Exclusive to our Substack subscribers, we host a weekly Q&A every Monday. Our team of veteran writers, reviewers, and editors hand-select a few to answer every Friday. Perhaps you’re wondering about room setup, or desire a deeper understanding of an audio technology, or wonder about listening methods -- post your questions here. Come back on Friday to see our answer to a recent question!
You are correct to use equal length speaker cables, even though the same money might buy you a better cable in unequal lengths.
The short version is: Whatever damage happens over length, impedance, capacitance, and possibly more important, inductance -- needs to be equal between the channels in order for the brain to make the wonderful mistake of presenting our consciousness with a 3D image -- a virtual image.
If your cable is a parallel cable, like a specialized lamp cord, then coiling the cable will cause audible compromise. If the cable is a twisted pair, or a star-quad spiral, the problem is much smaller. Still, best not to coil the cable, but a gentle folding back on itself won't significantly change any of the electrical values.
Because of room constraints, my amplification and other components are not between the speakers but on a side wall. Following recommendations, my speaker cables are of equal length (to avoid what I understand are impedance/capacitance issues). As a result the cable to the nearer speaker folds back on itself, which I understand is not good either. Do you have a suggested fix?
You are correct to use equal length speaker cables, even though the same money might buy you a better cable in unequal lengths.
The short version is: Whatever damage happens over length, impedance, capacitance, and possibly more important, inductance -- needs to be equal between the channels in order for the brain to make the wonderful mistake of presenting our consciousness with a 3D image -- a virtual image.
If your cable is a parallel cable, like a specialized lamp cord, then coiling the cable will cause audible compromise. If the cable is a twisted pair, or a star-quad spiral, the problem is much smaller. Still, best not to coil the cable, but a gentle folding back on itself won't significantly change any of the electrical values.
Why do some articles in your email say read more and they take you to a video to watch? Hello, reading and watching are not the same thing.
Because of room constraints, my amplification and other components are not between the speakers but on a side wall. Following recommendations, my speaker cables are of equal length (to avoid what I understand are impedance/capacitance issues). As a result the cable to the nearer speaker folds back on itself, which I understand is not good either. Do you have a suggested fix?