Speaker wire placement conundrums

Hello all,

I recently revamped my 2 channel system to include Naim separates (NDX 2 and Supernait 3) after living with my Uniti Nova since January. I've still got Roon Radio running 24/7 on the system so it's at about 50 hours of break-in now and sounding very good indeed.

As part of the deal I also did a speaker cable upgrade to a pair of 12' Transparent Super speaker cables. These are pretty rigid cables with big network boxes on each of the cables. Problem is with the placement of my speakers and the Naim components, the right speaker is only maybe 4' from the components, where the left speaker is a good 10' from the components.

I'm assuming that different length speaker cable is bad, but it also presents a problem with speaker cable housekeeping. I have a straight run to the left speaker that works fine. On the right, I have about 8' of excess cabling and the Volti crossover is in the corner, so I have a twisty coil of rigid excess cable kind of wrapped around the external crossover then twisted around tightly to get the cables plugged into the crossover.

So what could be worse in my situation - having a coil of speaker cable piled up in a corner, or having 2 different lengths of speaker cabling per channel?

I would keep them the same length. Someday you may rearrange the setup, or even sell the cables. Both will be more difficult with two unequal in length cables.

Either solution will be just fine.

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Originally Posted by Speedskater

Either solution will be just fine.

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I don’t think any cable company or audio dealer would recommend different lengths of speaker cables.

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Originally Posted by mep

I don’t think any cable company or audio dealer would recommend different lengths of speaker cables.

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And regardless of whether folks can hear a difference or not, the resale would be tough!

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Originally Posted by mep

I don’t think any cable company or audio dealer would recommend different lengths of speaker cables.

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It was a few years before A.J. Conti of Basis Audio passed in 2016 that I visited with him at a CES in Vegas.

He had one channel connected with a 6' run of his speaker cable, and the other with a 60' run (hidden from view), to prove his point that various lengths need not matter.

IIRC, no one, including the top reviewers, complained of a problem. In fact, he got great comments re his demos...

That being said, I still buy - or make - my cables with equal lengths. And resale value of an unequal length pair would be low, if not impossible.

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Originally Posted by mep

I don’t think any cable company or audio dealer would recommend different lengths of speaker cables.

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A recommendation is one thing, an audible difference is another.

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Originally Posted by Speedskater

A recommendation is one thing, an audible difference is another.

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True, and zero resale value is another thing.

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Originally Posted by Jim Smith

It was a few years before A.J. Conti of Basis Audio passed in 2016 that I visited with him at a CES in Vegas.

He had one channel connected with a 6' run of his speaker cable, and the other with a 60' run (hidden from view), to prove his point that various lengths need not matter.

IIRC, no one, including the top reviewers, complained of a problem. In fact, he got great comments re his demos...

That being said, I still buy - or make - my cables with equal lengths. And resale value of an unequal length pair would be low, if not impossible.

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I don't think resale would be impossible, just to the length of the shortest cable plus re-termination.

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Originally Posted by Mikado463

I don't think resale would be impossible, just to the length of the shortest cable plus re-termination.

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It might not be impossible, but you would take a double beating on how much money you would lose on resale vs. the severe beating you normally take.

Thanks everyone - I thought I was getting email alerts when new posts were made on my thread but I just now came back here and saw these.

RE the unequal speaker length, yeah I guess resale would be the real killer there; although I've never resold cables before I have done trade-ups and I'm not sure if it would work the same way. Regardless, I've had my 12' Transparent Super cable snaked around my JL e110 and Volti crossover box for the past week now and have not noticed any detrimental effects to the sound, although the NDX 2 and SN 3 are still going through the break-in process. I'm guessing it's not so much a matter of sound quality issues as it is OCD about cable placement. Although the Naim fan club do make a big deal about cabling and placement and how they hang off the shelf and whether or not they have been "de-stressed" etc. Maybe the 500 level series is more susceptible to that kind of stuff; I don't think at the Supernait level it makes that much of a difference though.

I hate to go here but ........ If you have one speaker cable running straight and one coiled up they will sound different.

Well, no they won't sound different.

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Originally Posted by stereogeek

I hate to go here but ........ If you have one speaker cable running straight and one coiled up they will sound different.

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you may create inductance if you coiled the wire, particularity if its a lot of wire. I would stretch it out or make elongated loops if you want to take up slack in one channel.

Thanks guys - since this is an old-ish thread I should update that I've rendered the question moot by relocating my entire system where the speakers are equidistant from the amps!

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Originally Posted by puroagave

you may create inductance if you coiled the wire, particularity if its a lot of wire. I would stretch it out or make elongated loops if you want to take up slack in one channel.

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If you coil a single conductor wire, you will create an inductor.
But if you coil a two conductor cable, the opposite fields of the two conductors cancel out, so no inductance.
This misunderstanding has been around for as long as AC power extension cords have existed.

If you have ever used cable risers and found out they make a difference then a coiled wire and a straight wire will sound different. It has nothing to do with inductance. If you want interesting reading then Google Pandora Power Cord. Please don't shoot the messenger....lol.

Cable risers do not and can not make a difference.

Then fancy racks, brass points and rubber isolation feet won't matter either. In my earlier post I should have said to Google "Vansevers Pandora Power Cord" instead of what I posted. I's interesting reading.

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Originally Posted by Speedskater

Cable risers do not and can not make a difference.

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Maybe to the wallet!:D

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Originally Posted by Speedskater

Cable risers do not and can not make a difference.

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Cables on carpets is not a good idea. Static electricity, etc. I have a 30 and 40 foot run from my amp and used CD cases for risers. A cheap mod (or nothing at all if you use cases from CD's you no longer listen to) that was quite audible for the positive. Please try before you criticize.

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Originally Posted by thedudeabides

Cables on carpets is not a good idea. Static electricity, etc. I have a 30 and 40 foot run from my amp and used CD cases for risers. A cheap mod (or nothing at all if you use cases from CD's you no longer listen to) that was quite audible for the positive. Please try before you criticize.

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Gordon, why such long speaker cable runs ? I'm sure you didn't have that long a run back in your 'Logan' days did you ? Hope not, capacitance issue perhaps ..........

Well static electricity loves resistances and hanging the cables in air is a really high resistance. But the conductors are protected from static by their insulation. Static electricity also hates low resistances. Low for static is under 1 megaohm. And the conductors in cables are very low resistance.
The only time static is a problem is when plugging cables or computer cards in.

I am posting this under great risk of being the recipient of public humiliation and shame, but here goes. In my opinion the reason cable risers make an audible difference has nothing to due with electricity at all. It was explained to me that cable risers change the "string resonance" of the cable. This works kind of like putting brass points under equipment, it changes the vibration ( and sound ). This brings us back to my previous post in which I suggested to Google "Vansevers Pandora Power Cord." Enjoy!

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Originally Posted by Speedskater

Well static electricity loves resistances and hanging the cables in air is a really high resistance. But the conductors are protected from static by their insulation. Static electricity also hates low resistances. Low for static is under 1 megaohm. And the conductors in cables are very low resistance.
The only time static is a problem is when plugging cables or computer cards in.

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That's what you posted last time we had this discussion on the MLOC website. Oh well. Horse to water.

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Originally Posted by stereogeek

I am posting this under great risk of being the recipient of public humiliation and shame, but here goes. In my opinion the reason cable risers make an audible difference has nothing to due with electricity at all. It was explained to me that cable risers change the "string resonance" of the cable. This works kind of like putting brass points under equipment, it changes the vibration ( and sound ). This brings us back to my previous post in which I suggested to Google "Vansevers Pandora Power Cord." Enjoy!

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???? ......:rolleyes:

If electricity in copper wire travels at 670,616,629 miles per hour or 300 million meters per second, a 10'-20' difference in length can't be very noticeable to my ears. Then again I'm old. :P

I do agree resale may be a bit of an issue though.