Bass loss at 3m speaker cable length

[Aasbakk]

Speaker cable loss of bass
A friend of mine has the Diablo 300 with Sopra 2 speakers. When using 2 m speaker cable length (€5k cable) sound is good. When using 3 m speaker cable (same make and model) most of the bass is lost.
This is not a tiny difference - it’s night and day
We switched back and forth some times, and concluded that the 3 m cables are useless.
How can that be?
Theoretical you could run a lot more length before any noticeable degradation
So in this case 2m OK, 3m unusable

How can this be?
The cables are of hq known brand 2,5mm2 each conductor

 

[Din5]

Maybe the speaker is out of phase somehow when using the 3m cable ? check correct colour of plugs at both ends of the cable.
Can you measure resistance of the cables ? would be interesting to know if there is a big difference.
Can you try opening the cable plugs / check internal connections are good and not been soldered ( I'm thinking a dry joint - but its unlikely they are soldered).

 

[12th Monkey]

Maybe the speaker is out of phase somehow when using the 3m cable ? check correct colour of plugs at both ends of the cable.

Definitely try this before anything else.

 

[Al ears]

If wired up correctly I can see no reason for loss of any frequencies by adding another metre of the same cable type.
I have both 2 and 4 metre lengths of the same cable and can differentiate no difference when either are used.

 

[abacus]

Or the 3m cables are just faulty and should be sent back for replacement.

Bill

 

[Kenneth Fernandes]

Bluetooth transmission of low frequencies from the amplifier to almost any sub-woofer with Bluetooth or any other proprietary wireless compatibility, which can be paired universally to any all-in-one amplifier, should come standard in all new HiFi gears. So, the sub-woofer could be physically positioned anywhere in the listening room for improved low-frequency reproduction.

 

[12th Monkey]

Bluetooth transmission of low frequencies from the amplifier to almost any sub-woofer with Bluetooth or any other proprietary wireless compatibility, which can be paired universally to any all-in-one amplifier, should come standard in all new HiFi gears. So, the sub-woofer could be physically positioned anywhere in the listening room for improved low-frequency reproduction.

This is neither relevant nor helpful for the OP.

 

[Al ears]

This is neither relevant nor helpful for the OP.

Is he posting to the right thread??

 

[Al ears]

Or the 3m cables are just faulty and should be sent back for replacement.

Bill

It's pretty difficult to make a faulty cable, I would have thought.
Unless it is physically damaged and, in that case, you might get no signal at all.
Out of phase possibly, shouldn't be too difficult to work out and the Sopras only have one pair of binding posts.

 

[Aasbakk]

Maybe the speaker is out of phase somehow when using the 3m cable ? check correct colour of plugs at both ends of the cable.
Can you measure resistance of the cables ? would be interesting to know if there is a big difference.
Can you try opening the cable plugs / check internal connections are good and not been soldered ( I'm thinking a dry joint - but its unlikely they are soldered).

The speaker cables are connected correct, so no phase issue. Also tried them with another Hifi-setup today, and same thing happened. Loss of bass.
Will check for faulty plugs/spades. I think they are soldered (original factory terminated spades)

 

[Aasbakk]

It's pretty difficult to make a faulty cable, I would have thought.
Unless it is physically damaged and, in that case, you might get no signal at all.
Out of phase possibly, shouldn't be too difficult to work out and the Sopras only have one pair of binding posts.

The cables are visually in mint condition, and the spades are factory terminated. But I’ll check for any loose endings. I’m not sure, but the spades seem to be solder types. Have to remove shrink tube to be sure

 

[Al ears]

The speaker cables are connected correct, so no phase issue. Also tried them with another Hifi-setup today, and same thing happened. Loss of bass.
Will check for faulty plugs/spades. I think they are soldered (original factory terminated spades)

You might like to check the continuity of those cables in case the manufacturer has inadvertently put the wrong colour on the spades or banana plugs

 

[Vincent Kars]

You might like to check the continuity of those cables

Excellent advice as of course 2 or 3m won't make the difference.
One might also run a phase test: https://www.audiocheck.net/audiotests_polaritycheck.php

 

[plastic penguin]

I would check them out of phase and see if that makes a difference. If it does it means it's connected wrong either at the speaker or amplifier end.

 

[My2Cents]

The cables are of hq known brand 2,5mm2 each conductor

I would hope so if they cost €5k

 

[12th Monkey]

The speaker cables are connected correct, so no phase issue.

What he means is that maybe the connectors/colour coding have been mixed up at one end - if you haven't yet tried it*, leave one side as is, but swap the speaker end only on the other side. It'll look as though you are now wired incorrectly, but will tell you whether this manufacturing mistake has happened. If they are inadvertently out of phase the bass signals will tend to cancel each other out, and if this is the issue, all will now sound as it should. If not, they need to be returned.

*I can't tell, but thought it better to labour the point!

 

[Stuart83]

What he means is that maybe the connectors/colour coding have been mixed up at one end - if you haven't yet tried it*, leave one side as is, but swap the speaker end only on the other side. It'll look as though you are now wired incorrectly, but will tell you whether this manufacturing mistake has happened. If they are inadvertently out of phase the bass signals will tend to cancel each other out, and if this is the issue, all will now sound as it should. If not, they need to be returned.

*I can't tell, but thought it better to labour the point!

Was just about to say that 😆

Reading through the posts I was just about to comment the same.

 

[Deliriumbassist]

I have absolutely had factory terminated cables labelled incorrectly at one end - in particular one brand that puts 'pants' on the cable where it splits.

 

[Gadusmorhua]

Speaker cable loss of bass
A friend of mine has the Diablo 300 with Sopra 2 speakers. When using 2 m speaker cable length (€5k cable) sound is good. When using 3 m speaker cable (same make and model) most of the bass is lost.
This is not a tiny difference - it’s night and day
We switched back and forth some times, and concluded that the 3 m cables are useless.
How can that be?
Theoretical you could run a lot more length before any noticeable degradation
So in this case 2m OK, 3m unusable

How can this be?
The cables are of hq known brand 2,5mm2 each conductor

I think if I had spent £5K on speaker cables I would be running back to the shop I bought them from.
If indeed the cables are at fault can you name and shame them?
I'd go for a refund and get soem Audioquest multistrand, £35 and work without issues!

 

[AJM1981]

weird, sounds like a phase issue caused by a faulty cable. The 3m length should not really matter.

 

[Stuart83]

I think if I had spent £5K on speaker cables I would be running back to the shop I bought them from.
If indeed the cables are at fault can you name and shame them?
I'd go for a refund and get soem Audioquest multistrand, £35 and work without issues!

Tbh if I'd spent that I'd only rule out connection/equipment issues after they they'd go straight back.

I'd at no point look at repairing them even if it was a rudimentary fault I could rectify myself at that amount.

I've caught myself telling a white lie 🤥 😂

I've been known to repair minor things to avoid lengthy returns etc.
I've even repaired things to avoid simply picking the phone up.
I always feel on edge and almost guilty when reporting a failed/faulty item 🤷‍♀️