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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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geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 

almarg
Geoff, the gentleman asked a question, and I responded by stating a fact. It was neither an appeal to authority nor a statement that involved logic, fallacious or otherwise.

Regards,
-- Al

>>>>>Of course it’s a logical fallacy. No one ever suggested that wire directionality was evident anywhere except in the audio hobby. So to state that it was never discussed in your high tech/digital workplace sounds a little bit like you’re actually trying to say, since no one ever discussed it in high tech or computers or NASA then it doesn’t exist, therefore audiophiles must be delusional. I.e., some guys with big foreheads somewhere would have found evidence of it. It’s obviously a Strawman Argument, in other words a *logical fallacy*. Is it just coincidence that it was YOU who responded to his question?

cheers

geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
stfoth
Geoff--how about audible directionality in glass optical "cable?"

I wouldn't think so. I pointed out recently on this thread that cables like those that employ carbon conductors shouldn't exhibit directionality. Since glass is homogeneous it should not exhibit directionality. Metal conductors, you know, like copper, silver and gold, etc. have crystal structures and thus are not amorphous, especially after the metal wires have been drawn.

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geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Hmmmm, I wonder...are skeptics of wire and fuse directionality also skeptical of other controversial tweaks? Or is it just wire and fuse directionality that irks them? In addition one wonders if these skeptics are full time skeptics or just "weekend skeptics." Do the fuse skeptics accept, for example, the Warren Commission Report on the assassination of JFK, you know, something that’s obviously controversial, and obviously of more import than a little old audiophile fuse? Or the 9/11 Final Report which also is controversial and of much greater import than mere fuses.

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