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  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...


128x128fsonicsmith
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
No one said it’s a good thing. Certainly not me. I would call it a subtle thing. Subtle but powerful. Just for the record this is about the fourth time I answered the same question. Or should I say non question. A Nothing Burger. 🍔
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geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
All of those illustrious names are just names. You are a name dropper. Name dropping doesn’t win arguments. It’s an Appeal to Authority, a well-known logical fallacy. Especially in these audio controversies. You forgot Albert Einstein. Follow? You're not going to argue with me? Huh? You just did. Even though it was an illogical argument.
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dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,190 posts
 
kosst,

I was beginning to really follow along in paragraph 3. Good stuff. Then the "pure snake oil" comment. Pffffffft. The balloon lost its air. Honestly, is there a more overused and trite slam in the world of audio? You can do better.

Dave

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