How long are your speaker cables?

[Jean-Marie]

I have a fireplace that we use for about 4-5 months out of the year. That is in the center in between the speakers and even a low equipment rack would potentially be subjected to a lot of heat from it. So I've decided to situation the equipment rack and gear on the LEFT side of the speakers. This necessitates a longer cable from the right speaker to the Devialet.

I have a similar  layout to you, with a central fireplace and my equipment rack in the left hand alcove, with the left hand speaker to the left of the equipment rack. Because the speaker cable to the right speaker runs underneath the floor, I need 6 metres of cable. I could have gone for a three meter cable to the left hand speaker, but when I bought my cables, I was under the incorrect impression that both runs had to be the same length, so I’ve got 6 metres each side.

It's not completely an incorrect assumption. It is better to have full symmetry. The key question is whether you have greater asymmetry sources than the asymmetry of the cables.

It also depends whether you are confortable with the idea or not... because it is about perception and if you will alway have a doubt about asymmetric cables and it spoils your enjoyment, better go the safe route and be symmetric.

Jean-Marie

[Jim_Anderson]

Jean-Marie is correct in suggesting its all about symmetry and comfort.  The resistance and capacitance of DH Labs Q-10 is sufficiently low enough to support even greater difference in lengths.  I suspect having the extra 4-5m coiled up behind the speaker might be more of an influence than the small difference in length. 

Jim

[sfdude]

Mine are different length too. 5m from one side and 3m from the other.
These are absolute stock speaker cable (sufficient gauge, but nothing special).

I cannot hear any difference between the two speakers. I made a rough calculation one day and came to the conclusion that the difference was within the dispersion of characteristics between the left and right speaker (despite mine being sorted and paired components) as well as below the differences brought by the geometry of the room.

Jean-Marie

I was also under the same impression but I read posts from many years ago (I think it was in Steve Hoffman's forums) that recommended the speaker cable lengths should always be the same, irrespective of the location of gear. The resistance values are different enough across variable lengths but is it enough to make a difference in actual hearing application?

[flohmann]

I'm running 4 meters of Nordost Frey 2, also with my Devialet units on one side of the room. Nice thing about Nordost is that they are flat and thus run neatly under a carpet. I can't set up in the center, between the speakers, because my living room opens directly into my dining room. The family won't abide blocking or setting tripping hazards in that thoroughfare. :-) 

Since I run dual mono (D1000), I have considered splitting the units, with one on each side of the room. That would permit much shorter speaker cables, but then I would need a single, long digital SPDIF cable to connect the two Devialets, ideally that would fit neatly under a carpet. Plus power conditioning on each side. It seems more trouble than it's worth to go that path, although I think some on the forum have managed a "distanced dual mono" set up like that.

[sfdude]

Since I run dual mono (D1000), I have considered splitting the units, with one on each side of the room. That would permit much shorter speaker cables, but then I would need a single, long digital SPDIF cable to connect the two Devialets, ideally that would fit neatly under a carpet. Plus power conditioning on each side. It seems more trouble than it's worth to go that path, although I think some on the forum have managed a "distanced dual mono" set up like that.

Thanks flohmann for the thoughts. I also had similar concerns with the monoblocked configuration being spread apart. Which would necessitate power conditioning considerations to be accounted for (I use an Audioquest Niagara 1000 unit). The longer speaker cables would be the ideal configuration from a cost/logical perspective.

[Jean-Marie]

Mine are different length too. 5m from one side and 3m from the other.
These are absolute stock speaker cable (sufficient gauge, but nothing special).

I cannot hear any difference between the two speakers. I made a rough calculation one day and came to the conclusion that the difference was within the dispersion of characteristics between the left and right speaker (despite mine being sorted and paired components) as well as below the differences brought by the geometry of the room.

Jean-Marie

I was also under the same impression but I read posts from many years ago (I think it was in Steve Hoffman's forums) that recommended the speaker cable lengths should always be the same, irrespective of the location of gear. The resistance values are different enough across variable lengths but is it enough to make a difference in actual hearing application?

Doing a rough calculation, for 3m on one side and 5 on the other, with 1.5 square mm copper and a 8ohms speaker, the difference is under 3/1000 in terms of voltage between the two, or a difference of 0.025dB between the two channels. I have several orders of magnitude more imbalance from the acoustic of my room, so I doubt I could perceive any difference. 

Jean-Marie

[Jim_Anderson]

Since I run dual mono (D1000), I have considered splitting the units, with one on each side of the room. That would permit much shorter speaker cables, but then I would need a single, long digital SPDIF cable to connect the two Devialets, ideally that would fit neatly under a carpet. Plus power conditioning on each side. It seems more trouble than it's worth to go that path, although I think some on the forum have managed a "distanced dual mono" set up like that.

Thanks flohmann for the thoughts. I also had similar concerns with the monoblocked configuration being spread apart. Which would necessitate power conditioning considerations to be accounted for (I use an Audioquest Niagara 1000 unit). The longer speaker cables would be the ideal configuration from a cost/logical perspective.

I did initially try a long digital cable to spread the monoblocks apart.  3.5 meters was the longest I got to work.

[Stino]

No need to worry on different length of speaker cable imo. Just a meter of two or three will not matter. You can do the math as Jean-Marie did. I believe this question was also adressed by Paul McGowan on his YouTube channel. He came to the same conclusion.

[Cylob]

8 meters x 2

[sfdude]

Thank you for the responses everyone! I'm likely sticking with same length cables but can probably opt for cheaper ones, not the megabuck ones. As long as it's good quality OFC and with a good dielectric material on it and good connectors, should be sufficient!