Length of Loudspeaker Cables

[GuillaumeB]

This is an interesting experiment you're doing that I haven't been able to due to a space issue:

Jim Smith in his 'Get Better Sound' book says you should avoid putting your equipment rack in between the speakers if you can. He even states that putting the equipment somewhere on a side wall will increase the sound quality by such a degree that using lamp cord for speaker cable and the equipment on the side wall sounds better than having the rack in between the speakers and using high end speaker cable.

I have implemented a number of Jim's tips and they all increased the sound quality of my system. This one though I haven't so it will be interesting to read about your findings.

One thing that's never been clear to me is whether this idea comes from the speakers needing that space in between for acoustic reasons or whether it is because the vibration of the music has a bad impact on the electronics.

Looking forward to your findings.

Cheers,

Pim

My guess is that having a rack in between the speakers will degrade the imaging. Possibly having your equipment closer to the ground on a stand/shelf negates this though.

I don't have much choice in my setup since there is a large cinema screen and centre speaker between my speakers. Perhaps it would sound better if I removed the centre speaker and stand? I might give this a try.

Having said that I have heard many a fine system with equipment set up between the speakers. 

I guess the results one gets are multi-factorial and dependent on a whole host of factors (hence Jim Smith's book, otherwise it would be a pamphlet and free on the internet  )

Guillaume