Wire Length really that much difference? (1 Viewer)

[John Royster]

John, now if what you're referring to is the actual wire+speaker combo impedance curve, then we're talking about something entirely different.

That is exactly what I'm talking about - the combination of speaker/wire/voltage source (amp). Impedance of the wire becomes greater percentage of overall impedance of speaker/wire as distance increases. If speaker impedance gets rather low then of course the impedance of the wire becomes more substantial.

 

[Mat_M]

Ok I'm pretty sure what you're talking about has to do with load matching, and not loss of power in the speaker wire. Typical speaker impedance curves usually have a range from 4 Ohms to 12-16 Ohms within the frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz. The impedance is almost always the lowest when the frequency is in the baseband region. Within this region the impedance of the speaker wire attached to it is negligible.

In order to maximize the power output of a system, the load's impedance should match the power source impedance; this doesn't really apply to audio applications, it's more for RF and microwave frequencies. When they are different, the output power can diminish by a certain amount. So I'm pretty sure what you're talking about is a matter of mismatched loads, and not attenuation in the wire. Yes? No?

 

[Steve Zimmerman]

And I continue to persist in my belief that for "normal" cable lengths the impedance effects are well beneath the audible floor.

--Steve