Determining current flow to install "audiophile" fuses.

I'll let you all debate fuses and directionality to your heart's content.  How you spend your time on this big rock we call Earth is none of my business.

Geoff - your comment: 

By the same token, reversing interconnects that were inserted randomly between components will improve the sound 50% of the time for the same reason. It’s a wire directionality issue. It’s why many boutique cable manufacturers have been putting directional arrows on their cables for twenty five years. Hel-loo!

Geoff Kait
Machina Dynamica
we do artificial atoms right

doesn't belong in this conversation.  A large percentage of interconnects are shielded and should be plugged in according to the directionality that the manufacturer specifies.  No, I have not run a statistical survey of the percentage of cables that are shielded.

To those of you who don't know what this means from a hookup perspective, the outer shield is tied to the RCA ground at only one side.  The shield "floats" at the other side. 

The grounded side should be plugged into the source.  IOW, it should be plugged into the line stage side of an  interconnect that runs from a line stage to power amp(s), the phono stage side of a cable that runs from phono stage to line stage, etc..

In my experience, there is an audible degradation (noise) when you reverse the cable so the grounded shield side is plugged into the load side (i.e. the power amp in the above example).

Could wire be directional? Sure.  Could a cable manufacturer wire their interconnect such that the optimum direction (from a wire directionality perspective) is in conflict with the shield connection?  It's possible.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier Design

Thom wrote,

"Your comment regarding directionality of interconnects doesn’t belong in this discussion. A large percentage of interconnects are shielded and should be plugged in according to the directionality that the manufacturer specifies. No, I have not run a statistical survey of the percentage of cables that are shielded.

To those of you who don’t know what this means from a hookup perspective, the outer shield is tied to the RCA ground at only one side. The shield "floats" at the other side."

As I already stated I’m not referring to shielded designs. An example of an interconnect that comes with directional arrows but is NOT shielded is the ANTICABLES IC. The reason unshielded cables come with directional arrows is because the conductor itself is directional. ANTICABLES cables comprise only a (solid core) conductor with connectors. Thus, like fuses, and unlike shielded cables, they are perfectly symmetrical; so it must be the *wire itself* that produces directionality. Follow?

From Anti Cables website: "The ANTICABLES Analog RCA Interconnects use the same design concept as the award winning ANTICABLES Speaker Wires. They use only the materials needed (solid core wire and connectors). Those materials are of very high sonic quality, and unnecessary materials such as thick plastic jacketing are eliminated. They are simple, cost effective, and perform very very well..."

geoff kait
machina dynamica
advanced audio concepts

George wrote,

"Let just say GK your bu****it is correct and that it is directional, do you honestly believe that you have the "Golden Ears" to be able to pick it up with just 1/2" of wire.

Then sunshine, what about all the feet of copper tracks of the circuit board itself, are you going to turn them around too so they are in the right direction as well!!! VOODOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

As I’ve stated on many occasions all wire is directional by virtue of the physical asymmetry placed on it when it is pulled through the final die. Thus ANY wire anywhere in the system is directional and best sound from a component will be achieved if whoever put the thing together was cognizant of wire directionality and ensured that all wiring was installed in the correct direction.

As for your example of the copper traces used in printed circuit boards I’ll take your word for it they are "wire" and not some sort of chemical etching or lamination that is not directional. But let’s say for the sake of argument that the internal wiring in a component is all hand wired point to point, without any circuit boards. Then yes, attention should be paid to directionality for all internal wiring - at least all the wire in the signal path. Make sense?

Cheers,

geoff kait @ machinadynamica.com
No goats no glory