Speaker cable dilemma

[Thunder240]

I recently ran cable in-wall in my living room. It required 32 ft of in-wall cable to go from my electronics rack to the speaker location on the opposite side of the fireplace. The other speaker location is next to the rack (about 2ft away from it).

I know that the conventional wisdom is to have equal length runs to both speakers in order to ensure equal resistance and capacitance, and I can do that. But if I do, I will need to coil up the 32 ft of cable or else my wife will kill me, which is also an audiophile no-no since it creates inductance. My question is which should I do, run 32 ft of cable to the speaker that is next to my rack and coil it up, or run 3 ft of cable in a pretty much straight line?

In case it is relevant, I use an active crossover as part of my system (Marchand XM-66) which has controls that I could use to adjust the gain levels to the two speakers.

Thanks for the advice!


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[lovinthehd]

The shorter run of cable will make no difference. More economical, too.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

It should be fine if your longer run (32ft) uses at least a 12AWG cable gauge. Your shorter 3ft run could use a smaller cable gauge AWG14 or 16.

 

[highfigh]

I recently ran cable in-wall in my living room. It required 32 ft of in-wall cable to go from my electronics rack to the speaker location on the opposite side of the fireplace. The other speaker location is next to the rack (about 2ft away from it).

I know that the conventional wisdom is to have equal length runs to both speakers in order to ensure equal resistance and capacitance, and I can do that. But if I do, I will need to coil up the 32 ft of cable or else my wife will kill me, which is also an audiophile no-no since it creates inductance. My question is which should I do, run 32 ft of cable to the speaker that is next to my rack and coil it up, or run 3 ft of cable in a pretty much straight line?

In case it is relevant, I use an active crossover as part of my system (Marchand XM-66) which has controls that I could use to adjust the gain levels to the two speakers.

Thanks for the advice!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Marchand doesn't matter WRT speaker cable- the power amplifier does, though. 12 gauge is overkill for 32 feet if the power output isn't high.

 

[j_garcia]

Speaker Wire

At those lengths, conventional wisdom doesn't dictate that wires need to be the same. You DO want a little slack, but if you are coiling, then it is likely too much.

 

[Thunder240]

Thanks guys! Sounds like consensus is to use a short run to the speaker that is next to my rack.

The wire I have is 14/4. My plan is to twist the red/white and black/green leads together to get the equivalent of I’m not sure, 10 gauge? But for either or both I could just use 2 of the 4 leads, and leave the other two leads out. (My speakers have each have 1 pair of binding posts, so no bi-wiring.)

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[ryanosaur]

Thanks guys! Sounds like consensus is to use a short run to the speaker that is next to my rack.

The wire I have is 14/4. My plan is to twist the red/white and black/green leads together to get the equivalent of I’m not sure, 10 gauge? But for either or both I could just use 2 of the 4 leads, and leave the other two leads out. (My speakers have each have 1 pair of binding posts, so no bi-wiring.)

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Combining 14/4 into two conductive paths will yield the equivalent to 11awg on each side.
If you’ve already the cable, no reason not to do this as a conventional connection to a single pair of binding posts. But even if they were bi-wire compatible, the recommendation is still almost always to not bi-wire.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Sounds like you are good to go. I would double up the wiring, just because you already have it in place. It's a 'why not' type of situation.
Definitely don't make them the same lengths, it's been asked and discussed a few times, but the general 'internet' wisdom to make them the same length is factually silly, as is often the case. So, you're completely fine having them be different lengths. It simply will not make one bit of difference to your listening experience.

 

[ryanosaur]

So, you're completely fine having them be different lengths. It simply will not make one bit of difference to your listening experience.

This!

Just make certain when you cut your cables to leave enough slack for the occasional situation of moving an amp or receiver without having to undo your cabling! (I usually try to leave an extra 2-3’ as that allows me to pull the AVR out just far enough to access the back if needed.)

 

[mtrycrafts]

...
conventional wisdom is to have equal length ...

Well, that is not really the conventional wisdom but a few out there on the fringe.

 

[lovinthehd]

If you understand conventional wisdom is to use equal length wires and/or bi-wiring.....you need to stop using that source of "wisdom".

 

[TLS Guy]

I recently ran cable in-wall in my living room. It required 32 ft of in-wall cable to go from my electronics rack to the speaker location on the opposite side of the fireplace. The other speaker location is next to the rack (about 2ft away from it).

I know that the conventional wisdom is to have equal length runs to both speakers in order to ensure equal resistance and capacitance, and I can do that. But if I do, I will need to coil up the 32 ft of cable or else my wife will kill me, which is also an audiophile no-no since it creates inductance. My question is which should I do, run 32 ft of cable to the speaker that is next to my rack and coil it up, or run 3 ft of cable in a pretty much straight line?

In case it is relevant, I use an active crossover as part of my system (Marchand XM-66) which has controls that I could use to adjust the gain levels to the two speakers.

Thanks for the advice!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You have at least caught an Audiophool's cold, just make sure it does not turn to pneumonia!

 

[Speedskater]

The Marchand doesn't matter WRT speaker cable- the power amplifier does, though. 12 gauge is overkill for 32 feet if the power output isn't high.

Amplifier power has nothing to do with speaker cable AWG.
What matters is:
End-to-end resistance of the cable with respect to the loudspeaker impedance curve.

 

[highfigh]

I know that the conventional wisdom is to have equal length runs to both speakers in order to ensure equal resistance and capacitance, and I can do that.

'Conventional wisdom' and 'in common practice' are often very different. In common practice, and having installed audio and AV systems for more than 40 years, I know of no installers or contractors who hide a pile of wire because they want them to be equal in length. I went to a seminar at CEDIA where the guy spent more time telling us how cool he & his company were and he advocated this but everyone just rolled their eyes.

Ever try to hide 20+ feet of cable in a space where it doesn't fit?

 

[highfigh]

Amplifier power has nothing to do with speaker cable AWG.
What matters is:
End-to-end resistance of the cable with respect to the loudspeaker impedance curve.

It does matter, but only in extreme cases. At extremely high power, the losses incurred when the impedance drops and small wire gauge is used become excessive and when the impedance drops to 2 Ohms, I=25A @1000W.

 

[jinjuku]

I recently ran cable in-wall in my living room. It required 32 ft of in-wall cable to go from my electronics rack to the speaker location on the opposite side of the fireplace. The other speaker location is next to the rack (about 2ft away from it).

I know that the conventional wisdom is to have equal length runs to both speakers in order to ensure equal resistance and capacitance, and I can do that. But if I do, I will need to coil up the 32 ft of cable or else my wife will kill me, which is also an audiophile no-no since it creates inductance. My question is which should I do, run 32 ft of cable to the speaker that is next to my rack and coil it up, or run 3 ft of cable in a pretty much straight line?

In case it is relevant, I use an active crossover as part of my system (Marchand XM-66) which has controls that I could use to adjust the gain levels to the two speakers.

Thanks for the advice!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

FYI I've seen in the past people mix speaker distance (that is speaker to listener seating distance) with a difference in cable runs.

You correct for the seat to speaker difference. Not the minuscule difference in cable lengths.

 

[Audiophile Heretic]

I recently ran cable in-wall in my living room. It required 32 ft of in-wall cable to go from my electronics rack to the speaker location on the opposite side of the fireplace. The other speaker location is next to the rack (about 2ft away from it).

I know that the conventional wisdom is to have equal length runs to both speakers in order to ensure equal resistance and capacitance, and I can do that. But if I do, I will need to coil up the 32 ft of cable or else my wife will kill me, which is also an audiophile no-no since it creates inductance. My question is which should I do, run 32 ft of cable to the speaker that is next to my rack and coil it up, or run 3 ft of cable in a pretty much straight line?

In case it is relevant, I use an active crossover as part of my system (Marchand XM-66) which has controls that I could use to adjust the gain levels to the two speakers.

Thanks for the advice!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The inductance of a coil depends on the number of turns of wire and the cross-sectional area inside the coil. Making the coil long and narrow to reduce the area reduces the inductance.

Having said that, the unequal lengths won't make an audible difference.

 

[mtrycrafts]

The inductance of a coil depends on the number of turns of wire and the cross-sectional area inside the coil. Making the coil long and narrow to reduce the area reduces the inductance.

Having said that, the unequal lengths won't make an audible difference.

And, not to mention what you stated, it is for a single conductor coil, not close parallel cable with opposite direction of signal flow.

 

[fmw]

How's your math? If you could put a wire around the planet that would allow a signal to arrive without being absorbed, it would make about 10 trips around the globe in about 1 second. Now figure the time lag between two wires a few feet (or miles) different in length and judge whether or not that amount of time would make an audible difference. I think you can see the point.

 

[mtrycrafts]

How's your math? If you could put a wire around the planet that would allow a signal to arrive without being absorbed, it would make about 10 trips around the globe in about 1 second. Now figure the time lag between two wires a few feet (or miles) different in length and judge whether or not that amount of time would make an audible difference. I think you can see the point.

Oh you smarty.

Well, wait a minute. What would be the R value of that cable.