Speaker cables for long (30 feet) in-wall run?

Bartolo

Well-Known Member
Jan 31, 2019
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We're building a home and both my wife and our builder are requiring a change to how the hi fi will be situated in the big combined kitchen/family room (great room) setup. Right now I have 2 racks of Naim Fraim in our living room and the goal is to do a built-in cabinet for components and to run speaker cables in the wall. (I know - I could veto their choices but honestly I'm fine with getting the hi fi boxes out of plain site.)

As it looks now, I could be up to 30 feet from the cabinet to one speaker; 12 or so feet to the other. I currently run Naim SuperLumina. Hi fi is Naim 552/500 and Magico A3's (to be traded towards A5's after the move.) What are some options for speaker cable that will perform appropriately and not cost me TENS of thousands at that length? And for performance sake I assume I'll have both cables the same length; not sure that running unequal lengths is the right approach.
 

sbnx

Well-Known Member
Mar 28, 2017
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Hello Bartolo, You have likely already chosen but you might give a look at analysis plus cables. They are well engineered, get good reviews and at a reasonable price point. As these are going in the wall, I offer two points for your consideration. First, I would run a piece of PVC pipe as a chase for the cables. This will make it much easier if you ever decided to change them. Second, I would try and spend at least one level up in the cables because it will be hard to change them and at that length you will likely have a great deal of trouble selling them.
 
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Sablon Audio

Industry Expert, VIP Donor
May 22, 2015
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Running asymmetric lengths isn’t such a big deal and I would recommend looking at a larger gauge / doubled up run for the longer side as resistance / impedance is proportionate to length. Try get the best quality copper to minimise losses from lesser materials. The pvc pipe installation idea is a good idea.
 

Bartolo

Well-Known Member
Jan 31, 2019
93
56
98
64
Hello Bartolo, You have likely already chosen but you might give a look at analysis plus cables. They are well engineered, get good reviews and at a reasonable price point. As these are going in the wall, I offer two points for your consideration. First, I would run a piece of PVC pipe as a chase for the cables. This will make it much easier if you ever decided to change them. Second, I would try and spend at least one level up in the cables because it will be hard to change them and at that length you will likely have a great deal of trouble selling them.
Thanks! I've actually dismissed the 'running cables in the wall' solution and will continue to keep the speaker cables on the floor the way 98% of us do. It allows me to use much higher-end cables (due to shorter length), and frankly looking at speaker cables on the floor is imho just part of having a nice hi fi. The builder wanted to provide me with a true built-in approach, but as it turned out the room design didn't really leave a space for it. So if the hardware isn't hidden away - I found no reason to hide just the cables.
 

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