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[Gene Flynn]

I would think ideally you would want an even pair of speaker cable going to a set of speakers..  My amp rack is set up in a way were its off to one side, so I could run a 6' cable to one side but need a 17' cable to the other..  Is it ok to do that or should I just have 2 - 17'ers??? 
Thanks

[John Roberts {JR}]

Relax, don't worry, be happy... (or do a search).

Not a problem.

JR

[Brian Jojade]

You won't have any noticeable difference with that short of cable length.  With excessively long cables, there would be some signal loss in the cable, but that would be correctable by simply adjusting the gain up on the channel with the longer cable to compensate for the loss.  Not a biggie.

[Robert Weston]

If you are running subs to each side of the stage, and damping factor is of importance, you may want to run equal lengths.  If not, you could get more of a "punch" from once side of the amp (which may be ok), but could distort your impression of how your system is performing; especially if your far side speaker is not "punching" the same way.

...this may be too much, but thought it could be included.

[Gene Flynn]

If you are running subs to each side of the stage, and damping factor is of importance, you may want to run equal lengths.  If not, you could get more of a "punch" from once side of the amp (which may be ok), but could distort your impression of how your system is performing; especially if your far side speaker is not "punching" the same way.

...this may be too much, but thought it could be included.

No, this is perfect,..  I'm a sponge!!  Thanks..

[Bob Leonard]

In todays world damping factor has far less meaning than it may have had 20, 30, 40 years ago. Forget about cable length and be more concerned with cable gauge. Use #12 at a minimum and damping becomes just another PHITS (piss hole in the snow).

[Kevin Graf]

Even way back in 1947:

The debate over damping factor is hardly a recent
one. For example, the following letter appears
in the August 1947 issue of Wireless World:
“In your April issue, D. T. N. Williamson
refers to electromagnetic damping of a baffle-
loaded loudspeaker, through low output
resistance of the amplifier, as being important.
I used to think so myself, and was the
first to use the word "damping factor" but
my belief was much shaken by the following
argument. .....................

[John Roberts {JR}]

Relax, don't worry, be happy...

If you must worry do a search. Then stop worrying.

JR

[Jeff Bankston]

punch ? i'v heard of drinking the kool-aid. but punch ? i donno. 

[Ivan Beaver]

If you are running subs to each side of the stage, and damping factor is of importance, you may want to run equal lengths.  If not, you could get more of a "punch" from once side of the amp (which may be ok), but could distort your impression of how your system is performing; especially if your far side speaker is not "punching" the same way.

...this may be too much, but thought it could be included.

Unless the distances are REALLY different-or the gauges are really different or unless you have a set of "super ears", I HIGHLY doubt you could tell the difference in a blind test.

Yes there are differences-and they are measurable-but can your EAR tell the difference?  The differences in the loudspeaker cabinets is far going to swamp any differences in cable length.

Unless you are talking about a 10' cables and a 500' foot cable. MAYBE then you can tell a difference-if you listen hard enough.

Will the average person be able to tell-I seriously doubt it.

[Steve M Smith]

Even if there was a difference which you could hear by listening to each side separately, you would never notice anything odd when both sides are playing together.


Steve.

[Jamin Lynch]

I would think ideally you would want an even pair of speaker cable going to a set of speakers..  My amp rack is set up in a way were its off to one side, so I could run a 6' cable to one side but need a 17' cable to the other..  Is it ok to do that or should I just have 2 - 17'ers??? 
Thanks

I've always had a set of 10ft set of 25ft and set 50ft cables. that will cover just about everything.

Then I went all powered speakers.

[Stu McDoniel]

I would think ideally you would want an even pair of speaker cable going to a set of speakers..  My amp rack is set up in a way were its off to one side, so I could run a 6' cable to one side but need a 17' cable to the other..  Is it ok to do that or should I just have 2 - 17'ers??? 
Thanks

Think speed of light.
No issues

[John Rutirasiri]

I would think ideally you would want an even pair of speaker cable going to a set of speakers..  My amp rack is set up in a way were its off to one side, so I could run a 6' cable to one side but need a 17' cable to the other..  Is it ok to do that or should I just have 2 - 17'ers??? 
Thanks

Sonically you wouldn't be able to hear the difference, but logistically isn't it just easier to have a set of the same longer cables so you won't have to worry about which goes where?

I would just go with 20' or 25' if you need 17' and have some wiggle room.  And have a spare with you.

If you have room in your truck, you can also do two amp racks right by each stack and have redundancy (and short cables.)

-JR

[claude cascioli]

I would think ideally you would want an even pair of speaker cable going to a set of speakers..  My amp rack is set up in a way were its off to one side, so I could run a 6' cable to one side but need a 17' cable to the other..  Is it ok to do that or should I just have 2 - 17'ers??? 
Thanks

[Luke Geis]

In most cases a cable length of around 50' with 16 gauge wire will net just under a 1db loss in level. This is negligible and you probably won't even notice. Now if your running the same setup with a 100' cable of the same gauge, then you will have about a 1.5db loss in level. This may be enough for you to notice? To me anything higher than a 1db loss is not good and wasting power. Not a super big deal to loose 1db, but if you have a 200' run you almost loose 3db which is significant! The basic rule I follow is to use as large a gauge wire  ( 12 gauge is fine for mains and real short runs on subs and 10 gauge is better for subs if you can't keep a real short run ) and as short a cable as practical.

The common low end wire gauge is 16 and a good mid level cable will have 12 gauge. I prefer the 12 gauge as a standard and shoot for 10 gauge on subs or very short ( less than 10' ) runs to them. I will commonly place the amps for the subs directly behind them using as short as a 3' cable. I am perhaps a little coco about keeping power available to the subs? To me the subs are usually neglected and underpowered ( to save money ) and I like to get as many available watts as I can to them if the need arises. I seem to end up working for a few companies that just don't design systems with performance in mind. They just seem to want to put a system out there that will run and sound ok doing it. My rig is deployed to run like a well tuned Porsche and I never worry about available power, headroom and system limitations. I spec my rig well and know what it will and won't do and know that when I book a gig for it, it will outperform the clients expectations. I also never worry about component abuse, as I know that in most cases I am running my system at a cruise speed for it. 

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