Speaker Wire length

[Shadow_Ferret]

OK. Now I've read over and over again that every speaker must have the same length wire.

My longest run will be to the in-ceiling speakers. The wire will run at least 25'.

It seems silly to also have 25' length of wire to my fronts which are, at best, only 7 or 8 feet away from the amplifier.

Is this rule of thumb more snake oil?

 

[Haoleb]

OK. Now I've read over and over again that every speaker must have the same length wire.

Not true. Dont know where youve been reading that. end of story.

 

[Brian_the_King]

http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/speaker-cable-length-differences-do-they-matter

See this sentence especially;
"...but avoiding a ratio greater than 4:1 of identical wire gauge is good measure for minimizing RLC losses which can affect system damping factor and attribute to frequency response variations."

So if the rears are going to be 25', try and keep the other wire lengths above 6'

But in reality, it doesn't matter much at all unless you've got hundereds of feet of wire vs a few feet.

edit: just like haoleb says ^

Not true. Dont know where youve been reading that. end of story.

 

[MinusTheBear]

For example my speaker wire lengths are as follows for my room FR, FL= 15ft, CH = 10ft, SR, SL = 25ft, SBR, SBL = 30ft.

I do not follow the camp of every speaker has to be the same length. For my case to make every speaker wire 30ft is absurd and would not waste my money on extra wire where I do not have to.

 

[fmw]

As far as I know, electrical current runs through wire at a speed that rounds off approximately to the speed of light. It's hard to imagine how anybody would believe 20 feet of wire or so would make a difference. More to the point would be a differential in distance from the speakers to your ears. Sound travels much slower than electricity.

 

[Alex2507]

OK. Now I've read over and over again that every speaker must have the same length wire.

My longest run will be to the in-ceiling speakers. The wire will run at least 25'.

It seems silly to also have 25' length of wire to my fronts which are, at best, only 7 or 8 feet away from the amplifier.

Is this rule of thumb more snake oil?

My H/K AVR 430 owners manual says to keep the lengths the same for left and right pairs; like mains, surrounds and rear surrounds. Not for surrounds and mains. The article Brian linked convinced me that I could get rid of the extra wire. Why H/K would write that is beyond me.

 

[fmw]

Some of the audio myths have been around so long, even the pros take them for granted. I can't even read audio magazine articles any more. I can't find one without myths or opinion replacing fact. Perhaps I need to stop reading instruction manuals as well.

 

[Audigy]

I'm just taking a wild (not really) guess. I would assume it has to do with the material of the wire, perhaps if the wire is not made of a very efficient conductor (why not would be beyond me) then I guess the resistance would factor in with the length of the wire thus increasing the current which flows through the wire. Just a speculation.

 

[DD66000]

I don't think I've been able to tell a difference in the sound using different lengths of wire.
But I do generally have the same length wire going to pairs; LCR, RS/LS, RR/LR.

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

OK, cool. Thanks. So I ordered 100' of 12 gauge wire. I'll run 25' to the each rear, then probably just 8' each to the fronts and center.

 

[Midcow2]

Not true and here is why

OK. Now I've read over and over again that every speaker must have the same length wire.

My longest run will be to the in-ceiling speakers. The wire will run at least 25'.

It seems silly to also have 25' length of wire to my fronts which are, at best, only 7 or 8 feet away from the amplifier.

Is this rule of thumb more snake oil?

The only reason to have speaker wire the same length ,besides asthetics, would be to have eactly the same resistance drop, but even that is misleading becuase the resistance of copper wire is very very low in comparison to the rsistance of the speaker.

First : typical case 20 feet 8 ohm speakers ,16 gauge wire
ohms/ft = 0.004016 20ft= 0.08032 ohms

0.8032/ (.08032+8) = 1% resistance lost on wire.

Second: worst case 50 feet 4 ohm , 18 gauge wire
ohms/ft =.006385 50ft= .31925
0.31925/(.31925+4) = 7.3% resistance lost on wire.

No one ever rns worst case and more than like you will be typical case or better.

Bottom line: Don't worry about wire lengths

 

[mtrycrafts]

. Why H/K would write that is beyond me.

Marketing

 

[mtrycrafts]

The only reason to have speaker wire the same length ,besides asthetics, ]

Not sure why it would be aesthetically pleasing to have a bundle of wire on one side and not the other

 

[3db]

I'm just taking a wild (not really) guess. I would assume it has to do with the material of the wire, perhaps if the wire is not made of a very efficient conductor (why not would be beyond me) then I guess the resistance would factor in with the length of the wire thus increasing the current which flows through the wire. Just a speculation.

From an electrical theory point of view, resistance doesn't change propogation time. That would be the inductive and capacitive effects that would introduce delay but for speakers cables at 50' , the delay would be zereo from a practical point.

Its a marketing scam to get one to spend more money than is needed.