[floresjc]

I think I'm just going to buy 400ft of Belden 12 gauge and terminate it myself. Cheaper that way and I can do on-site custom lengths. My question would be, do the cable lengths for a stereo pair need to be the same length? For 2 channel, usually the amp is in the center and you can have the same length for each channel.

But for my 5.1, the front left channel is only a couple feet from the amp while the front right is some 12 ft away. Can I make a 3ft and a 12 ft cut? Or will the extra length affect timing and imaging in 5.1 setup? Electrons move pretty quickly so I would assume that for most home installations, it wouldn't matter, but if I have to cut them both to 12 or 15 ft and then roll up the slack on the left side I suppose I can, but I was hoping to not have any extra just laying around.

[jsalk]

Josh -

I think I'm just going to buy 400ft of Belden 12 gauge and terminate it myself. Cheaper that way and I can do on-site custom lengths. My question would be, do the cable lengths for a stereo pair need to be the same length? For 2 channel, usually the amp is in the center and you can have the same length for each channel.

But for my 5.1, the front left channel is only a couple feet from the amp while the front right is some 12 ft away. Can I make a 3ft and a 12 ft cut? Or will the extra length affect timing and imaging in 5.1 setup? Electrons move pretty quickly so I would assume that for most home installations, it wouldn't matter, but if I have to cut them both to 12 or 15 ft and then roll up the slack on the left side I suppose I can, but I was hoping to not have any extra just laying around.

Don't worry about it.  They can be different lengths.  You are essentially dealing with the speed of light here.  It won't matter. 

- Jim

[coke]

The longer the wire, the more resistance it has which can lead to voltage drop and power loss.

In the case of a home audio application though, it's insignificant.