Directionality of wire


I am a fan of Chris Sommovigo's Black Cat and Airwave interconnects. I hope he does not mind me quoting him or naming him on this subject, but Chris does not mark directionality of his IC's. I recently wrote him on the subject and he responded that absent shunting off to ground/dialectric designs, the idea of wire directionality is a complete myth. Same with resistors and fuses. My hunch is that 95% of IC "manufacturers", particularly the one man operations of under $500 IC's mark directionality because they think it lends the appearance of technical sophistication and legitimacy. But even among the "big boys", the myth gets thrown around like so much accepted common knowledge. Thoughts? Someone care to educate me on how a simple IC or PC or speaker cable or fuse without a special shunting scheme can possibly have directionality? It was this comment by Stephen Mejias (then of Audioquest and in the context of Herb Reichert's review of the AQ Niagra 1000) that prompts my question;

Thank you for the excellent question. AudioQuest provided an NRG-10 AC cable for the evaluation. Like all AudioQuest cables, our AC cables use solid conductors that are carefully controlled for low-noise directionality. We see this as a benefit for all applications -- one that becomes especially important when discussing our Niagara units. Because our AC cables use conductors that have been properly controlled for low-noise directionality, they complement the Niagara System’s patented Ground-Noise Dissipation Technology. Other AC cables would work, but may or may not allow the Niagara to reach its full potential. If you'd like more information on our use of directionality to minimize the harmful effects of high-frequency noise, please visit http://www.audioquest.com/directionality-its-all-about-noise/ or the Niagara 1000's owner's manual (available on our website).

Thanks again.

Stephen Mejias
AudioQuest


Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-15-audioquest-niagara-1000-hifiman-he1000-v2-p...


128x128fsonicsmith
The reason why AC cables AND fuses in AC circuits are directional is because we only hear the effects of the portion of the alternating current that is traveling TOWARD the component.
With all due respect, repeating this falsehood over and over does not make it more true. Every link in the chain of an audio system right down to the cabling involves circuits. As someone else tried to point out to you, your loudspeakers are transducers that rely on both sides of the circuit to, uh, transduce. This is why many of us have phase switching built into our preamps-so that we can correct out of phase recordings. Push-pull applies to more than just amplifiers. It is the underlying foundation of domestic electricity. 
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You can easily roll your own directional speaker cables. Just add two diodes to each cable -- one diode in series with each of the two wires. For the ultimate effect, orient them in the same direction (say, with the arrows pointing away from the amp), or, for a more interesting effect, place them in opposite direction.

From this simple test, i think you will conclude that directional cables is NOT what want in your system.

fsonicsmith OP
Geoffkait: "The reason why AC cables AND fuses in AC circuits are directional is because we only hear the effects of the portion of the alternating current that is traveling TOWARD the component."

With all due respect, repeating this falsehood over and over does not make it more true. Every link in the chain of an audio system right down to the cabling involves circuits. As someone else tried to point out to you, your loudspeakers are transducers that rely on both sides of the circuit to, uh, transduce. This is why many of us have phase switching built into our preamps-so that we can correct out of phase recordings. Push-pull applies to more than just amplifiers. It is the underlying foundation of domestic electricity.

>>>>OK, push-pull, we’ll use your words. What does that mean? Push-Pull - that means you have two wires for each channel, a L channel and R channel. For each channel there is a RED and BLACK wire. When current is traveling down RED toward the speakers it’s traveling in the opposite direction on the Black and vice versa. Then the directions reverse, at a rate of 60 Hz, with the current now flowing on the RED wire AWAY from the speakers and TOWARD the speakers on BLACK. Now, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist which I happen to be to figure out that if the wires for RED and BLACK are directional then it’s best if they are oriented in the right direction, no? And if you reversed the cables you would hear a difference in sound. That’s why I say you can throw away the current traveling in the direction toward the wall because you can’t hear it. You only hear current traveling toward the speakers. Follow? And that’s why ever since what, 25 yrs go, cable manufacture who knew the score, Audioquest, Goertz, Anti Cables, whoever, marked their cables with directional ARROWS. It's the same reason fuses in AC circuits are directional and why power cords are directional.

Now, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist which I happen to be
In addition to being a skeptic as to wire directionality, call me a skeptic on this doozy little gem. Please, give us proof! If you prove me wrong I will humbly apologize to you.