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Another look at directionality in cables

A friend of mine and myself were discussing this subject. It was brought up, if a cable is directional, why would both arrows on the positive and negative point the same direction. It appeared that, for example, that the positive would point from the amp to the speaker and the negative should point from the speaker to the amp ( even though there is no positive and negative using AC-reference only for phasing). This way, since the signal alternates, that at least the signal would be going back and forth on the wire in the same direction at any given time(maybe.) I have discussed with engineers about wire and most agree that it does have a (marginally better at best) flow in one direction depending on frequency and wire structure. All agreed it was not significant.
My friend tried it and said he got better results with one wire going one way and the other reversed---go figure. Of course with some wire, you do not have this option with it.
Opinions?
bigtee
herman
2,253 posts
 
I would like to get on the Bundus bandwagon here. Energy in the form of electromagnetic waves travel down the cable from the amp to the speaker where they are converted into mechanical energy (the cone moves). The fact that current is flowing in the wire or which direction it is flowing at any given point in time is not the issue. Since the energy goes in only one direction, from the amp to the speaker, it stands to reason that the orientation of the cable will have some effect on this energy transfer.

There are only four possible variations for hooking up the Tara cables you mentioned. Try them all and see which you prefer.

This (transmission line theory) is a very complex subject that many textbooks and college courses are dedicated to. I don't pretend to understand all the high level math and physics required to master it. I do know you will drive your yourself crazy trying to figure out what the electrons are doing in the wires.
fatparrot
1,314 posts
 
And the winner is...XLR balanced interconnects. Don't ever have to worry about the directionality of these puppies!
sean
6,231 posts
 
Going to a balanced design over a single ended design does not necessarily remove conductor directionality from the equation. Any type of signal carrying device is subject to signal degradation via several different types of problems. Sean
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audioengr
3,282 posts
 
Marty at BFS discovered some interesting things about my cables in his system. As a result, I believe it is very system-dependent which direction sounds best and therefore I now recommend that both directions be tried in each situation. In general, I have found that between pre and amp, that IC's with telescoping grounds sound best with the shield grounded at the preamp end. YMMV
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