which direction do this cable go?

The tape side of your cable is the ground side, so for example your cable from your cd player to your preamp, the tape side of your cable would be on your preamp side , and from your preamp to your amp , it would be on your amp side. hope this helps.

Iv'e heard that when in doubt the signal should flow in the direction of the lettering on the cable. I agree with Tigger, it will settle into which ever direction you use.

If the cable has a arrow, that arrow is usually included only for convenience. (Arrow points from source to loudspeaker). It's merely a suggestion in all but THE most esoteric designs. Generally once a cable is broken-in in one direction, it needs to be broken-in again if you try to use in the other direction. So I'd say just pick an orientation and stick with it going forward.

I'm sure some nay-sayers will chime in telling us the futility of believing cables are directional once broken-in (or in fact they need burn-in at all). Use your ears.

On my D60's the black band is shorter at one end--That goes to the transport / source.

Plug the cable in one way and then reverse it and the way that allows the highest image height on the same recording will be correct....