Why should speaker cables have a minimum length?

[siriosstar]

i found some old high tension wires discarded in the forest and dragged them home . they are about an inch and a half in diameter. my amp is a 500, 000 watt unit run by a diesel engine from a ship . the speakers are old fog horns . i did have a lot of difficulty hooking every thing up but the sound is incredible .
true story .

[MUAW_IO]

I find dipping audiophiles in liquid nitrogen overnight improves the dynamic range by reducing the useless noise they contribute immensely.

[ladevinette]

Hi Paul
Here is the reason
Naim power amplifiers do not have extra inductance networks in the output. Naim prefer the more elegant solution of allowing the speaker cable to provide the correct inductance and capacitance. To do so, a minimum of 3.5 metres per channel of NACA4 or NACA5 cable is required – although the optimum length is around 5-10 metres with a maximum recommended length of 20 metres

Keep safe

[pizzafrenzyman]

Wireless speakers are creating mini black holes all around the world

[jimjay]

If they reach the amp and the speaker then it is the right length

[kenwebster]

Well, I tried 1m of 14 AWG cable on Proac EBTs & while it was had amazing clarity, it just left my nerves frayed after several hours listening. Now I have about 3.5 m of 12 AWG of a different brand. I can't put my finger on why and what sounds different, but now the music just fills my soul.
The only change was the speaker cable. I have not theories as to why or what specific sound qualities changed.

[byronfranek]

If the cables are a significant factor in a given amplifier design, they should provide them with the amplifier.

[cornerliston]

I put my NAIM system in complete vacuum to insure best sound possible.

[chinaphotosasia]

The reason Naim Audio suggest a certain length of speaker cable is because the series inductance and capacitance in the cable replaces what is normally found in the Amplifier output design, which is not used in their output stage design.

[barbmelle]

From Leo: There are numerous things I can measure on my Oscilloscope that no one can hear in a blind listening test. Too many people spending a lot of money for bragging rights, not sound improvement.

[beefcake]

electron travels at speed of light which is 300, 000, 000 m/s. I don't think 1m vs 10m cables would make any difference to human ears in terms of time it takes to get from one end to another.

[L.Scott_Music]

Guitar players have long known that the cords between their guitar and amp have different sound depending the length.  This was one of the early complaints with wireless systems for guitar (besides latency).  A long cable (20 feet +) has more resistance but also a measurable capacitance (thus the rolling off of highs) that lends to a "darker" tone.  Some guitarists use very long coiled cables for this reason.  An electric guitar is only really part of the whole instrument.  The whole instrument is the guitar, the cable, the amp, and the speaker.  They all work together to create a tone that the player conducts.  The same goes for any high quality audio system (OK, a guitar and amp is a non-hifi system but it can be a very good non-hifi system).  Everything contributes to the tone of the whole system.

[crazymadfool]

wow - I sparked a conversation starter there - thank you for answering Paul.

[JDfromWitness]

Speaker cables change two main factors, first is voltage drop between the amplifier and the speaker. A long thin cable will act as a resistor. Second is the damping factor of the amplifier. Not to be confused with servo, the amplifier still reacts to voltages generated by the voice coil through its negative feedback loop. Add the "resistor" and the damping factor changes. Both will effect the sound. To a lesser extent, any inductance and capacitance introduced by the speaker cables will also throw a wrench in the works. This is why it is not a good idea to coil extra speaker wire, although most inductance is canceled out in two conductor cable by the fact that they are out of phase with each other (heat buildup on high power systems is another good reason.) All this assumes the amplifier directly drives the speaker and does not go through the rats nest, otherwise known as a crossover network. As for 2 feet vs 4 feet of wire, I would like to do some blind A/B tests for those that say they can hear a difference.

[batuksri]

Unlike most amplifiers, there is no Zobel network (resistor/inductor/capacitor combo)
at the output of Naim amps.
Their own cable are specced to do that job. That is why.
Consider the Naim cable an extended part of the amplifier.

[JohnJackson]

As many have suggested it is to do with maintaining amplifier stability. The standard method with the circuit Naim use is to put an inductor in series with the output. However it was discovered that 3.5m of 4mm² wire as a lightly twisted pair eliminated the need for the inductor. As 3.5m is fairly average length it was decided the inductor could be done away with as the combination of inductor AND cable did affect the sound adversely. So Paul is right about the voicing, as with so many things in high end audio decisions are made that balance engineering and sound considerations.

[juliaset]

Naim for years considered the speaker cables as part of the output circuit, and cautioned people to not use non-Naim speaker cables because they didn’t provide the proper inductance, resistance, and capacitance. I believe they abandoned that approach years ago though.

[robertmeyer]

the wire gauge is more important then the length. longer wire bigger gauge. when working with 2 and 4 ohm loads. high power use 12/10 AWG, no extra wire coiled up. keep wire straight and just long enough to hook it up and right size for audio power. no 22ga on a 250 watt amp.

[andydelle]

It's really simple. Any amplifier that specifies a minimum speaker cable length is unstable. Stay away from it! We have been able to make audio amplifiers that are unconditionally stable for at least the past 35 years. No excuse for such a restriction these days.

[Audiorevue]

if I recall correctly And please correct me if I'm wrong but the answer to the gentleman's question outside of a sound quality perspective really comes from more of a historic perspective. naim back in the day and as I understand it we're talking '80s and the '90s specified a particular speaker length because the output stages on their amplifiers worked best at a particular ohm level or maybe inductance or something, be honest with you I really can't remember when I read a long time ago. suffice it to say the output stage worked best because that particular length of speaker cable created that particular inductance or what have you and so that's what was specified. now the amplifier would still work with other lengths of cable obviously but it would not sound how the company intended the amp to sound. And I think anymore their products and amplifiers aren't designed around the same principle per se however I kind of get the feeling they do it now more as a throwback kind of historical feature of their products.