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Speaker wire length, Symmetric or Not?

2451 Views 6 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  psgcdn, 
M
Speaker wire length, Symmetric or Not?


I have a Rotel 5 channel amp hooked to my 5 ERA speakers with 14 gauge wire. However, the right front speaker is about 15 feet from the amp while the left front is within 1 foot of the amp. I currently use the same length cable for each speaker pair. This presents a slight issue because I have to find a place to put all of the excess speaker wire for the left side. Is it important to keep the speaker wire for a pair of speakers at the same length? Should I always just use the shortest speaker wire that my setup will allow?
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G
Keep the shortest length. The only time I heard to keep the speaker length

almost the same, are from sales people who are selling high-end cable,

because length = $$$$.
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E
The only reason I've ever heard to justify this requirement is that it keeps the impedance (resistance?) exactly the same for each set of speakers. However, it seems like this shouldn't be a problem with wire of sufficient gauge wire in the first place, and also that differences in impedance due to an extra foot or two of wire would be negligible.


Looking forward to hearing from more experienced people on this though.
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W
in theory, it's best to keep the length equal but in practice, it really doesn't matter (either sonically or electrically).
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T
From what I've heard, keeping the speaker wires symmetrical isn't really a concern unless you're talking about some ridiculous difference like over 100 feet.
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M
Decision made! I hacked off about 15 feet from one cable and 3 feet from another. Still works just fine.
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psgcdn
Good man!
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