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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
tweak1
3,645 posts
 
It never ceases to amaze that their are always naysayers who never tried product X, or in this case Machina Dynmica products. Either you can't hear, or don't want to investigate things outside the box, but somehow feel justified to chastise things you have no clue about
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danvignau's avatar
danvignau
935 posts
 
I guess some of you do not realize that interconnects do not flow a DC current in only one direction. Analogue audio signals are alternating current. The electricity moves back and forth, like the sound waves from your speakers. Directional fuse? Give me a break! If you use balanced interconnects, think about why?
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geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 

danvignau
I guess some of you do not realize that interconnects do not flow a DC current in only one direction. Analogue audio signals are alternating current. The electricity moves back and forth, like the sound waves from your speakers. Directional fuse? Give me a break! If you use balanced interconnects, think about why?

>>>>>Sorry, all wire is directional in both DC circuits and AC Circuits. If you have trouble visualizing it I can draw you a picture, in the case of wire and fuses in AC circuits you can ignore the electricity flowing towards the wall outlet. That direction is not audible. The only direction that affects the sound is the direction pointing toward the speakers. That’s why most audiophiles report that fuses and cables sound better in one direction than the other.  Even power cords are subject to the rule of directionality, as the dude from Audioquest points out for his new Hurricane power cord. 

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