Something that has not been mentioned, I do not believe, is the dielectric insulator used to cover the IC and speaker cable wires. The type of insulation covering over the wire may influence cable direction. Especially if the cables were broken-in in one direction and then reversed for what ever reason and hooked back up in the opposite direction. Or maybe one was replaced in the same direction but the other one was reversed.
I would hope we all agree new ICs and speaker cables go through a break-in period.
Coaxial cable
Coaxial cable Poynting vector in a coaxial cable, shown in red. For example, the Poynting vector within the dielectric insulator of a coaxial cable is nearly parallel to the wire axis (assuming no fields outside the cable and a wavelength longer than the diameter of the cable, including DC). Electrical energy delivered to the load is flowing entirely through the dielectric between the conductors. Very little energy flows in the conductors themselves, since the electric field strength is nearly zero. The energy flowing in the conductors flows radially into the conductors and accounts for energy lost to resistive heating of the conductor. No energy flows outside the cable, either, since there the magnetic fields of inner and outer conductors cancel to zero.
Electrical energy delivered to the load is flowing entirely through the dielectric between the conductors. Very little energy flows in the conductors themselves, since the electric field strength is nearly zero.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poynting_vectorNote the picture shown.
Just a guess no one has experiment using bare uninsulated wires for ICs or speaker cables.
herman, and or Al, (almarg) any thoughts?
Jim