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.
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.