Very short speaker cable length recommended?

No doubt, Timru.

I've witnessed major debates in car forums regarding oil change intervals. You have recommendations from both oil and car manufacturers, and then you have the entire dino versus synthetic argument influencing change intervals. Then do you change both the filter AND the oil?

It sounds so much like analog versus digital, copper/silver, tubes, solid state, etc... It's all so confusing, but ultimately hopefully leaves us more informed to make our own deicisions.

I'll be watching this thread.

It is counter-intutive but I have two thoughts:

(1) It is possible that very short cables restrict speaker placement and thus affect sound indirectly, where as longer ones let you find optimal placement.

(2) Is it conceivable that some speakers were designed with either long or short cable and would sound better accordignly? Not sure it makes sense but just a thought.

Mapleshade actually claims that 8 ft is the optimal length not the minimum. They prefer not to sell 10 or 12 ft runs. They also don't prefer double runs for bi-wiring, instead selling an inexpensive 2 or 3 inch jumper. Hardly a philosophy designed to sell more wire.

JI35 reminded me of when I first contemplated changing from biwired Kimber 8TC to Mapleshade Double Helix. Frankly, I assumed I'd biwire with the new stuff. Pierre wouldn't sell it to me, said to try it single-wired (with his ribbon jumpers) and see if I didn't like it better than the Kimber. It sounded so MUCH better than the Kimber that I didn't even consider going biwire. And I sold the used 8TC for about twice what the new Mapleshade cost.

There is a small on-line cable company that makes wonderful cables, some of the best I've ever heard. When my new wall unit required that I move the speakers about 15' away from the source I decided to go with long interconnect runs of this cable into mono-amps and short (6') runs of speaker cable. The bass dropped off dramatically, as did the impression of power and dynamics. When I changed interconnects to those containing thicker, heavier wire things returned to normal.

It seems to me that there are definable, quantifiable values that determine whether this or that cable is electrically suitable and will perform as expected in any given situation. Certainly there are differences between the sonic character of this cable and that by virtue of their design and the materials from which they are made, but we as consumers should not have to play guessing games with electrical parameters and it is high time that manufacturers step up to the plate and start supporting our efforts at component matching by either standardizing or disclosing specifics that directly relate to component/cable matching.