What may be a little confusing is that not all RCA cables are balanced + shield, but are in XLR. In other words, the better RCA cables have two identical conductors, except the insulator color, typically red and black. One goes to the center pin, the other to the outer ring. In addition to these there is actually a third conductor, not identical. Best are an impossibly thin foil shield, which is in contact throughout it's length to a drain wire. The shield is impossible to solder to, so we use that drain. So, red and black connect at both ends. The drain however only at source. Cheaper RCA cables use 1 wire, plus a braid. The central wire goes from pin to pin and braid does double duty as signal and noise. There are minor tradoffs as the shield adds capacitance while preventing noise, but it's usually well worth it. Best, Erik |
The lattice structure of solidus wire, ie, electron orbital locked frozen crystalline wire, it can and mostly will be directional, depending on the method of creation. The same goes for the dielectric. Flicker, Johnson, and shot noise all play their part -it’s quite the stew, and a polarized one at that. Almost all dielectrics in use are mildly thermoplastic in nature, and will exhibit polarization when extruded: http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/14fd7ed4543a437e93aefcb66482ae59/plastic-measuring-cylinder-illuminated-by... This will organize the fields in play, when under high rates of change or in transients. When looking at the ’polarized’ image supplied above, imagine a more polarized, organized and aligned structure exuded around the wire. Add in that to the electrical fields in modulation that are interacting with the wire, the polarizing effect is again in the wire (due to it’s manufacture and fundamentals in bulk lattice of elements-like wire), even though it is not transparent to light and we can’t use a polarization filter to see it. So the wire and the dielectric each independently act predominantly with opposite field characteristics, one current (wire) and the other voltage (dielectric). One can even find resonance patterns at a given frequency or delta. The pairing makes for a very ’ac’ responsive activity when the ’cable’ (metal wire and dielectric skin) is hit with the varied changes of flow and value we call ’signal’ (delta). Since it predominantly interacts with the peak transients and we hear via transient function (delta), this activity and interaction of the cable with the signal -is heard by humans. The only cable in the world that escapes this basic consideration, is the liquid metal Teo audio cables. The interaction of signal and conductor, in the liquid metal cables, is more akin to how light interacts with a fluid or gas. More of a free form plasma effect and interaction. For the first time ever in audio, it’s a completely different beast. It’s a change in the basic analysis and equations in use. In the fluid metal, which is fluid at the molecular level, there is no polarization possible, in the classic sense of how all solids function in their enforced polarized interactions with electrical fields. The result is electrical considerations which beggar belief. Most cables are manufactured with these directional issues taken into account, as the effect is on record as being heard. Not that many folks articulate the issue of lattice alignment and polarization, and not that many who hear it in audio cables understand the issue of polarization..and precious little science is put into the area of trying to see how much a person can hear of such things. When we add in the differences in human hearing in individuals, then add in intelligence, cognition, and data gaps, we get this argumentative stew that might be called ’the cable wars’. |
