Speaker Wire length

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=33330
Printed Date: September 21, 2025 at 8:17 PM

Topic: Speaker Wire length

Posted By: bfeeny
Subject: Speaker Wire length
Date Posted: June 04, 2004 at 10:05 PM

Should the speaker wire length for the right and left channels be the same? That is, I am putting an amp on the drivers side of the car (in the back of the car). This makes it a longer distance to reach the passenger side speakers, about 5 or 6 feet more. Does this matter, or should I make both runs the same length?

Replies:

Posted By: Ketel22
Date Posted: June 04, 2004 at 10:10 PM

electricity is supposed to be "instantious" so i don't see why there should be a difference. maybe my "theory" behind that is bad... im not sure

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Posted By: Markheus
Date Posted: June 04, 2004 at 10:16 PM

ahem

300,000 km/sec posted_image

Posted By: Ketel22
Date Posted: June 04, 2004 at 10:18 PM

ah my bad, just that little step below "instantanious" haha damn it is quick would hate to race that.....

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Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: June 04, 2004 at 10:20 PM

That kind of difference may not even be measureable, much less apparent to hearing. The main reason to have speaker wires of similar length is the total resistance of the wire, and not for the reason of the time that it takes for current to travel. Keep the wires routed with lengths as short as is reasonable. With average 16 gauge wire, your setup should be fine.

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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

Posted By: Markheus
Date Posted: June 04, 2004 at 10:21 PM

Definitely an exercise in futility lol

Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: June 04, 2004 at 10:22 PM

Markheus wrote:

ahem
300,000 km/sec

Dude, that was some quickness coming up with that figure!

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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

Posted By: Markheus
Date Posted: June 04, 2004 at 10:31 PM

hehe - boredom I suppose. Its just the speed of light in a vacuum. I'm sure its slower through a copper wire, depending on resistance and whatnot - as you stated. Then again - I'm sure not even the haughtiest audiophile could tell the difference.

However - What about different gauges of speaker wire going to a left and right speaker - could one tell the difference? lol

Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: June 04, 2004 at 10:49 PM

...my hearing is about half shot in my right ear from close encounters with rock n roll....so I always run 4 gauge to the right and 16 ga. to the left lol and when I turn around backwards everything gets screwed up...

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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: June 05, 2004 at 9:08 AM

This question is one of the many points where "true audiophiles" will argue. The same people who buy $300 platinum plated RCA interconnect cables and run 4 gage speaker wires will tell you that the speaker leads need to be the exact same lentgh or you can introduce time alignment errors in your system. And, in theory, they are correct. But in actual practice I've never seen it make much difference unless the wire length is VERY gross (like one wire at 3 feet and the other at 300 feet.) And then the milisecond time delay difference was not something one could hear, only something that could be measured with a scope.

Now that being said, I must admit that I, more out of fear, witch-craft and superstition than logic, always make my speaker wire runs the same length. I guess knowing something is possible is enough to make me try and eliminate it when it only costs a few pennies to do so. posted_image

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