2. tech-talk
  3. 130709-12450

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...


fsonicsmith
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
jea48, I confess all those quotes you posted from Ralph Morrison do not actually prove anything. Saying that Maxwell’s equations prove he’s (Ralph) right is nothing more than a cheap Appeal to Authority. Many folks use that logical fallacy, e.g., "the answer is in Maxwell’s equations." Those paragraphs you cited are statements but not evidence or proof of anything. They sound OK, though. Wouldn't it be nice if there was an electronics textbook or a technical paper in some scientific journal that came right out and demonstrated how wire can or cannot be directional? But then all this discourse would stop. Nobody wants that, do they? 😀
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Herman stated recently regarding wire directionality, "if you can hear it it’s real." I hate to be the one to point this out but that’s unfortunately not really the right answer, at for the purposes of this thread, since the naysayers or skeptics whatever never try listening for directionality - or if they do they can’t hear it. So they say. That why they’ve taken the tack of using mathematical and physics explanations to debunk the whole idea. In fact these attempts to debunk wire directionality are very reminiscent of theological arguments. Even of medieval witch hunts or whatever. Not that I’m trying to bring up theological arguments here or any such thing. But it is curious that these things are very difficult to prove or even to provide evidence other than personal testimony. Which I actually find rather convincing given the sheer number of such reports. It’s like UFO sightings, report and videos; eventually you start to say, gee, maybe there’s something to that. Regardless of the fact that US Air Force Operation Blue Book, which was right down the street from my first job in a pink building with no windows at Wright Patterson AFB, closed its doors in 1968 or thereabouts due to lack of evidence and or lack of funds. So they said.

randy-11
1,913 posts
 
if you are ignorant you'll buy anything - even directional wire or liquid metal
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
OK, everyone, stay calm. My understanding is Randy isn’t really a pinhead as many folks think, she's just a normal 14 year old girl who has access to her mom’s computer.

🙎




Post removed 
More to discover