What do we hear when we change the direction of a wire?


Douglas Self wrote a devastating article about audio anomalies back in 1988. With all the necessary knowledge and measuring tools, he did not detect any supposedly audible changes in the electrical signal. Self and his colleagues were sure that they had proved the absence of anomalies in audio, but over the past 30 years, audio anomalies have not disappeared anywhere, at the same time the authority of science in the field of audio has increasingly become questioned. It's hard to believe, but science still cannot clearly answer the question of what electricity is and what sound is! (see article by A.J.Essien).

For your information: to make sure that no potentially audible changes in the electrical signal occur when we apply any "audio magic" to our gear, no super equipment is needed. The smallest step-change in amplitude that can be detected by ear is about 0.3dB for a pure tone. In more realistic situations it is 0.5 to 1.0dB'". This is about a 10% change. (Harris J.D.). At medium volume, the voltage amplitude at the output of the amplifier is approximately 10 volts, which means that the smallest audible difference in sound will be noticeable when the output voltage changes to 1 volt. Such an error is impossible not to notice even using a conventional voltmeter, but Self and his colleagues performed much more accurate measurements, including ones made directly on the music signal using Baxandall subtraction technique - they found no error even at this highest level.

As a result, we are faced with an apparently unsolvable problem: those of us who do not hear the sound of wires, relying on the authority of scientists, claim that audio anomalies are BS. However, people who confidently perceive this component of sound are forced to make another, the only possible conclusion in this situation: the electrical and acoustic signals contain some additional signal(s) that are still unknown to science, and which we perceive with a certain sixth sense.

If there are no electrical changes in the signal, then there are no acoustic changes, respectively, hearing does not participate in the perception of anomalies. What other options can there be?

Regards.
anton_stepichev
I use Russ Andrews/Kimber 8TC speaker cable for my L,C,Rs. Expensive.

I use cheap Fisual cable for my surrounds. I recently bought a 200 ft spool of 14 gauge wire for UK £20. I experimented and have tried it with my main speakers. There is absolutely no difference in sound from cables costing hundreds of £.
@joysjane
Nope, NASA never cared about the directionality of cabling...

The problem of anomalies arises only when some artificial equipment becomes an intermediary in the our perception of information about a living object or whatever it is that we consider the subject of art.

NASA doesn't fit that description, so I agree with you.
The first couple of pages of this wore me out.  Trying to use incomplete science to explain differences we hear on our sound systems.  Clearly, regardless of the scientific advancement, our sensory systems are still better than the best instruments.  Embrace the wonderful reality.  If you can't hear it, good for you.  You'll save some money.  For the rest of us it's "My ears, My money".  Enjoy the journey.
djones513,820 posts
04-22-2021 11:19pm

Do you doubt the accuracy of the measurements taken by Self or...
I haven't seen any measurements at least not in the link in your original post.

You mean Self could just wrote what came to his mind? Honestly, i don't figure it out, what are your doubts. You weren't in such a hesitancy when you speak about wire direction.