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Directionality of wire

I am a fan of Chris Sommovigo's Black Cat and Airwave interconnects. I hope he does not mind me quoting him or naming him on this subject, but Chris does not mark directionality of his IC's. I recently wrote him on the subject and he responded that absent shunting off to ground/dialectric designs, the idea of wire directionality is a complete myth. Same with resistors and fuses. My hunch is that 95% of IC "manufacturers", particularly the one man operations of under $500 IC's mark directionality because they think it lends the appearance of technical sophistication and legitimacy. But even among the "big boys", the myth gets thrown around like so much accepted common knowledge. Thoughts? Someone care to educate me on how a simple IC or PC or speaker cable or fuse without a special shunting scheme can possibly have directionality? It was this comment by Stephen Mejias (then of Audioquest and in the context of Herb Reichert's review of the AQ Niagra 1000) that prompts my question;

Thank you for the excellent question. AudioQuest provided an NRG-10 AC cable for the evaluation. Like all AudioQuest cables, our AC cables use solid conductors that are carefully controlled for low-noise directionality. We see this as a benefit for all applications -- one that becomes especially important when discussing our Niagara units. Because our AC cables use conductors that have been properly controlled for low-noise directionality, they complement the Niagara System’s patented Ground-Noise Dissipation Technology. Other AC cables would work, but may or may not allow the Niagara to reach its full potential. If you'd like more information on our use of directionality to minimize the harmful effects of high-frequency noise, please visit http://www.audioquest.com/directionality-its-all-about-noise/ or the Niagara 1000's owner's manual (available on our website).

Thanks again.

Stephen Mejias
AudioQuest


Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-15-audioquest-niagara-1000-hifiman-he1000-v2-p...


128x128fsonicsmith
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cleeds
5,960 posts
 
terry9
This method of connection (shield to the insensitive end) has been used in pro audio since Cain first cryo’d Able’s tubes
If by "insensitive end" you mean the amplifier end - as George stated - then you are completely confused.

First, we’re talking here about single-ended connections. Pro-audio uses balanced connections.

Second, the purpose of the extra shield is to minimize noise. One way to do that is to have all grounds at the same potential. To best achieve that, you need to tie all the shields together at one common point. What common point do all components in a system share? The source, of course.

I have never seen a manufacturer of SE cables that uses the extra outer shield designate cable direction in any way other than the shield being connected at the source end.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Just point out the name is Abel, Cain slew Abel. Able was I ere I saw Elba. Carry on. Smoke if ya got em.
jetter
3,035 posts
 
As usual, Exhibit C has branched out to Exhibit G or H, on its way to Exhibit ZZ, n'est-ce pas?
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
jea48
George,

So are you saying if the ICs, as you described above, are reversed end to end you can hear, should be able to hear, a difference? If you can hear a difference then you surely can measure it, correct?

Depends how good you are at hearing something that can be measured.

If they are reversed and the shield is then dumping the RF noise at the source end, you "may" hear it as not as black a background as the right way around, I stress "may" depending on the amount of RF noise around your area.

It’s always best with an interconnect that has only one end of it’s shield connected, that that end should go to the least sensitive component, not the most sensitive one.

Cheers George
jetter
3,035 posts
 
Geoff/George, with an interconnect that has only one end of it's shield connected, but the directionality that Geoff describes is opposite to the shield end, which end should be connected to the least sensitive component?

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