Power cords of different lengths on MLs.

I am in the midst of dramatically changing my setup, and I'm considering buying aftermarket power cords for my Vantages. In my new setup, one of the speakers is a 3ft cord length from the power conditioner and the other speaker is a 7ft cord length from the conditioner.

Will having different power cord lengths on the Vantages make any difference?

Most of us subscribe to the logic that equal length cables are necessary, I definately agree when it comes to Speaker cables however PC's are not carrying A signal only current so IMO it should not make a difference.

I agree with Ken. Your ears will not hear anything different.

I agree that a 1 Meter and 2 meter cord setup would not make a difference, just use the same brand.

We're talking about length of power cable to the Logans..

I have a friend who believes or was told that a component can "see" back about 5 feet. Whether this is snake oil or not I'm not about to debate. I have heard this particular system and all power cords are 2 meter in length and it was difficult to argue with him.

I'm waiting on a pair of power cables for my Spires. They will both be 2 meters and if I have to move the Pole Pig so be it! Personally, I think if all other wires are recommended to be the same length, why the exception for PCs?

Gordon

It's not a signal carrying line and in any event I think it'd make diddly squat of a difference.

That said, if you know they're different, *AND* you're of the personality that that would annoy then you should ensure they're equal - just to keep your mind at rest.

Gordon said:

I think if all other wires are recommended to be the same length, why the exception for PCs?

Gordon

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Signal wires if they are different lengths run the risk of generating time anomalies in the signal due to the signal in the shorter one arriving earlier than the longer one. This effect is so small as to not be audible or even measureable in quality cable at length differences under say 6 feet at audio frequencies. Power carries no information other than voltage and frequency (60hz in USA) and unless the wires are significantly undersized causing a voltage drop, there is nothing that can or will cause any signal gradation from differing power cord lenghts.

ML power cable length (or even quality) is absolutely not a factor in the sound.

I have a Variac and can ratchet voltage levels up and down with nary a measurable effect on the speaker output.

Most modern ML's have a regulated power supply anyway, so no biggie.

Plus, except for the powered woofer models, there are no active in-the-audio-path electronics to even be remotely affected by the AC voltage.

JonFo said:

Plus, except for the powered woofer models, there are no active in-the-audio-path electronics to even be remotely affected by the AC voltage.

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Jonathan are you hedging your bets here? Not trying to be a smart guy, but a lot of us are using Vantage/Spire/Summit.

Gordon

DrJRapp said:

Signal wires if they are different lengths run the risk of generating time anomalies in the signal due to the signal in the shorter one arriving earlier than the longer one. This effect is so small as to not be audible or even measureable in quality cable at length differences under say 6 feet at audio frequencies. Power carries no information other than voltage and frequency (60hz in USA) and unless the wires are significantly undersized causing a voltage drop, there is nothing that can or will cause any signal gradation from differing power cord lenghts.

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Hi Jerry, I've been doing some research and have found that some, not all power companies inject a 470hz signal in order to communicate with their meters on the house. Could this signal not have some impact on the electricity coming into the house?

Gordon

Gordon said:

Jonathan are you hedging your bets here? Not trying to be a smart guy, but a lot of us are using Vantage/Spire/Summit.

Gordon

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Gordon, I'm in Jonathan's camp on this one. Besides having 'exact' equal length of speaker cable is not that important either.

I have to agree with both Jonathan and Dave as to power cable length/aftermarket audible difference. My left Vantage has a longer power cable 1 1/2 meter longer than the right Vantage. I can't tell any difference. Even having upgraded to aftermarket power cables I'm still not sure if there was any audible difference between them and the ones Martin Logan supplied. But I bought them anyway just on the chance as my system matured and better componets were put in place then if a difference could be heard I would already be prepared. Since the adding and changing of my componets along with adding more acoustic treatments, I have not went back and did a comparison so take my ramblings for what they are. But as for different power cable lengths I know I'm not concerned in the least since they were the same length for the longest with much of my system having already been upgraded. And there were no signs of funkiness.


Glen

I put Nordost Shivas into my Summits. I heard a slight improvement in detail but a slightly increased "thinness" in sound. I then changed to Vishnus: the clarity remained, but sounded a little more "full bodied." Definitely minor changes, but I did hear something, I think.....

Anyway, the Vishnus match the colour of my Frey speaker cables, so they look good together.

Did I hear any difference using better power cords with my Sequel II's? Nope.

Gordon said:

Hi Jerry, I've been doing some research and have found that some, not all power companies inject a 470hz signal in order to communicate with their meters on the house. Could this signal not have some impact on the electricity coming into the house?

Gordon

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Yes...it's called noise. Its a multiplexed digital signal in most cases. However, modern day power supplies and power conditioners will remove that.

Besides, staying on subject, it's a constant not affected by transmission line (ie: power cord) length.

Gordon said:

Jonathan are you hedging your bets here? Not trying to be a smart guy, but a lot of us are using Vantage/Spire/Summit.

Gordon

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Nah, just trying to be precise

Still don't think length has any impact on the powered models either.

Jonathan and Jerry, I appreciate both your comments. I'm a skeptic on PCs to begin with but I do have an open mind and I'm willing to try different things just to prove myself right or wrong or if neither, to learn something.

asindc, sorry to have stepped on your thread

Gordon

Kenscollick said:

Most of us subscribe to the logic that equal length cables are necessary, I definately agree when it comes to Speaker cables however PC's are not carrying A signal only current so IMO it should not make a difference.

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Something similar to this discussion comes up on a regular basis. With a few exceptions, I personally do not agree with the premise that equal cable lengths are necessary. Barring certain effects such as differences in capacitance, line losses due to excessive lengths, or induced signal due to excessive lengths combined with cross-talk (where excessive is on the order of fifty feet or more), neither power nor signal cable lengths are significant when compared to the difference that even slight speaker positioning changes make. Here is my comment on the subject from April 2005:

Even the slightest difference in speaker positioning will outweigh a ridiculously enormous difference in speaker wire length. Electricity on a wire doesn't quite travel at the speed of light through a vacuum, but we will use that as an approximation (roughly 186,000 miles/sec or 300,000,000 meters/sec). Compare this to average speed of sound through air at roughly 774 miles/hour or 0.2 miles/sec or 346 meters/sec.

Using metric because it's easier, 300,000,000 m/s divided by 346 m/s equals 867,052 meters traveled by light for each meter traveled by sound at STP.

One meter is approximately 39.4 inches, so in the time sound travels one inch, light/electricity (as an approximation) travels 22000 inches (1/3 mile).

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STP = Standard Temperature and Pressure, used in chemistry and physics.

I have to agree with you on speaker positioning being a far more important part of the equation than wire length.

What I have a difficult time understanding is this: If one scaled down these enormous distances and times to a real world number of wire lengths used in the home, would not the signal in the shorter wire reach the destination sooner than the longer? However minute that amount must be it still seems to me that it is there and needs to be acoounted for.

Or is that picking fly dung out of pepper?

Gordon

Gordon said:

Or is that picking fly dung out of pepper?

Gordon

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No more than people so obssesed that they need lasers to measure speaker distances within thousandths of an inch!