works for me...as short as possible.. There are many opinions out there which agree with me..we cant all be wrong? Whilst your internet is still working? ( on monday every bored person will try and access the Internet) have a mooch about on google..

 

[Speedskater]

Speedskater said:
The first thing to look at is the loudspeaker impedance curve. If it looks like a roller coaster track or has very low impedance at high frequencies (think Apogee) then shorter speaker cables are called for.

Can you explain why? I'd like to see hard evidence for that.

It's an Ohms Law, Series Circuit, voltage divider thing. With long, small cables, the speaker's impedance peaks & and dips divide the power differently changing the frequency response curve.

 

[kernow]

The lengths being used in hifi make absolutely no difference

 

[Speedskater]

The lengths being used in hifi make absolutely no difference

• What lengths?
  
• What cables?
  
• What loudspeakers?
  

While very often it will make no audible differences, there are many, many exceptions to that statement.

 

[StingRay]

Yes Naim used to warn customers about using the right cable and length, on older Naim amps. So yes cables can make a difference.

Some long interconnects can cause problems.

 

[uzzy]

The lengths being used in hifi make absolutely no difference

KI am sorry I disagree  .. take a 20 foot length of coax and stamp on it (best illustrated when connecting a guitar to guitar amp or a microphone).  It will make induce noise to the amp ... then of course the longer a lead is the more chance of RF even with well insulated cables.   

It depends on the cable and the signal and strength being transmitted  along it ..    Not only that if you are a believe in cables then the lengths used can make a massive difference to the amount of cash left in your pocket. 

 

[zeta4]

Re naim amps.

Its because they omitted to fit a compensation inductor to their potentially unstable amplifier . Instead they used 3.5m of their proprietry cable to do that.

I dont think they do that now.

 

[George 47]

Re naim amps.

Its because they omitted to fit a compensation inductor to their potentially unstable amplifier . Instead they used 3.5m of their proprietry cable to do that.

I dont think they do that now.

And I thought they did that because Julian said he did not like the sound with an inductor. So he used the capacitance of their cables to keep things stable. A trick that I think NVA may also do but not so sure there.