The Contour System – Directional Wiring of Audio Parts

Good work. Directionality is easy to hear, even in stranded cables which you point out are never as clear as solid core. However it is so much work to unsolder and reverse wires I have always just left things alone. With fuses however it has been easy to hear with one way obviously better than another. 

So much so that the first Synergistic Blue fuse I ever tried, I knew within the first minute it was the wrong way! The sound was just as you described, less clear and tonally correct. Reversed, and everything snapped into focus, with incredible detail and beautifully accurate tone and timbre.   

If there is that much difference in the one inch of a fuse, I can only imagine what can be achieved with everything going the right direction. You say you were able to do this all the way down to the level of tube pins and RCA plugs? Incredible! 

That is the one thing missing from this very understated low-key article. If the difference I heard from just one inch of fuse was carried out across every wire in every part of the amp, I have to think the final result would be mind-boggling in ease and clarity, with a truly holographic 3D presentation. Which it better be, for the time it takes to get there!

Do you also have a sensitivity to absolute phase? I’ve often wondered if there is a correlation with cable directionality, but either my ears or my system isn’t up to the task.

If there is that much difference in the one inch of a fuse, I can only imagine what can be achieved with everything going the right direction. You say you were able to do this all the way down to the level of tube pins and RCA plugs? Incredible!

Yes, EL-AL-AZ German 1938 tube sockets can be easily disassembled. Then pins are tested the same way as wires, then sorted and marked, at the end new sockets with correct pins directions are assembled.

As for RSA, I use handmade ones https://www.backtomusic.ru/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/cons.jpg. They are made the same way - first directions of old metal blanks are determined, then details of the plugs are lathed according to their direction and finally the plugs are assembled with right parts direction.

If the difference I heard from just one inch of fuse was carried out across every wire in every part of the amp, I have to think the final result would be mind-boggling in ease and clarity, with a truly holographic 3D presentation. Which it better be, for the time it takes to get there!

The thing is more complicated than it seems to be. When you orient the first few conductors in a good amplifier, the gain in clarity is as high as possible. If you continue to pick up directions from more and more conductors in the amp circuit, the quality gain begins to slow down. I think there are several reasons for this:

1 - There are limits to any perfection, and the sound tends to this limit exponentially. The further you go in your search, the more difficult it is to get a proportionate result.
2 - A person quickly gets used to the good and ceases to appreciate it.
3 - The more transparent your system sounds, the more difficult it is to find a recording that is at least somewhat commensurate in quality with your audio system. From some point on, you start to hear all the mistakes of sound engineers, musician kicks and other interference that is not noticeable on the average audio systems and it is very annoying. So the vast majority of recordings become uninteresting, but the little rest is revealed in such unexpected, astonishing colors that I am still quite puzzled how it ever could be.

Do you also have a sensitivity to absolute phase? I’ve often wondered if there is a correlation with cable directionality, but either my ears or my system isn’t up to the task.

In my opinion, if there is any correlation, then no one can accurately determine it. The fact is that it is impossible to set up a correct experiment here, with all other things being equal.

To determine the alleged effect of the absolute phase on the sound, you must assemble a phase inverter device that will contain a number of radio elements and wires including a bypass switch for comparison. During a comparison test when you listen either through the phase inverter or bypass it, the difference in sound will naturally be heard, but it is impossible to interpret it unambiguously, since the phase rotation device contains many parts and conductors that randomly affect the sound.

The people who initially experimented with the audibility of the absolute phase were most likely professional radio engineers, among whom there are practically no people who accept the existence of sound of individual wires. However, these people heard the difference during the comparison tests and decided that this is how the absolute phase manifests itself. This opinion is widespread among audiophiles, but this does not naturally mean that it is true.

I don’t see a way to solve this problem, but my opinion is - the absolute phase can not be heard.

For the sake of clarity: I assume we are discussing polarity, not phase.