Home cinema amplifiers are somewhat different and the set up process for the typical home cinema processor means that there is no issue with different lengths of speaker cable. In fact, keeping the cables in the home cinema system to the length they need to be for each speaker, means less mess and probably better sound quality..
Fitting home cinema speaker cables can suddenly start to look like an expensive proposition, but there are ways around this. Many people select a higher performance cable on the front left, right and centre loudspeakers and a more cost-effective version for the side/rear units. Quite often the amplifier is sitting between the speakers anyway so the length of cables are not too long and as the front speakers are where a lot of the action takes place, a good cable really improves the experience.
In an ideal world you might want to wire the rear speakers with the same cable but this can turn into a very expensive exercise. Luckily, we produce a range of inter-compatible, discreet speaker cables to suit any such application (and budget) – all designed to work well over the longer runs typically needed for rear speakers.
Another cost-effective way of improving a home cinema system (if you have 7 channels of amplification and only 5 speakers?) is to bi-amp your front left and right (bi-wireable) speakers with the two spare channels of amplification. All this requires is a second set of speaker cable for the front left and right speakers and the result is better detail, better definition, better dynamics and all round improved sound quality.
It is worth thinking about how to connect speakers to amplifiers. A good quality speaker cable is a very good place to start but what about the connectors on the end of the cable? Most hi-fi and home cinema equipment will give you a choice of connections. On the back of the equipment you will find a set of colour coded binding posts.
The binding posts have a central 4mm hole (sometimes covered with an easily removable plastic cap) that you can connect a standard 4mm banana plug to. This is probably the most popular and straightforward method of connecting amplifier to speakers. This is our preferred method and we fit high quality gold or silver-plated banana plugs to all the terminated speaker cables we produce. We like this connection because it provides a point of extremely high pressure contact between the plug and the socket and we think this produces the best sound quality.
The other commonly used connection is the spade connector. The colour coded casings of the binding posts on the amplifier and speakers can be unscrewed. A spade connector slipped over the post and the casings tightened back down to hold the spade connectors firmly in place. If you choose this method it is important to periodically check the tightness of the binding posts. They are subject to vibration and over a period of time could work loose, degrading sound quality.
Some amplifiers are fitted with a BFA Camcon connector. Amplifiers with this connector will require a set of speaker cable fitted with Camcon plugs. These are available to order and can be fitted to all Chord speaker cables.
Binding posts are used on the majority of hi-fi and home cinema equipment and speakers. However, on some smaller amplifiers you may find a colour coded spring clip connector. These can only be used with unterminated speaker cable. The spring clip is lifted; the bare wire slipped into the socket and then the spring clip is lowered to hold the speaker cable firmly in place. There are disadvantages to this type of connector. Firstly, you will be limited as to the size of speaker cable that can be fitted and secondly, the speaker cable will be subject to oxidisation which can increase resistance and affect sound quality. Interestingly, although silver oxidises, the oxides have far less effect on sound quality than would be the case with a copper cable. Finally, be certain that the speaker cable is connected correctly. It is far easier to wire speaker cable out of phase with spring clip connections.
The age old argument of cable quality has raged between audiophiles since the dawn of time (well not really, but certainly for quite a while). Some argue the quality of speaker cables is just as important as the quality of the Hi-fi components they’re connecting. Other enthusiasts save their cash buying budget cables and claim that they make no difference to the sound quality whatsoever.
So rather than poking our nose between these two opposing camps and risk getting dragged into the ongoing battle, lets elude the heated quarrel and instead offer up an overview of speaker cable jargon and give you some useful tips on how to buy your own.
What is speaker cable?
Speaker cable is the wire used for the electrical connections between speakers and amplifier sources. It has three key electrical properties: resistance, capacitance and inductance. Resistance is by far the most important property to look at. Low-resistance wire allows more of the source’s power through to the speaker coil, meaning more power and more sound. Simple enough.
How does resistance affect performance?
Generally speaking, resistance starts to have an effect on the performance of a speaker when resistance is greater than 5% of the speaker’s impedance. Resistance is affected by two key aspects: wire length and the cross sectional area of the wire. The shorter the wire is, the less resistance it will have. The trick here is to minimise wire lengths where possible but still ensure your speakers are positioned apart (if you missed out on our speaker positioning guide, shame on you! Read it here). It’s also important that the wire lengths to both speakers are the same to ensure they both have equal impedance values.
The cross sectional area of the wire is referring to the thickness, or gauge, of the wire. The thicker a wire or the lower the gauge, the less resistance. It is therefore a combination between speaker impedance, length and gauge that affects the resistance. The below table illustrates suggested cable lengths that will ensure your cable has a resistance less than 5% of your speaker’s nominal impedance given differing gauge measurements.