Does length matter?
Subscribe to Ask Paul Ask a QuestionBoy, what an opening line! But, Paul keeps it mostly on track as concerns cable lengths and their importance.
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Boy, what an opening line! But, Paul keeps it mostly on track as concerns cable lengths and their importance.
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A great answer – different power amplifiers vary widely in output impedance and other characteristics. It all depends!
What about differing length of the two speaker cables from amp to speaker on a stereo pair of speakers? Same wire gauge and cable brand, just differing lengths. Does the cable brand or length (like using 12 gauge with a 14ft length on one and a 5 foot length on the other) matter on passive Bass drivers, bi-wired (not bi-amped) ?
I make sure my cables match the make, model, gauge, and length to each speaker. If one speaker is 5 feet from the amp and the other 20 feet you wouldn’t want to run a 5 ft and 20 ft cable and the gauges should be the same. Both should be 20 ft the way I do it. I’m thinking Paul would say keep them the same to both speakers.
What audible impact do you expect it to have? I am not saying it has no impact, I just do not understand other than “sounds logical for safety sake” what impact it might have. you cannot argue with that logic other than money spent without need. I can see if it was a high gauge wire where the impedance might have a big impact on the control of the speaker by the amp if it changed the amp’s damping factor and impacted the speaker Thiel Small parameters. I just wonder why with a “wirewound” L-pad and two different attenuations would not have a greater impact.
I have no idea what kind of impact it has on the amplifier itself and whether it’s harmful to it’s operation over time, Paul would have that answer. But I do know you would be surprised at how your ears pick up the difference. The ears are the best test instrument out there. When positioning my speakers I can hear big differences in only an inch or two from the previous position.
Shenefelt,
If you keep it within ‘no more than 30% length difference’ you should have no major sound issues.