Speaker wire questions

Davva

Active member
Nov 12, 2019
4
1
25
Visit site
I have bought a Denon AVR X-3600H and a set of Focal 5.1 SIB EVO Speakers. I will be wiring them all up soon. I will have to run both the rear speaker wires around the same side of the room.
I have a couple of questions before I start:

1. Is it ok to zip tie the two speaker Cables together?
2. Do I need to make both cables the same length?
3. If I do then the rear left cable will be about 15 feet longer than the right...is it ok to coil the wire up to make it tidier?

Thanks in advance.

Davva
 

priam

Well-known member
Oct 26, 2016
74
6
4,545
Visit site
Zip tieing cables are totally fine, it's how we keep things neat, just make sure the terminals don't touch. Cables definitely have to be the same length or as close to the same as possible, an inch more is almost unacceptable.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Shearluc

priam

Well-known member
Oct 26, 2016
74
6
4,545
Visit site
FYI 15 feet of cables that will be longer is extremely excessive, I would suggest at looking at alternating ways to place your speakers, ask your dealer if there would be any distortion with the cable length that you plan to use, he may have a different suggestion to your original choice of cable.
 

abacus

Well-known member
Its best to keep them the same length (Although to be honest it is not that critical) and there is no problem coiling the spare up so long as you make sure the coil is large.(Not like an inductor)
For the length you mention I would normally recommend 4mm sq OFC cable, however I don't think the Sib terminals are big enough, so you will have to stick to 2.5mm sq OFC cable. (Again unless you had a really high end system I doubt if you would notice any difference)
Amazon basics cables will be fine, but if you want a name go with Van Damme as they are used in professional studios. (They are also available on Amazon)
NOTE: You can get 4 core cable so that you don't have to tie them together if you want to make things a bit neater.

Bill
 

shadders

Well-known member
Zip tieing cables are totally fine, it's how we keep things neat, just make sure the terminals don't touch. Cables definitely have to be the same length or as close to the same as possible, an inch more is almost unacceptable.
Hi,
I would disagree with the length issue.

From a propagation of signal aspect, the difference 15 feet makes, where one cable is 15 foot longer than the other, then the time difference between the two is 22.9nano-seconds. This is not discernible to the human ear/brain.

Depending on the cable, there will be a difference in the capacitance, resistance and inductance seen by the amplifier. If you are using QED79 strand, then there is a slight different in the amplitude response. This presents itself mainly at the higher frequencies such as 20kHz.

Assuming one cable is 4metres longer than the other, then the longer cable is 0.73dB lower in volume than the other cable for most of the audio spectrum.

The 4m longer cable is also lower in power at 20kHz, and is approximately 0.092dB lower than the shorter cable.

So, overall the longer cable is 0.73dB lower in power, and at 20kHz, is a little bit more lower by 0.092dB.

The graph below shows the frequency response of the cable into an 8ohm resistive load, for 3m and 7m lengths.

2019 11 12 3m and 7m QED79.png

You may be able to notice the difference of 0.73dB but the drop off of an extra 0.092dB at 20kHz will not be noticeable.

As per others - if you use the same length cable, do not coil the longer cable.

Regards,
Shadders.
 
Last edited:

scene

Well-known member
Agree with shadders that the difference in length will make no discernible difference in timing, and as for the volume difference, as it's pretty flat across the hearable range, shouldn't Audyssey take care of that when setting up?
 

Davva

Active member
Nov 12, 2019
4
1
25
Visit site
Hi,
I would disagree with the length issue.

From a propagation of signal aspect, the difference 15 feet makes, where one cable is 15 foot longer than the other, then the time difference between the two is 22.9nano-seconds. This is not discernible to the human ear/brain.

Depending on the cable, there will be a difference in the capacitance, resistance and inductance seen by the amplifier. If you are using QED79 strand, then there is a slight different in the amplitude response. This presents itself mainly at the higher frequencies such as 20kHz.

Assuming one cable is 4metres longer than the other, then the longer cable is 0.73dB lower in volume than the other cable for most of the audio spectrum.

The 4m longer cable is also lower in power at 20kHz, and is approximately 0.092dB lower than the shorter cable.

So, overall the longer cable is 0.73dB lower in power, and at 20kHz, is a little bit more lower by 0.092dB.

The graph below shows the frequency response of the cable into an 8ohm resistive load, for 3m and 7m lengths.

View attachment 22

You may be able to notice the difference of 0.73dB but the drop off of an extra 0.092dB at 20kHz will not be noticeable.

As per others - if you use the same length cable, do not coil the longer cable.

Regards,
Shadders.

Awesome advice. Many thanks.

I have bought 2.5mm cable from Amazon mainly because I had heard that the SIB terminals are a bit small. I've got a fair bit of space behind the cabinet I use so I should be able to hide the extra cable there. I have a medium sized room so the distance between the back speakers will be about 15 feet.
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts