Speaker Cable Length Differences: Do they matter?

highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
Even with the crappy first version of the WT3 woofer tester, I saw much better plots than that link shows and that tester has stopped working, so I'm not sure I can be sure it wasn't inaccurate the whole time.

If the designer of this device and software is watching, I want him to know that their customer service left a lot to be desired and that charging for an additional download code when the problem was caused by a failed computer is BS.
 
Speedskater

Speedskater

Audioholic General
"interaural time differences (ITDs)" have nothing to do with loudspeaker cables.
 
B

bosefriendly

Enthusiast
Looping cable actually doesn't change the properties (namely inductance) significantly unless you have a numerous loops tightly wound.

The point of the article was that cable lengths do not need to be kept identical so long as the lengths are reasonable to begin with. Obviously you don't want the left main speaker cable to be 10ft in length and the right one to be 500ft, but having one cable 2-3 times longer than the other makes little difference. If your cable runs become excessive (greater than 50'), it is recommended to use lower gauge cable (10AWG or less) to minimize losses.
If induction is a concern for you: looping can create a coil so to speak. The only way to nullify the effect is by stacking in a figure eight. I would agree the low current level should not be concerning especially with quality cables that have ample insulation.
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
If induction is a concern for you: looping can create a coil so to speak. The only way to nullify the effect is by stacking in a figure eight. I would agree the low current level should not be concerning especially with quality cables that have ample insulation.
Low current levels in speaker cables? Maybe I am just thinking of passive subs. ;)
 
Speedskater

Speedskater

Audioholic General
From an inductance point of view:
A coiled loudspeaker cable is vary different from a coiled wire.
The coiled speaker cable has two wires and their currents are flowing in opposite directions and so are their fields.
These opposite fields pretty much cancel each other, where as in a coiled wire all the fields are going in the same direction and sum together.
 
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