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Interconnect Directionality

Have I lost my mind? I swear that I am hearing differences in the direction I hook up my interconnect cables between my preamp and power amp. These are custom built solid core silver cables with Eichmann bullet plugs. There is no shield so this is not a case where one end of the cable’s shield is grounded and the other isn’t. 

There are four ways ways to hook them up:
Right: Forward. Left: Forward. 
Right: Backward. Left: Backward
Right: Forward. Left: Backward
Right: Backward. Left: Forward. 

There is no difference in construction between forward and backward, but here are my observations:

When they are hooked up forward/backward there appears to be more airy-ness and what appears to be a slight phase difference. When hooked up forward/forward or backward/backward, the image seems more precise like they are more in phase. The difference between forward/forward and backward/backward is that one seems to push the soundstage back a little bit while the other brings it towards you more. 

What could possibly cause this? Does it have something to do with the way the wire is constructed and how the grains are made while drawn through a die? Am I imagining this? Have I completely lost my mind?
128x128mkgus
mkgus's avatar
mkgus OP
324 posts
 
Assuming cables do have a direction to them, it makes sense that I observed a slight difference in phase or some type of imbalance when hooked up right: forward and left: backward. Assuming you’ve identified the cable directions, is there any difference between forward and backward if both channels are one or the other? Was my observation of the soundstage moving closer or further away based in reality or was it a hallucination?
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Face it mkgus, you are beyond assuming. You heard the difference. You KNOW there is a difference.

Oh what the hell why bother anything you say bound to upset some special snowflake somewhere, who will only whine and then the mods will assuage the crybaby with another perfectly good post removed. 

Now if only the people offended by the constant mind numbingly repetitious "can I really trust my senses? Really?? Really, really?" posts would only complain. Those are the ones that should go. Really.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
If the two interconnect cables are symmetrical there is no way find the correct directions for both ICs other than by listening to all 4 combinations. But - as I opined in my previous post - the “good direction” for both cables is toward the amp. 🔜 it’s the same idea with fuses - the correct installation is “good direction” toward the speakers. 🔜 You don’t care when the signal travels away from the speakers. That signal is not audible.
sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
The flow of electrons for an audio signal is in both directions Geoff, from one terminal of the source to the other on the positive half cycle, then in the opposite direction for the negative half cycle. If you could optimize electron flow, favoring the positive half cycle over the negative half cycle, (or vice-versa), you would be distorting the signal. It’s never too late to wake up from the dream of “cable directionality“, and embrace reality. 
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