Should Speaker Cables Be the Same Length?

Audio enthusiasts may wonder if the cable lengths between speakers need to be identical. They are often misinformed by exotic cable vendors or cable forum cult hobbyists that cable lengths need to be kept identical to avoid amplitude or phase/time delay differences between the two. They even go so far as to claim transmission line effects are of paramount concern at audio frequencies. In this KZbin video we demystify the nonsense surrounding this topic to give you the real answer based on science to this question. If you want to know definitively whether or NOT you need to keep your speaker cables the same lengths, watch this video!
For the full written article on the topic of speaker cable lengths, please visit: bit.ly/38XZbBa
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#audiophile #cables #sound

[@JonathanDFielding]

Hi, I'm an electrical engineer - high speed digital hardware designer. Transmission line affects ONLY matter when the length you're dealing with is > 1/20th of the wavelength of the fundamental (your frequency). So, at 20kHz (the highest typical audible frequency), the speed of electricity traveling on a wire at some large fraction of C (speed of light = 300,000,000 meters/second) and let's assume it's 0.5C to over-exaggerated. That's 150E6 Meters/Sec. 20KHz has a wavelength of 7,500 meters. 7500/20 = 375 Meters. So, if your cable is more than 4 football fields, then you might want to consider transmission line affects at 20kHz. At 2KHz that's 3,750 meters, at 200Hz, that's 37,500 meters... Good job Gene calling them on their BS!

[@Audioholics]

thanks I was trying to use the most conservative estimates up to 100kHz to be overly cautious of TL effects and still come up with over 1000ft of cable before it matters. LOL

[@JonathanDFielding]

Ha! I replied before finishing the video. At work we care about 1/20th wavelength, bc we consider 1/10 the length of 1 transition to another transition. at 10Ghz (6 inches per nanosecond - speed of electricity on FR-4 PCB material) we have to worry about distances of 30 thousands of an inch (30 mils) on a PCB board. With an average board thickness of around 60 Mils, even the layer you travel on when you hit a through hole via (like when coming into an SFP+ cage) matters, where the extra unused length of a via in the PCB can become a parallel stub and cause reflections. It's crazy! Now consider the newest HDMI with high speed SERDES data rates of 28Gbps, now you care about 10 mils! This is why the quality of the cable has to be SOOO good, because the impedance of those differential pairs on the high speed HDMI lines have to travel on a near perfect transition line. Manufacturers are going to have to start using some high end expensive twin-axe cables with very tightly controlled impedances.

[@Audioholics]

@@JonathanDFielding Hey Jonathan, good article topic if you're interested in writing it up for Audioholics, I will publish. email me [e-mail] and put HDMI TL Article in the topic. thanks.

[@michaelwright1602]

@@JonathanDFielding Looks like we are heading back to the days of $10,000 HDMI cables...

[@battousai412]

Excellent job Gene and fellow audioholics, so I won't go into detail as yall nailed it. Im an electrical and computer design engineer and it shocks me the bs we see on this topic in our beloved hobby. I love and appreciate these kinds of videos from you Gene as not all people that love this hobby have our or better your knowledge and people can understandably fall for the bs. Hilarious thumb nail 2 Gene. Stay safe, Im listening and looking forward to Audioholics in 2021!

[@NawfalHasan]

You win the thumbnail of the year award 😀

[@AlmightyGTR]

I am Engineer by education, and my field is all numbers and math. Just recently got into speakers and audio. My goodness, the sheer amount of opinions in this area. So glad I found your channel. Thank you for all the work you do Gene.

[@danlah1303]

I am anything but an electrical engineer Gene and didn’t understand 75% of the technical details in the video, but your advice hasn’t led me in a wrong direction yet and I will keep following it!

[@vagrantsneaker6514]

All my speaker cables are different lengths because of my room. I never once considered to keep them the same length. It crossed my mind when I did the set up, but its been fine for decades.

[@darce01]

As a home integrator, I always try to give my customers the same length for the front two channels. Specifically, with towers, or bookshelf speakers. It is not uncommon for people to change their mind on speaker placement at some point in the future. Having an extra 3 feet of cable on one channel is better than having to extend the speaker wire later by 3 feet. It also reduces a service call because they’ll be able to extend the speaker on their own if needed .

[@astra004]

Counterquestion: should speaker cable reviews be longer than the cables themselves?

[@Loachie90]

Oof

[@jnagarya519]

I think they should be as long as the shorter of the cables, at a minute per foot, in this instance about 9 feet.

[@mikepiontek1550]

I filed down the ends of mine to get them the same.

[@astra004]

@@jnagarya519 I agree, maybe we can change TAS reviewing habits together.

[@astra004]

@@mikepiontek1550 Use gloves during manipulation! Cold hands can reduce cable length!

[@randyreinninger6826]

I heard years ago that speaker wire should be the same length and it really made sense but when I got into home theater I started to realize that L&R speakers were farther apart than a center speaker and as was the speaker wire and side surrounds as back surrounds but continued to make sure the wire to each set of speakers were the same. So thanks for freeing my thoughts on this issue.

[@boydrijkvan6500]

Thanks for this video. I always suspected that speaker cable lenght does not really matter. Great to see the actual science behind it!

[@joseluisruiz3789]

Hahahahaha, I love your thumbnail! Also I really like your Honesty and I trust your word 1000% you are my Source for everything related to my home theater build.

[@gavinj7850]

I did hear on the forum get equal length speaker cables. So I bought some 12 ft. 12AWG speaker cables 35 bucks each. My Old speaker wires needed upgrade anyway. Monster cable from the late 90's that were probably bent and had problems from furniture on them and various kinks. So it probably fixed that problem. Length doesn't matter unless it's exaggerated. Something new for my wife to learn also. Thanks!

[@gullrockgeorge9057]

Had always used same length cables because that's just how it worked out. When setting up my listening room in a new configuration it made more sense for one cable to be about 6 feet longer than the other. At first I didn't want to do it and was just going to leave 6 feet of slack on the "shorter" run. In the end it seemed like a reasonable thing to try with my modestly priced cable choice so I went with 2 different lengths. I couldn't tell any difference so they stayed unequal. Still that way years later.

[@patricknicolucci5073]

I obsess over the details Speaker toe in , distance from walls and corners , I sold audio back in the hey day late 70's to 80's gear. I was told by the senior sales guy that Monster cables and the like makes great profit but its basically snake oil. Thanks for the refresher I also worked at a switch gear mfg learned alot about transmission and distribution of electricity math is over my head for transmission but distribution was easier to comprehend. great video keep the gray matter sharp im just an old audiophile sales guy .

[@AnonymousAndy2]

Exactly what I have always thought. My amp is almost directly under left speaker whilst the right is 5m away (not ideal I know!) and the cable has to run outside and around a chimney breast. When I initially installed them I used some generic speaker cables and I thought it sounded ok. Then my friend had a reel of quality cable left over from a job & so I replaced my cables & the results were amazing. But we were comparing cheap with good quality. As for left & right, I can’t tell any difference with the quality cable. I’m running Cambridge Azur 540a amp, Wharfedale Diamond 220 with a 20+ year old Yamaha 8 inch sub.

[@adamk4716]

That’s consistent with what Paul Speltz told me when I purchased level 3 Anticable from him- he recommended to just keep the shorter speaker wire at or above 50 percent of the longer wire but that it wasn’t a death blow if it were even shorter. So my right speaker cable is 17 feet and my left speaker cable is 10. Thx for a great video.

[@TheVenezuelanviewer]

The people who put a finger down sure sell expensive HiFi stuff. I am already sure about the relationship of the length and resistance of the cable. I only had doubts about the effects of radio frequency, but you clarified it very well. Greetings.

[@davidneale1295]

Hi, Great informative Chanel that speaks the truth. I am considering changing my speaker cables of different lengths ( 5ft& 16ft ) to canare 4s11 cable chosen from the reviews. I am clearer now on cable length. Thank you.

[@richarddortch6122]

Gene, You have just beautifully described what I have always told my friends that are new to the hobby. Is there a MEASUREABLE difference? Yes, I'm sure that with sufficiently sensitive test equipment you could measure a difference. Is there a perceptible difference? Mostly Nope....Just don't worry about it, spend your money on better equipment and/or room treatments.

[@IsmaelMartinezPR]

Gene: I do keep my Front LR cables same length, right now I am using about 12 feet per side. Although in reality I would only need 12 and about 5. But the reason is not fantasy, its practicality. If I decide to move the system to another location in the house, the 12' length should work, and if at that location I may need 8 and 8. So when I got the cable I did cut 2 equal lengths and prepared all 4 ends the same not knowing which side was what.

[@johnlightfoot9967]

I always make my speaker cables the same length, usually to allow the speakers to be anywhere in the room. No point in making them the exact length then have a room move round and need to make the new cables to fit the new locations. Also if you are OCD then same length matters. While we are on the subject of cable, my friend has a HiFi shop and lent me a lot of monies worth of cables. Now I have a reasonable system and I tried the cables for a week, could I hear a difference, hmm possibly, was it better, well if I had bought them it would have been better as how could I admit anything else, but in any case, I returned the cable. On my way home I stopped off at the shops and bought a nice bottle of wine, later I can honestly say that after 2 glasses of said wine my system sounded excellent.

[@CYALLC]

Thanks for the video! I'll be running 14 gauge wire to the left channel at about 22 ft and the right channel at 11 ft from a 210 watt Parasound Amp to Klipsch Forte I believe 8 ohms. Might be able to get away with 16 gauge but figure all copper 14 to play it safe. I'm 56 so I'm sure it will be good enough. I am still hanging on to wired connections like these meanwhile everyone I know says to go cordless, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth with everything. BT for the radio in the bathroom or garage but cmon,....BT still cant match wired system anymore than Wi-Fi can match a hard wire to an RJ45.

[@dwp1970]

Gene, I gotta believe a fellow SPJC grad! .... That is if my eyes were reading the diploma behind you correctly. Decades ago I installed some speakers for a family friend who could be a bit frugal, he asked about the necessity of matching cable lengths. My answer was if you want to spend more money on cable and labor I'm all for it. Saving money sounded much better to him than anything coming out of his speakers. Thanks for giving me the science to back up common sense. Keep up the good work.

[@Allottedaaron]

I am just putting my sound system together for our Swing Dancing nights where I will be DJing old Jazz Swing Tracks. We have a soundcraft mixer which we have bought and some Yamaha Active Speakers. The connection between them is XLR. I looked around the internet because I want the best sound I can get. Then I saw the price of some of the cables. I do have a history working in the computer industry where I have always made my own cables which means I am very comfortable and competent with a soldering iron. I've been through so many videos lookign for the best components and where I have landed is on Starquad cable with Neutrik connectors. I've run a few small run cables and so I have proved they work and am now looking at longer cables so I can set the speakers and desk up on a stage. Your videos have been really useful helping me work through the various claims and pseudo science. The Audiophile arena is seductive for someone like me because I am providing a service and obviously want to produce the best sound I can. I also believe in science which makes so much of what you say really welcome. Thanks for all the effort you put into the videos and the information

[@BTinHD]

I've also heard that speaker cables next to power cables cause interference. On my small system, it doesn't seem to be a problem.

[@caseytbss]

It’s possible..... I would be more worried about signal cables ran with power. This can be an issue with mobile audio. It seems like damn near any noise is rare in home audio.... when there is, it’s often bad inputs/outputs

[@TheJosa007]

You produce the best videos about audio ever, not that I rally understand dB's but some day I'll get there. The only think I've done is to use the proper gage according to distance. My ear is not really that discernible to know that one cable is thicker or longer than the other. Thank you so much for all the education you give us.

[@svp2864]

Thank you for this video. One more awesome video of yours! I just got off the phone with Polk Audio customer support guy and he has been insisting on me using the same cable lengths for Left and Right channels as well as Centre. I would need to make one wire approximately 6-8 feet longer than needed and coil excess to make them of equal lengths. Now I see that I can not by any means see any difference with 14 Gauge wire in my living room setup even if I have 20 feet difference between cable lengths. I did already have to run quite a bit of 12 Gauge wire through basement to the rear speakers and trying to add all the same length to the front right speaker sitting 4 feet apart from receiver would be insane waste of wire and space.

[@edwyrd4227]

I've always just cut the speaker cords the same length. I don't do it for any transmission effect or distance delay. I did it for aethetics. And my OCD. :)

[@donjaun540]

Thank you for reassuring what I had experimented with and didn't hear a difference. Very good video. My cables are way to long but I'd rather have extra so I can move around.

[@twntwrs]

And if they were too short you wouldn't hear anything.

[@stephenmiller6690]

As an old school ham radio operator this was a great discussion.

[@Kulvinder1974]

My speaker cables are 3 m each and I’m more than happy with that. I have no losses on those cables as far as I can tell.

[@williammcquade3081]

Those of us who are OCD, even if we know the gospel of electronics, will still use cable of equal length . If for no other reason, it contributes to a restful nights sleep knowing that their is equilibrium in the system.

[@bradbortner2601]

Because of my need to run one of my cables under the floor, I have one 8 ft, and one 30 ft run. It does not matter. The speed of light is really fast!

[@brorican1]

When i was laying cable, i just thought it easier to make L and R length the same because of wire management. It had nothing to do with sound quality but more to do with aesthetics.

[@mikecampbell5856]

Because of necessity my rear surround speaker cables have a 13 feet difference in length. I used to freak out a little but then realized that it's just sound effects. The OCD side of me was still bothered until now, thanks!

[@TMERUNNR]

You're a Mind Reader Gene! I'm wanting to reconfigure my side and rear surrounds and was wondering if it matters the length of one speaker cable running 40ft and the other running 20ft and ect...I got my answer! Thanks Gene🤘

[@tac6044]

It should be absolute common sense that wire length is not going to affect anything unless we are talking about many thousands of feet. I'm surprised people even have this as a question in their mind. You can use different lengths, it has absolutely no effect whatsoever. Electricity on wire travels at 70% the speed of light.

[@TMERUNNR]

@@tac6044 Thank you Tac!!! Have good one👍

[@earlismarks7108]

Happy New Year Gene...You are appreciated!

[@gbcrawford]

SUBSCRIBED ! SHARED ! Question - Copper Clad Aluminum vs Copper Using 12AWG 35 ft distance to rear speakers in a 7:1 system

[@milkman100001]

just like to say thanks Gene as ive just purchased a set of 3m kimber kable speaker cables. they have opened the sound ,made it sound crisp and clear and a much more life like sound. i had beldon before.and this 12 strand kimber is much better.i cant see me changing for anything else.i paid £ 100!

[@sstrick500]

I actually did this many years ago. I figured it couldn't hurt. But my receiver was in the middle of the speakers, so I just made them the same length. I think now I have one surround cable about 15ft longer. I sleep fine at night.

[@BrianSu]

The short answer is Yes! but not at the length of speaker cables used in sound systems. If you had one speaker next to you and the other a few hundred miles away then of coz you'll have issues with resistance, transmission delay etc.

[@TemperTemper...]

Glad someone is talking sense in the audio world.

[@shaneducholke364]

A question along the same lines, along with cable length, 20 years when I built my dedicated theater, everyone said that every connection reduced sound quality. I have connections behind every speaker to plug speaker cable into the wall and would like to clean up behind my rack and have a wall plug in to plug in all my speaker cables from my equipment into a wall instead of wad of cables coming out of vaccuum tube hanging out of of my ceiling behind the rack that has full rear accessibility.

[@michaelmonstar4276]

I've simply kept the surround speaker cables the same length, as they're going along the same wall, but then for one of them it takes a corner, going along the back wall, to the other speaker. - It's not that far, but I've still just "added" that extra length that the far one has to the nearer (to the amp) one to be sure, especially because I'm also at lower levels, for which small signal-differences might be more noticeable (?), and even THEN I somehow had to slightly balance the volume on the received to the long one. - And the extra length wasn't a huge cost because I simply bought some higher-quality "normal" audio cable, as in nothing boutique (I think it's Sommer Cable), and a nice sturdy thickness that's not too much but not too thin. - So I keep everything very balanced and reasonable. But technically, all is pretty much "equal". I'm also going to replace all speakers with some slightly better quality equivalents since I set up what is still there now, which also have terminal-posts rather than those clampy ones. So I might get a better connection with less potential loss (that MIGHT currently be present) as well, especially since I've noticed those clamps weren't all at the same tightness, and you probably can't do anything about that. They're quite horrible, but it's just a fact that most of the "cheaper" ones come/came with those terminals. It's a little different these days, even for "entry level" stuff from companies that know what they're doing. - Polk to the rescue in this case.

[@SPDATA1]

I have built a couple of TML loudspeakers. Dynadio, Visa, Peerless and KEF. Used my friends impedance meter he created and GRENANDER LOUDSPEAKER LAB. Supra cables. I don't care today but in the eighties I used same length.

[@CheetahNL]

6:45 If a cable is under tension, the atoms of the material are stretched out, changing the resistence. Just make sure both cables have the same tension!

[@hometheaterfever5]

Love it Gene. Your videos always make sense and soo much fun to watch. Thank you again for educating us. 👍🏻

[@pjf7943]

My answer to my clients is: "Buy the matching 5' and you will sleep better at night. LOL!

[@TheJoker1200]

At the beginning I did thought that it matter, but after watching your Videos I became a Man of Culture😁👍🏼

[@markphilpot8734]

Hooray Gene on the Emerson, Lake and Palmer reference. So love that group. Keep dispelling the BS marketers make to sell cables. What a crock! Made irregular length cables for customers for years. No huge lengths. Way less than 30’. It isn’t going to matter at that length like you say. Marketers will say anything to sell any product, but audio is full of mystics and hoodo! No more snake oil Gene! Keep preaching the truth!

[@TheFilletingfish]

Wow Jean I’ve been watching you for a long time and I always find something to take away but I am a two channel guy. However your argument and data is very clear thank you for putting this together. The shirt though ☺️

[@racesla]

Paul McGowan said the same thing as you.

[@lichtgestalt9540]

paul is a stupid, but in this case he seems on the right side 😉

[@swinde]

@@lichtgestalt9540 Paul is not stupid, but he offers products that come under "snake oil" that he tends to defend. Such as 12 gauge speaker cables, power conditioners, etc.

[@naturalrestingface4909]

For those of us with OCD this is not an option, it is a must!

[@Audioholics]

I get that.

[@aegisofhonor]

from my experience, as long as the gauge and length is far inside the required current to drive the speakers, as long as the difference is not incredibly large like one is 3 times longer then the other where one is 100ft. and the other is 300ft or some crazy situation like that., it will basically make no difference. The sound delay will be so small (in the single Nanoseconds delay) that you'd never tell the difference. For instance is one cable is 10ft. and the other is 15ft with like a 14APG wire, it's not going to make a difference at all. Where it can sorta sometimes make a difference is when you are using extremely high gauge wire (like the 28 gauge some home theater in a box set ups come with) and you're starting to hit current limits of the length in one wire or the other. But you can solve that just by using "reasonably large" gauge wire (16 or lower gauge); there is no reason why you should be using wire any smaller then 16 gauge, it's cheap and effective.

[@bv5980]

This video needs to be seen by a LOT of audiophiles

[@bigjay1970]

Gene, seems like you've learned a lot over the years. Video quality excellent, sound quality excellent!😬😇 Very well put together video.

[@smarmosaur]

I just read the manual for some Pyle in-wall home theater speakers and the installation manual for them states that "The wires for both speakers should be the same length. If one speaker is placed closer to the amplifier than the other, hide the excess wire behind the wall."

[@o2dmg]

So do you have any suggestions good banana plugs? Like brand or material they should be made of.

[@dictumobiter1365]

QED Airloc😉😉😉

[@shorty332]

You must of been reading my mind Gene cause I was just thinking about this.

[@shaneducholke364]

This was a big thing when I built my dedicated theater in 2002 when there was no room correction. I probably have over 75' of wasted cable length rolled up in my ceiling as every cable is within 1 cm. I am just too lazy to open it up to save it all.

[@firlottp]

Do speaker cables be the same length? No according to science... Yes according to my OCD. :^)

[@m.zillch3841]

It easy to understand why bulk wire sellers advise the lengths "should be the same" using incredibly simple math. If a customer needs 3 feet for their left speaker and 20 ft. for the R, which makes the seller more money? Selling them 23 ft or 40ft. ?

[@Diwakarvlg]

its more of keeping it Better Organized rather maintaining irregular sizes of similar set of speakers. Moreover for a given set it would be very small difference of length difference. keeping it uniform is prescribed in any cabling discipline

[@rianredfield5252]

Hey Gene good talk, but you left out the height off floor cables should fly! I've found the ideal height to be a 1973 Orange Tupperware bowl that just came out of the freezer, ideally with the top sealed for fresh airy highs! 😉

[@MOOeymania]

I love how hard this dude freaks out about cables. I think it keeps him up at night. I would never use lamp cord from Home Depot but I would also never spend anything crazy on a speaker cable.

[@isettech]

Network cable running 100 MHZ or more use transmission lines. Each line is terminated into the line's impedance. Typically for CAT5e, this is 110 to 120 ohms. Ask your speaker cable salesman if they have any 65 ohm speakers to match the impedance of the transmission line cable. After all, maximum transfer of all frequencies happens only when the load is resistivity, not complex or dynamic, and is matched to the impedance of the transmission line. Yes, I work with communications and transmission lines from broadcast, 2 way communications, etc. For a reality check, is your audio system running over 20KHZ with speaker cables in excess of 500 feet? If not, the effect is negligible. Low resistance and keeping the length short are better than matching lengths. For a reality check on the USA power grid, the transmission line effect at 60 HZ are an issue when crossing multiple states. This is why the US electrical grid is broken into 3 areas. West of the Rockies, East of the Rockies, and Texas. Phase shift and delays prevented joining the two main grids. Texas just wanted independent control, so they did not join the grid and then did not have grid support last winter. Unless you are running speaker cables to the next city, don't worry about speaker cables in the same house.

[@rajeevgidwaney8948]

I keep more a less balanced length all over. In my 7.4.2 setup all speakers are evenly placed to balance the sound overall. Hence the wiring is almost same with negligible difference.

[@thisisnev]

In my 40 years of being an audiophile I've gone from QED 79-Strand to QED 42-Strand to standard 2-core power cable from a hardware store for my speakers. Audible differences: nil.

[@jimmy_dee]

If you solder two speaker cables of the same gauge together would you have reduced quality.

[@jimmy_dee]

Thanks @Dan Wipper , I appreciate your response. I probably havent made myself clear though. My situation is that I want to move my receiver 2 metres to the left but a couple of my speaker cables have no slack. So if I want to move my receiver I have to either relay those speaker cables (they go through the walls/roof) or I can just solder on another 2 metre cable. I am also a little worried about the shielding. I have those heat shrink tubing but I dont know if they offer shielding... Thanks again

[@MrMaxi3140]

Fantastic explanation. But excellent video quality would be in 4K. 1080p is somewhat good. Maybe that is coming in future for AH

[@SastusBulbas1]

I'm currently looking at gettiing back into this somewhat, over decades of magazines and reviews I tried many cables, when I started out i simply bought cables, and connected it to the amp, then ran and terminated at the speaker, even if it meant meters of difference, later in audio it was always buying pairs, with my sitting room usually going with 5m runs due to equipment layout. I am contemplating selling all my current cables and going for basic studio models from Mogami or such, I simply want very well made cables that do the job they are designed for, and love Neutrik XLR's and spades, and also liked WBT locking RCA's and the old style Neutrik RCA that grounded 1st. If in future my amp is 5m away from the speakers, I am simply going to run two different lengths. Or sit the power amp between the speakers. With stereo XLR or RCA I am not too fussed, but I am wondering if I go for active monitors should I run different length XLR to each speaker.

[@Squishmallows24]

I keep them all the same because of my ocd 😅 and because I don’t wanna cut up new speaker wire if I ever move things around. Right now I could have my left at 3ft, center at 8ft and right at 12ft but I just have all 3 cables at 12ft 🤷‍♂️

[@realjaxon]

I'm hunting for new audio cables right now. I've been using the same ones for about 40 years ! 😲AND...they are the really cheap ones ! 😲

[@jonlaye2537]

I had an issue where my amplifiers are right next to one speaker and far from the other. I spoke to the owner and designer of the company that makes the cables I use. I asked him what issues I would have using 6' cables on one side and 16' on the other. (Bi-amped speakers). His answer is it won't make a difference

[@azzinny]

Those talking about transmission line effect in audio cable are talking about transmission line effect in RF frequency. Instead of random RF noise spectrum, there will be, they claim, peaks in RF noise spectrum due to reflections. Such peaky RF spectrum can, they claim, somehow affect audio frequency signal by intermodulation distortion.

[@gordthor5351]

There is probably more difference between the gain in the right and left amp channel, so if you luck out and slightly attenuate the hotter channel with a longer cable, it might balance out the amps. Either way the difference would be so miniscule where nobody could discern any difference.

[@jnagarya519]

What they gotta do is add batteries to the longer cable.

[@RennieAsh]

Have to lift it up into the air as well so that the signal doesn't get lost to ground

[@shiranRSA]

So here goes a silly question regarding Bi-Amping. Scenario 1. I have a pair of 6ohm floor standers 2. They can bi bi-amped T I would like to use 1 set of VDH CS-122 for the high frequency and VDH D-352 for the Low frequency from a Marantz 8012 in bi-amp mode Please may I have some feedback on the sound quality, amplification output, amplification stress. I do not plan on going more than 5.1. Currently it is set up for 3.1 I will appreciate your expert views guys

[@nicksundby]

I like fancy speaker cables cos they look cool.

[@stevemann3078]

Hi there Gene I love the videos you put out over the years and this one included. What old would say about speaker cable wires is make sure they're tight at both the amplifier and your speakers if one speaker wire is loose you could get a lost of audio signal power. Thanks a lot keep up the great work Gene,

[@johnhanselman6371]

Your thumbnail looks like a poster for a B-rated monster movie. Thank you, looks Great !!!

[@JohnDoe-ev9kt]

I just had to comment about the great thumbnail. ( Whatever you call the still image seen before you click on it. Which I think is NOT called a thumbnail. )

[@finscreenname]

I always kept my speaker cables the same length so I could move the speakers the same distance from the system when needed. I have a question, what do you all do with the left over cable? Roll it up at the amp, roll it up at the speaker, just leave it streached out on the floor?

[@RennieAsh]

I guess rolling it up would create a tiny bit of inductance :) But probably negligible for a couple of loose turns

[@perosa99]

Thank you for this very useful and clarifying video. I heard also someone say that speaker cables should never be excessively long and coiled in a circle. Would that have an impact on the signal transmission?

[@guydaviddezarn5090]

Great video, clear and articulate. Thoughts on do it yourself replacement of banana plugs?

[@DarrenThePerson]

I just have one question, what about transformer switching and the 50/60hz alternating current frequency, surely they can cause audible interference. I was always under the impression this is why we use balanced cables in a studio for example?

[@michaellindquist31]

Gene, watch the latest This Old House episode on PBS. They are installing ceiling speakers where they are plastered over as the ceiling becomes part of the speaker! Have you ever heard of this?

[@philipdesborough9783]

it made me feel better taking my cables to work and matching them electrically to the same length I only matched the phase but would be happy to have diffrent length if there phase was matched

[@thebarfle]

Since the wavelength of 20kHz is far longer than even your entire cable, the difference that even a hundred feet would make will be swampd by just the tolerance of the components in your crossover. In other words, it’s not an issue.

[@excxflyr]

excellent info!

[@bikdav]

I had mismatched speaker cable lengths by accident (my failure to pay attention to what I was doing). Guess what? I DID NOT notice it UNTIL I had to replace them after damaging one. The mismatch was never heard. Also, what is the “story” about the fat cable movement? I’ve used 16 or 18 awg lamp cord for nearly forever without any problems.

[@jimhamlin6551]

Happy New Year! Resistance is not futile!

[@TheJosa007]

What a great idea !!! about the membership. I will subscribe to that one. Thanks again

[@bjarnesolhaug6698]

Great information. Very useful and interesting. Thanks!

[@harpalchauhan428]

My front left and right are 2 meters and centre is 2 meters back 4 channels are 10 meters and subwoofer cables are 2 meters never had no problems only thing i was worried about was all the speakers be in time with each other where there is a explosion, but thx to audessy i never had to worry about that lol.

[@proffessasvids]

Attack of the snake oil cables!!! You had me worried gene! Thought you were a goner.. glad you survived dude xx

[@davidhamilton163]

Monster Z3 speaker cable across the front c/l/r (3m) all equal lengths...bought for 50 bucks in total about 18 years ago when the store I worked at (Ultimate Electronics) went out of business. I was one of 3 guys that stuck around till the last day so the guy in charge sold us stuff pretty cheap. If anything it looks impressive...lol.

[@davidthomson8164]

Hi, quick question loosely tied to cable length. I currently have a 5.1.2 setup, which option would improve the audio experience the most, adding 2 rear speakers (7.1.2) or adding 2 additional ceiling speakers (5.1.4)? Thanks

[@dbcobbster]

If the cables aren't the same length, the electrons in the longer cable will have to travel farther to the speaker, and be worn out and tired when they get there, resulting in the audio sounding like it's low on frequency grease. I Know this because I'm an Audiofile.

[@awsomenesscaleb]

My favorite part about overpriced speaker cables is that they are almost always terminated with bananas or spades. Speakon connectors actually add a few dB of measurable improvement in THD+N, and they don't cost any more than banana plugs, but you rarely if ever see them in boutique audio.

[@Audioholics]

Speakon is definitely superior connector type. I wish the consumer industry would adopt them.

[@RennieAsh]

@@Audioholics What is better about them? Is there more surface area or less stuff in the way? (binding posts and plugs etc)

[@garyroachester1500]

Thank you!

[@edbrumbaugh9202]

Thanks Gene, very good explanation. .