Speaker Cable Length

If you have a shorter one on hand, use it. If you dont, I dont think you are going to see any difference with a shorter cable.

 

+1 And I don't think he'll hear any differences either!

 

I use 2-3 foot speakon cables for my head and 2 cabs. I have used 25" cables as they were just lying around, but I tend to use 3-5".

If I bougt new cables they would be 5" as my 2" cables are JUST big enough.

 

I use whatever's left over after wiring the sound system. Sometimes that means having ten foot cables tucked behind my bass cabinets. There's usually a wall behind them, so very little chance that anyone would ever trip over them.

 

You can shorten the cable with a zip tie.

 

Is it wrong to assume that cable gage trumps length as far as sound goes?

 

You have to balance length, gauge, impedance, and wattage. Wikipedia's chart omits wattage, but gives a rough idea:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_wire#Wire_gauge

Despite what audiophiles say, sound isn't a concern, but you do want a cable that can handle the wattage. For us bassists, 14 ga. is plenty for all but the most extreme applications (long cable run, humongous wattage).

There are charts that include wattage. I couldn't find one but maybe someone else will.

P.S. Props to the Wikipedia article for debunking some audio myths (e.g. skin effect).

 

Questions.
When using the TC bam 200 watt amp and two separate speaker cabinets that have 8 ohm peavy BW speakers, do the speaker cables need to be of the same length ?

 

No, assuming neither is unreasonably long, like 20 feet.

I used to have a rule that the cable had to be long enough that it wouldn't get yanked if the head fell off the speaker. That was back when heads weighed something. It seemed preferable to let the head hit the ground than for the cable to catch the fall.

What I still don't know is if that was a smart idea, or a dumb one.

 

Same length? No but within reason. Three feet and six feet won’t matter. Keep them as short as necessary. This keeps them neat and minimizes strain on the connectors.

 

I have a 6 ft cable and a 12 ft cable ?????

 

Just started using two cabinets.

 

That's fine, they can be 25' difference and no problem.

 

Thanks for the info